‘Biosecure bubble’ used to keep horses free of disease ahead of prestigious equestrian events
IF you are looking for a collection of most valuable competitors at the Rio Olympics, skip past the Dream Team’s cruise liner and hit the stables.
IF you are looking for a collection of most valuable competitors at the Rio Olympics, skip past the Dream Team’s cruise liner and hit the stables.
The equestrian events at Deodoro will see some of the world’s most expensive horseflesh – and riders sitting on top of them – competing for gold medals.
It is estimated over $100 million dollars of horses will be in action, including superstar English horse Valegro, who can keep company with Kevin Durant, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal with an estimated price tag of $A30 million.
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The star dressage horse and rider Charlotte Dujardin are looking to defend their 2012 Olympic gold in Rio, and will compete against a range of other horses from around the globe worth between $400,000 and $15 million.
Top-range show jumping horses at the Olympics range between $700,000 and $15 million. Australia’s champion rider Edwina Tops-Alexander will compete on Lintea Tequila, who is worth an estimated $7.5 million.
Such is the extraordinary value of the horses, the Deodoro equestrian centre where they’re all stabled resembles a cross between Fort Knox and a sterile surgery.
The strict security measures are put in place to not only protect the horses from foul play, but to ensure they don’t get infected with deadly diseases, overly tired or potentially rubbed out of competition due to poor health.
“The whole venue is a biosecure bubble,” Australian Olympic eventing vet Nathan Anthony said.
“You have horses from all different nations, plus you have the host nation, and with that comes potential diseases and for horses from Australia, that’s an issue because we are free of disease, pretty much.”
Forget Zika. The big concern for horses in Brazil is the fatal Glanders disease, and there are very strict protocols in place to ensure it and a range of other diseases don’t enter the Olympic venue. There was a Glanders scare last year on the site – a former military base – but it was declared clean soon after.
Trucks that enter have to drive through disinfectant baths, and all horses and humans must also walk through the disinfectant baths to get in the stables.
To get into the country in the first place all horses had to be passed disease-free and fully vaccinated, and even all their feed, equipment and gear had to be sprayed and sanitised.
There is a world-class vet hospital on site and during the lead-up and the Games itself, each horse is checked twice a day for “high health status”.
“If a horse got sick with a common virus, that could spread through the venue and have big implications for other competitors,” Anthony said.
The strict protocols even extend to kicking everyone out of the stables between 10pm and 6am to ensure the horses get enough quiet time to sleep.
Australia’s equestrian teams passed the pre-competition inspection with flying colours on Saturday (AEST).
Shane Rose will lead the charge in the eventing on the opening day.
Originally published as ‘Biosecure bubble’ used to keep horses free of disease ahead of prestigious equestrian events
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