Hong Kong Facilities For Olympic Equestrian Competition
June 27, 2008
While almost all of the Olympic events are being held in Beijing this August, the equestrian dressage, show jumping, and eventing competitions are taking place in Hong Kong. For one, Hong Kong could provide better facilities for the horses, riders, and spectators and their unique needs. Two, Beijing couldn’t offer the necessary quarantine protocols, which are mostly required for the equines to get back into their home countries.
So Hong Kong, a 3-hour flight from the rest of the festivities, stepped up to offer state-of-the-art venues for equestrian competition.
An article on TheHorse.com quotes the club’s deputy chairman T. Brian Stevenson as saying “The Hong Kong Jockey Club made the decision to build the best venues for the Olympic horses and riders to support Beijing’s vision of staging the best Olympics and, even though we had less than two years to achieve it, we believe that we’ve more than lived up to the task.”
Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian Venue at Sha Tin
25 Yuen Wo Road, Sha Tin, New Territories.
The newest racetrack in Hong Kong is found at Sha Tin, which will be the site of most of the Olympic equestrian competition.
All dressage and show jumping events will be held at Sha Tin. Hong Kong hired Australian architectural firm Timothy Court & Company, which also designed the equestrian facilities for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, to convert the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Penfold Park.
The arena is 100×80 meters with all sand footing. It has seating for 18,000 spectators.
The venue also includes air conditioned stabling for up to 200 horses, an equine clinic and farriery, 13 training arenas including one that is air conditioned, a cross-country training track, gallop track, and a bridle path on the Sha Tin racecourse infield — and that’s just for the horses. An air conditioned building will house management headquarters, VIP reception area, and accommodations for the grooms. There are four equine cooling stations with misting tents and lots of cold water for use with horses following training or competition. These cooling stations will be very much needed in the extreme heat and humidity of this season in Hong Kong.
The club’s equine hospital will also be on call throughout the event to handle any injuries and illnesses while the racing laboratory will test samples from the horses.
Training Facilities
Sha Tin Racecourse, Sha Tin, New Territories.
The 13 training areas are at the Sha Tin racecourse and include 3 general practice arenas (two sand, one grass); 4 jumping/dressage arenas; 1 jumping arena; 4 dressage arenas; and 1 indoor air-conditioned arena. There are 3 training facilities for cross country including an 800-meter turf training track, an 800-meter riverside galloping track, and a 1,000 meter all-weather bridle path.
Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian Venue at Beas River
Beas River Country Club, Sheung Shui, New Territories
Hong Kong Golf Club, Lot No.1, Fan Kam Road, New Territories
The cross-country phase of eventing will be held at the Beas River Country Club and Hong Kong Golf Club. Here, a 5.7 kilometer, 10 meter wide cross country will be constructed. This venue includes warm-up and cool-down areas and a temporary stable block for up to 80 horses.
Posted in 2008 Olympics, Horse Events
June 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Hey, don’t forget all those valiant Aussie WORMS being flown in, to deal with the manure piles!
Looks like its going to be a fantastic venue & exciting competition though … Whee can’t wait!
June 28th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
It looks like they’ve certainly got it all covered. Like I said before I really hope this year there is more TV coverage than in previous years.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:10 am
My horse would love to hand out in one of those “misting stations”. I hope my idol Courtney King-Dye makes the team and that all of our athletes, equine and human, make it home safe and sound at the end of the games.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Having been involved on the planning stages of a new horse facility here, I can imagine what goes into building one this size. But I sure can’t imagine how they could ever pull it off in two years. What a hurculeon task that was.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Jules - What’s this about Aussie WORMS? Do share.
GreyHorseMatters - I remember that at the last Olympics the horse stuff was all aired in the middle of the night. This time I’ve got a DVR, so I’ll be able to record and watch it. Hopefully it’s all aired, even in the middle of the night. I’m going to see if I can get the videos from my DVR to the computer, and if so I’ll upload them to YouTube and post them on my blog. I’ll get the US riders and the top rides in general. Here’s to hoping that works out!
OnTheBit - I don’t know if Penny would love it; there’s a really good chance it would give her a heart attack. Looks like Courtney made it! Should be announced officially any time now.
RisingRainbow - It’s definitely a huge project! Sounds like they have great facilities for the care of the horses, which will be important as I hear it’s extremely hot and humid this time of year in Hong Kong. I hope the few weeks the horses and riders have ahead of time is enough to adjust!
July 24th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Hello Miss, Sir,
I found your website by Google and I was wondering of it is possible that we can come on your website. I think your website is doing a good job. I saw you have other websites of people who are dealing horses. Will you please send me a mail back to answer me?
Warm regards Ellen Maathuis.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Hey guys. Does anyone know the day and time of day that the equestrian events will be held? I assume it’s going to be aired on channel 10? Thanks!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I’m sorry, Aussie worms? Meaning what? Haven’t heard of that one yet.. even being an Australian. Do go on, Jules.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
You can watch all horse events LIVE here, http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/index.html?forcereload=true