You could be forgiven for thinking the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt or the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips will be the most high-maintenance athletes at this summer’s Olympics.
But it seems the most cosseted competitors will be the 200 horses taking part in the dressage, showjumping and three-day event contests.
While the human competitors will be put up in modest shared rooms at the athletes’ village in Stratford, the horses can expect a rather more enjoyable stay — with an inventory which includes comfortable stables, 70,000 carrots, giant misting fans and even their own equine laundry.
The animals will stay in a complex of modern prefab stables to be erected at the north side of Greenwich Park. They will have tent-style fabric roofs to protect them from the elements and three thousand bales of wood shavings will be used to create soft beds for the horses.
An army of grooms will use 24 wheelbarrows to remove an estimated 200 tons of manure that will be produced during the competition.
Tim Hadaway, equestrian sport manager for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said: “The fact is that this sport is different in that there are two athletes involved, the rider and the horse.”
The horses, which can change hands for as much as £5 million, will arrive with a substantial amount of equipment of their own, from saddles and bridles to grooming equipment, right down to their favourite food.
Nonetheless Locog will have to provide plenty of extras — with the launderette service needed to wash the rugs the horses will wear to protect them if it is cold or wet; a saddlery service to mend broken tack, and the giant fans to mist cool water over the horses.
The gruelling cross-country course which will be set up in Greenwich Park will require almost 7.5 miles of rope to mark out the course and keep spectators out of the path of the competing horses, held up by 1,300 posts. There will also be an on-site shop where competitors can buy extra kit.
