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The Professor is supported in part by donations made to the Georgia Equestrian Foundation.  A 501(c)3 charitable foundation.

Jet lag tough on Olympic Horses

With the International Olympic Committee having determined the site for the 2008 Olympic games, some of the competitors are eyeing the problems with international travel. For the human participants, travel to places like China cause several sleepless nights as the jet lag wears off. But for those people who have to take their horse with them, the problems are more complex.

“Of course horses jet lag,” says Michelle Gibson, dressage team bronze medallist from the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Gibson makes her home is Roswell, Georgia and has made several international trips with her horses.  “It always seems like they are grouchy and out of sorts for several days every time we arrived in a foreign country,” she said.  In many cases the horses will have to stay in temporary facilities or be quarantined for a period of time.  “I don’t think horses understand the process of airplane flight and when they get to a new place and cannot spend time with the people they trust the problem is only compounded” she said. 

Supporters at Applewood Farm in Alpharetta can see evidence of this in World of Dreams, Gibson’s Olympic horse for 2004. “He just got here from a 7 week quarantine in Virginia after being shipped from Germany, ” said Brad Thatcher, owner of Applewood Farm. "He is a beautiful horse but you can tell he lost some weight and muscle as a result of the long ordeal. Good food, rest and a stable environment will get him back into shape” said Thatcher. 

Most Olympic athletes look forward to the experience of a foreign land but for those who have to take their horse along with them the logistics and complexity of travel around the world can be daunting and very expensive.

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