In a few weeks, more than 500 of the world's top athletes will be flying into the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. During their international flight, they'll travel in first class, business and coach accommodations. They'll be served an in-flight meal and drink service will be generous.
The only thing is, they'll have to stand for the entire nine-hour flight.
It's okay, though. They're used to it, being horses and all.
The 15 flights with up to 52 horses on each aircraft will begin arriving at the airport on September 16 in the lead-up to the 2010 Alltech Federation Equestre Internationale World Equestrian Games in Lexington, an event expected to pump $167 million into Kentucky's economy. Roughly another 200 horses will enter the country at airports in Los Angeles and Miami, but Covington's international airport (CVG) will serve as the main entryway for the horses competing in the games.
"Cincinnati's only one of the airports that will receive the horses. Horses coming from Australia, New Zealand and Japan will fly into Los Angeles, while those coming from Central and South America will arrive in Miami," explains Martin Atock, the managing director of Germany-based Peden Bloodstock, official transporter for the games. In total, the company expects to transport 700 horses from 60 countries for this year's games.
"Cincinnati, however, will serve as the port of call for horses arriving from Europe, where 85 percent of all competition horses are based, so they're very much the focal point for arrivals and departures," Atock continues.
The equine airlift, the largest in history for a single event, was put into motion when the FEI announced in 2005 that the Kentucky Horse Park would serve as host of the 2010 games. It was the first time in its 20-year history the games would be held outside of Europe, and planning started right away.
Peden Bloodstock has served as transport for the World Equestrian Games and Olympic events for the last 20 years, topping out at flying just over 300 horses in for the Olympic games in Sydney in 2000 and the 2008 Olympiad in China. The upcoming task dwarfs those transports.
"The scale was a bit staggering at first glance," Atock admits, "but it sounds more terrifying than it is. The actual flying is only three percent of what we do. The rest is preparation -- dealing with the health requirements and making sure all the documents are in order. Once you've done the planning and you have the logistics in place, whether you're flying one horse or 50, it's the same."
According to Barbara Schempf, the airport's spokeswoman, that planning with Peden, the FEI and federal officials has been ongoing since the 2005 announcement.
"It started with a series of brainstorming sessions, and has steadily grown from there. We worked with FEI and Peden Bloodstock, and we've ended up having to work with a whole range of American agencies to prepare for these two weeks," she says. "We've been in contact with everyone from the DEA to USDA to Customs and Border Patrol -- it's been a real alphabet soup experience in dealing with all the agencies at our end. A very long process."
For the horses flying into CVG, the intercontinental trek will start in Liege, Belgium. Once consolidated at Liege Airport, 50 miles outside of Brussels, they will be loaded into a fleet of 747s and Federal Express-owned MD-11 cargo jets for the non-stop, nine-hour flight to Cincinnati.
With special transportation boots placed over their front feet to protect both horse and handlers, the horses will be ushered into 10-foot long traveling stalls, enclosed compartments that can hold up to three horses each -- Atock compares it to flying first class with one horse per container, or flying coach with three horses per container.
Each stall has a "grooms compartment," which allows a staff of 25 caretakers per flight, access to the horses to feed and water them. Just before take-off, the horses are fed to distract them from the increased engine noise. The cabin is kept at a constant, cool 65 degrees and pilots are trained to use the entire runway for takeoffs and landings, making shallow ascents and descents, and wide-sweeping turns to keep the ride smooth for the horses. Sedation for the horses is not required, the ride is so smooth.
Ultimately, their passengers weather the flight well, Atock says.
"They're frequent fliers, most of these horses," says Atock. "It's commonplace for them, and very comfortable." (In contrast, he jokes, he will be flying first to Chicago then on to Cincinnati in a 15-hour flight that will probably be less comfortable than the horses can expect.)
Once the jets land, the job is far from over, however.
At CVG, armies of workers will guide horses to a huge on-site quarantine area and help hundreds of the human team members deal with lodging and transportation questions.
At the quarantine area, seven large tents that airport workers began building on August 1 in the employee parking lot on the north side of the airport, teams of federal customs and WEG officials take the reins, making sure all the transportation documents for each horse are in proper order.
Meanwhile, a team of state and federal veterinarians will conduct physicals and blood tests, while WEG veterinarians test horses to determine their fitness for competition.
"The blood samples get sent off to the National Veterinary Services lab in Aimes, Iowa, while we continue to give the horses periodical examinations," says Rusty Ford, the state department of agriculture's equine programs manager. "We want to make sure they're healthy, so we keep an eye on their temperature, respiration and pulse."
Ford estimates that 10-15 vets will be working with each flight, not counting the ones the teams bring themselves.
If they do find any worrying conditions during the required 42-hour quarantine period, they'll be moved to stalls away from the other horses, and care will continue without the risk to the other horses.
Once the horses clear quarantine, they can be moved to the Kentucky Horse Park for the games -- another Herculean transportation effort calling for a supply of horse trailer convoys back and forth between Lexington and Cincinnati on I-71.
When the two-week competition is over, the huge effort begins again in reverse.
With the onslaught of horses, handlers and other team members, along with regulatory officials and the 300,000 fans expected to attend the games -- many flying into CVG -- the airport is braced for one of the busiest periods in its history.
"This has definitely been a new experience for us," admits Schempf.
She has no doubt that the airport, along with local hotels and restaurants, is ready for the influx. With many coming through Northern Kentucky on their way to the games, the area is expected to reap a portion of the $167 million windfall from the event.
Meanwhile, the area is already getting high marks from FEI officials and Atock.
"We started working with the stakeholders in Kentucky and the Cincinnati airport people right after the Aachen games in 2006," says Atock. "They have a great team of people there. All I can say is that they've been brilliant. There has never been an issue with them. The only thing they've ever asked of us is 'What can we do to help?'"
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