Gary, Chester and Steffen - A Journey to the USA for Dressage - Part 2

by Gary Lung for Equestrian Life

The Trip

IRT (International Racehorse Transport) was the company I used to transport Chester to USA.  They were very professional in their dealings and I found them approachable for a first time overseas equestrian traveller. They communicated with my vet to arrange for all the vaccinations and blood testing. The timing was critical. There were 2 lots of vaccinations that had to be finished no more than 2 weeks before Chester was due to fly. Once the first lot of vaccinations took place, I thought to myself “this is it, the start of our journey”.

Waiting for the day of departure was challenging.  From the time of decision to the date Chester left, it was 6 weeks of waiting.  I continued working Chester concentrating on what Steffen and I worked on during the masterclass.  I wanted Chester to have the opportunity to get the best out of the training that was going to take place. So with the help from Glennis Barrey and Nicole Maggofin, I prepared him.

Arroyo Del Mar (Steffen and Shannon’s training barn) has 60 horses on 22 acres.  There are no paddocks and each horse is hand walked at least once a day, put onto a walker and turned out into a “turn out yard” the size of a tennis court once a day for at least an hour.  I knew Chester was going to take a little adjusting to this way of life, so I started to prepare him for it.  Even though I already kept Chester in a stable/sand yard (the size of 3 stables) for most of the time and went out into grassy paddocks for ½ days, I knew it was going to be different.  I gradually kept Chester in longer and longer so he did not find it a big change.

I also started feeding Chester differently.  In Arroyo Del Mar, they feed at least 4 to 5 times a day.  There are 2 grain feeds per day and the rest are lovely grassy (sweet smelling) hay plus another hay similar to our lucerne with more protein.  So the horses have regular feeds throughout the day instead of 1 or 2 main feeds.  This works well considering horses gut and eating habits are designed for grazing. 

On the 25th January, friends of mine and I loaded Chester onto their gooseneck and made the trip down to Sydney.  We arrived into the pre-export centre at The Oaks (which is also a thoroughbred stud that is used as a quarantine centre) around midday on the 26th January.  We settled Chester into the stable next to 3 mares  (1 thoroughbred and 2 warmblood)  that he was going to travel with.

It was a hot and humid day (just before the cyclone hit the east coast  and the floods arrived) and the only place that we could get any relief from the heat and humidity  was in the breezeway in front of Chester’s stable.  So Jane and I set up  our camping chairs and waited out the day for the temperature to change and cool down.

The owner/manager of the stud walked past within 15 mins of settling in  and commented, “Now this horse must be very special?” and we replied “why?”.  He said quietly  “Black Caviar only has 1 security guard and this horse has 2 security guards, I’m impressed”.  Both Jane and I laughed but if only he knew he was pretty close.  In my eyes Mr Chester was as valuable as Black Caviar.

The flight was departing  at 6  the next morning  and because there were 14 horses in total, IRT scheduled  to commence loading at 2am.  This meant Chester and the mares had to be transported down to the airport leaving the pre-export centre at 1-00am.

The transport truck arrived at 12 midnight and  before they loaded Chester,  I taped up (using elastoplasts) his hoof at the base covering the clenches and shoes.  This was to prevent him stepping on the edge of his shoe and pulling it off and stepping on the nails.  IRT had recommended that all horse travel without shoes and travelling boots.  Again, this was so horses do not pull shoes and the idea of not wearing travelling boots was because once the horses are loaded into their crates, it is difficult to reach in to remove any travelling boots/bandages that might have  slipped  down.

All 4 horses were loaded and out the gate in no time.  We followed the truck down to the airport where we met up with a number of horse trucks all coming from different locations with their precious cargo.  IRT arranged security passes for us and we all drove onto the tarmac to a separate fenced off location within the airport to transfer the horse from their trucks or floats onto the crates.

It was nice to see that everything that IRT did was for the safety of the horses.  Their professional grooms are experienced horse handlers who all care for the well being of the horses.  

Once all the trucks and floats were secured into the fenced off area,  the operation manager and his staff of professional grooms all worked like a well oiled team of  army ants organising  and preparing the load up.  

Chester was loaded second. They lead him up onto the 2 horse crate which looks very much like a horse float (without a roof and only netting over it).   There was a young Arab stallion already in the bay next to Chester and  I was surprised to see how light and  flimsy the crate was.  It did not help that this young stallion was making his presence  felt by kicking and rocking the whole crate.  He was letting Chester know who the boss was and to prevent him from carrying on, the IRT staff placed a huge wooden board  behind him so he could not see Chester coming up. 

You could see Chester’s eyes bigger than dinner plates thinking, this sort of looks like a float but why does it not have a roof and why is it rocking around.  Finally Chester went in and the back wall  was locked into place.  The front of the crate was completely blocked in (no windows like a float) and apart from having a net over their heads, they were each securely locked in.  You could access the front of the crate to be with the horses head and this is where they had their hay nets tied up and where each horse could be watered.

The whole experience was a little stressful.  It was like sending your child onto a plane  for the first time to go to boarding school.  I’m not a parent but I now know what it feels like to take your child to school for the first time and to leave them there crying while you walk away.  Talk about plucking at your heart strings....

We did not stay to watch the rest of the 12 horses loaded.  We left knowing that the IRT team were doing what they do well – transporting horse across the world.

Join us tomorrow for Part Three as Gary, finally after all the waiting, arrives in the USA with Chester.

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