Horses have smooth ride into the city
Heavy security was in place at both the Olympic venues and the hotel where riders will stay in Sha Tin as the first batch of horses arrived yesterday.
The 13 horses, from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, arrived at Chek Lap Kok airport at about 8.30am. They were taken to the Sha Tin equestrian venue under police escort.
'The whole process went very smoothly,' said Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing. 'The [horse floats] were originally capable of containing three horses in each compartment, yet we arranged to carry two in each. It's just like business class for the horses.'
Hundreds of police officers, security guards and volunteers took up their posts in and around equestrian venues and the Royal Park Hotel, which has been designated as the Olympic Village for riders and officials, to make security checks, provide help and maintain order. All visitors faced pass checks, bag searches and metal detectors.
In the afternoon, another two batches of 19 horses arrived on Cathay Pacific and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flights. Accompanying them were dozens of riders and officials.
The Equestrian Company, which is managing the events, said the horses belonged to teams from Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and South Korea. They will be quarantined for 10 days.
Company veterinary services manager Christopher Riggs said the health of all the horses had been checked at the airport and all were fine. 'They will be relaxing in a cool and pleasant environment, eating, and doing light workouts. We do not expect they will get any significant exercise.'
Equestrian Company chief executive Lam Woon-kwong said he was happy to see how smoothly things had gone.
Mr Lam said there would be a march and flag-raising ceremony at the equestrian venue on the evening of August 8. Hong Kong would light an Olympic flame soon after it was lit at the National Stadium in Beijing.
