HORSES ARRIVE FOR SINGAPORE 2010 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, July 15 (Bernama) -- Thirty-eight horses for the Singapore 2010
Youth Olympic Games Equestrian competition arrived here Thursday, after
travelling eight hours from Queensland, Australia.

The horses will be paired with athletes to compete in the Equestrian Show
Jumping event during the Games which will be held from Aug 14 to 26.

Equestrian riders will be able to view and draw their mounts on Aug 13.

This will be the first time that a horse draw is conducted in Olympic
history.

The assigned horse-rider combination will apply throughout the competition
for both the team and individual events.

“The provision of horses is a Games requirement to ensure a level playing
field for the athletes as horses are of similar standards,” said Singapore Youth
Olympic Games Organising Committee chief executive officer Goh Kee Nguan.

He said the committee had broken new ground in deciding to procure and train
the horses under the same trainers in Australia.

In the largest movement of horses in Singapore, the horses, after their
arrival, were loaded onto trucks bound for the Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre
–- the equestrian competition venue.

The committee has plans to relocate them after the Games to local clubs and
riding schools so that they will continue to play a part in raising the profile
and standard of equestrian sport in Singapore.

-- BERNAMA