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I read the plane was chartered from Iceland, which has its own highly priced and highly prized breed: Icelandic ponies or small horses. They don't trot but have a smooth 4-beat gait, like my Peruvian Pasos had. I bet they were going somewhere for breeding or to establish a herd outside Iceland.
The article also said a cobra once got loose and slithered up a pilot's sleeve, lol.
The plane had to dump 20 TONS of fuel, imagine that expense and mess. It was too heavy to return.
Where would a horse go? The first sentence of the article states that the aircraft was a CARGO plane not a typical passenger jet! Some cargo planes are designed to deal primarily with livestock transport, but others can be reconfigured for it. Horses have been transported by air regularly since the 1950s.
Yeah, it's a weird story only because it's something you don't hear of every day and certainly.. If your first thought is this is a passenger plane flying the horse as cargo.. The places your mind goes. I'm sure a few people read the title and were thinking someone brought an 'emotional support horse' on the plane and it was running down the aisle.
But.. It wasn't that.
The only thought that's been in my head is.. You'd kinda think they'd sedate the horses.. I mean, not out cold, but.. Enough to make sure they are and stay settled.
Of course.. I can also see that drugging a prize horse.. Wouldn't likely be at the top of the list of things an owner would want to happen. But, obviously, the animal being destroyed is further down that list.
I suppose if it's a race horse.. Drugging could have implications on whether it could participate in a race, pending on the drugs.
Yeah, it's a weird story only because it's something you don't hear of every day and certainly.. If your first thought is this is a passenger plane flying the horse as cargo.. The places your mind goes. I'm sure a few people read the title and were thinking someone brought an 'emotional support horse' on the plane and it was running down the aisle.
But.. It wasn't that.
The only thought that's been in my head is.. You'd kinda think they'd sedate the horses.. I mean, not out cold, but.. Enough to make sure they are and stay settled.
Of course.. I can also see that drugging a prize horse.. Wouldn't likely be at the top of the list of things an owner would want to happen. But, obviously, the animal being destroyed is further down that list.
I suppose if it's a race horse.. Drugging could have implications on whether it could participate in a race, pending on the drugs.
They may sedate them but it is probably quite delicate. If the animal is already ramped up and stressed they can power through sedatives. Some can cause agitation initially. From what little I've read about sedating animals for air travel, not all sedatives are safe to use because they subdue heart rate, BP, respiration. A groggy horse can lose its balance more easily, fall and do life threatening injuries to itself. For horses and ruminants slowing down digestion poses risks too.
Ok, I have never heard of a horse being on an airplane! It just never crossed my mind. where the heck would it ever go???! Below where the luggage is?? that's terrible!!
It was a 747 freighter. They have several thousand square feet of floor space. Presumably, it went in a stall.
What, did you think someone bought an aisle seat and just held the reins while Trigger stood in the aisle?
Yeah, it's a weird story only because it's something you don't hear of every day and certainly.. If your first thought is this is a passenger plane flying the horse as cargo.. The places your mind goes. I'm sure a few people read the title and were thinking someone brought an 'emotional support horse' on the plane and it was running down the aisle.
But.. It wasn't that.
The only thought that's been in my head is.. You'd kinda think they'd sedate the horses.. I mean, not out cold, but.. Enough to make sure they are and stay settled.
Of course.. I can also see that drugging a prize horse.. Wouldn't likely be at the top of the list of things an owner would want to happen. But, obviously, the animal being destroyed is further down that list.
I suppose if it's a race horse.. Drugging could have implications on whether it could participate in a race, pending on the drugs.
Yes, substances may be banned if they are in competition. They also need to have good balance and reflexes if there's turbulence or on landing. They need to be able to stay on their feet, you wouldn't want them drunk. As I used to say when coaching people on trailering horses... they don't have hands to hang on with.... if you brake hard, they break their fall with their face! Usually these horses are so used to traveling they take it in stride.
I wonder what happened that they couldn't get the horse back in and secured, unless he broke it or it was unsafe. If there is a whole team traveling, usually there's grooms and even vets who travel with them.
...landed safely and the horse was taken off the plane by the ground crew. The horse was part of a shipment of horses from the US to Europe for the Global Champions Tour, a prestigious show jumping event.
The owner of the company that transported the horses, Tim Dutta, said that the horse somehow managed to get out of the single stall container and into the loose area of the aircraft.
Dutta said that the horse was fine and had only a few scratches. He also said that this was a very rare occurrence and only the second time in his 30 years of experience that a horse got loose on a plane.
This is an old book, but if you can pick up a copy of Flying Finish by Dick Francis, it will give you a good idea of the horse transport business by air - at that time, of course. And it's a good book, a mystery involving horses and flying.
The horse couldn't have been causing much of a fuss because they carry a captive bolt (humane killer) on any plane that is carrying horses. If the horse panics and breaks loose and is thrashing around and kicking, it is killed to prevent it from bringing the plane down.
Or perhaps, it was killed and they were careful to not put that out on the radio for the public to pick up. The stalls for airplanes are really sturdy and it would take quite a lot to break out of one. It should be in the race or jumping news, so I'll watch for it.
Flying horses is a huge business. There are special modular stalls for horses and race horse and international quality jumpers are flown all over the world. Horses and riders trying to qualify for the Olympics fly all over. There were Japanese horses in the Kentucky derby and they didn't sail to the USA on a cargo ship.
Indeed, and the same is true of cattle.
At least one person is responsible for monitoring such animals and look to sedate any acting aggressive or panicked. They will be euthanized if they get out of control for the safety of the flight.
Ok, I have never heard of a horse being on an airplane! It just never crossed my mind. where the heck would it ever go???! Below where the luggage is?? that's terrible!!
The USDA APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) division have major equine quarantine locations at several major airports in the US, including, ORD, LAX, JFK and MIA.
You think all those Saudi princes ship their thoroughbred horses over by boat!
All the horses coming into the US need to be tested before they can be released from quarantine and go run their races. Blood samples are sent to the USDA lab in Ames, IA (usually overnighted), and tested pretty much for every equine disease you can think of, they test samples seven days a week.
These international multi-millionaire/billionaire horse owners use brokers, who do all of the customs/import paperwork (for a fee of course) and know all the "ins and outs" to get their horses released from quarantine ASAP, since the owners usually fly them in at the very last minute.
Almost all of the really expensive horses, flown into the US, have no problem getting cleared at these various airports, after their blood is tested, since they're basically elite "athletes", it's the horses that are brought into the US across the southern border, overland that "pop" for all kinds of equine diseases.
And when that happens, the horse owner can pay to keep the horse(s) in quarantine along the southern border, but it's expensive, and some of the diseases might take weeks/months to clear, if they clear at all, so horses that fail the various tests are usually just brought back into Mexico.
Last edited by cjseliga; 11-15-2023 at 08:02 PM..
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