Torrential Rain Heralds End of Quarantine !

The Glen Haven team and horses woke up to very dark skies for the last day of quarantine. An early morning storm, with torrential rain, tried to wash everyone away (and mini tornado blew down a few trees!) but the show must go on, so training of the horses continued in the indoor arena.

AVA personnel arrived whilst it was still bucketing down - they looked like astronauts about to board the space shuttle - and after checking all the horses against their passports, the 'thumbs up' was given that quarantine could officially end. Rain was still continuing three hours later, but at least quarantine was finished! Yay! Everyone is now looking forward to SYOGOC vet, Dr Roshni Selvam's 'Post Quarantine' party, which is being held on the weekend. Here's to the end of quarantine - have a drink for me guys!

(Photos Top - Bottom: Rachel and Sarah, drenched during early morning muck-out session; Nyssa, Jacobine and Brian surveying the carnage; 'The Right Stuff' - AVA arrives to finalise the end of quarantine; Dr Roshni Selvam gives the 'thumbs up' for end of quarantine and for her post quarantine party!!)

GHP Grooms Loving Life in Singapore

The Glen Haven grooms are excited about the end of Post Arrival Quarantine tomorrow and are looking forward to meeting more of the friendly Singaporean people and other personnel involved in the Olympic Games, in coming weeks. They are doing their usual fabulous job caring for the Olympic Games horses and when asked their thoughts on life in Singapore so far, comments included...

Jacobine - It's very hot. We're exploring Singapore - loving the local markets and lots of shopping. The horses are all very relaxed and feeling at home. The food is nice and spicy - really good. Best of all, they deliver McDonalds!

Rachel - cleaning stables, working hard, but enjoying seeing the horses settling in. All the horses seem to be coping with the heat well. They look happier - they like their new stables and the sunshine. Haven't learnt the local language yet. Hasn't been completely easy sailing the last few weeks in post arrival quarantine, but I'm proud of how we've all pulled together as a team.

Sarah - love the vibrant City - full of wonderful new experiences and culture. Feels different being in a country where we are the odd ones out.

Nyssa - the others have said it all!! Also, I miss Jo and am looking forward to her coming over so the whole team is here.

(Photo above: happy grooms {L-R} Sarah, Nyssa, Rachel and Jacobine)
(Photo below: doting grooms with Paula and Fancy Pants - Nyssa's favourite Youth Olympic Games horse!)

Singapore - Outdoor Arena Training Time!

Post-Arrival Quarantine is nearing the end - it finishes on 30 July. All horses are settled in well at their new home and back into the routine of daily training sessions. The Glen Haven riders focused on flatwork today and all (horses and people!) enjoyed a session on the beautiful Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre, outdoor arena. The facilities at this venue are not only practical, but picturesque as well!
(Photos - from top to bottom: Paula and Flash Top Hat enjoying the outdoor arena; Olivia and Belcam Chocolate looking good, trotting down the rail; Olivia and Alloria Thomas making their way to the arena, through beautiful gardens with the indoor arena in the background; and Paula and Butterfly Kisses, who was happy to be an 'outdoors' girl for the day!)

Settling into Singapore

Following the excitement of arriving in Singapore, temporarily everything has calmed down for the Olympic horses and the Glen Haven Team, whilst they settle in to the venue. All horses and people have adapted fairly well to the weather, which is similar to summer in Queensland and training commenced again on Monday - so except for the fact that everyone is half-way across the world - it's business as usual.

Post Arrival Quarantine is extremely strict and only Glen Haven Personnel and vets, who are monitoring the condition of the horses, are allowed into the venue. Glen Haven Park riders are thrilled to be training in the huge, custom built, beautifully designed arena, with comments being made that a GPS is needed to find your way from one end to the other! The grooms have also settled into the routine well and are happy with the facilities and general design of the stabling area, which includes wash bays, sand rolls and fans over all of the stables, which are helping to keep the horses cool.

So, all is fairly quiet at the moment, as Post Arrival Quarantine rolls smoothly along and everyone can almost imagine they're back in Australia. However, very soon Olympic fever will hit with full force and the horses (and people who've worked so hard to get them to Singapore), along with the elite competitors who'll be arriving in coming weeks, will feature as major players in the first ever Youth Olympic Games!

(Photos - Top to Bottom: Grey Van Diemen and Lenny Hays relaxing in their stables; Pearl Monarch and JF Damiro {still in love} head to the arena with Olivia and Tom; Horses and grooms in the wash bays; Olivia and Gatineau working in the state-of-the-art arena; and one of the immaculately well-kept stable blocks)

Singapore - Safe and Sound!

The aircraft containing the horses arrived safely in Singapore yesterday afternoon, with all horses handling the flight well and disembarking in good condition. After a brief walk around, in front of the excited VIPs and media who had been invited to watch their arrival, they were loaded onto trucks and driven the 30 minutes to the Olympic Venue - their new home! Most horses were very obliging regarding boarding yet another mode of transport, except for Chocolate, who decided he'd had enough of all this travelling and put on a bit of turn about going up the ramp. Of course, the crowd loved to see this bit of action and the cameras went wild! I haven't got any photos to include with our blog at this stage (hopefully will have some soon!) Meanwhile, if you google 'Singapore Youth Olympic Horses Arrive', there are a lot of sites featuring photos and channel 5 singapore even has video footage. Stay tuned to the Glen Haven Park website where a video of the horses' journey will be posted very soon! Our cameraman extraordinaire, Peter Leeson, has also gone to Singapore with the Glen Haven Team, which means there'll be some great video footage available over coming weeks.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

The horses all arrived safely at Brisbane International Airport at 12.30am and then it was time to unload them from the trucks and into the 'air stalls', which were located in a large air freight hangar. All horses were well behaved and even though they thought it was a little peculiar going from a truck into another enclosure, they were very good. By 4.30am the horses were settled into their air stalls, with bedding, hay and water and it was time to transport them out to the aircraft. The air stalls were lifted into the aircraft and all locked down in no time, so the aircraft was able to jet off into the dawn by 6.15am. Singapore here we come!!

Loading up for Singapore!

It was an icy cold (for Queensland, anyway!), mid-winter evening last night, when five Sydney Livestock Transport trucks rolled into Glen Haven Park at 10.00pm. The Singapore horses knew something was up with so many humans around at that unexpected hour. Their hooves had been taped to prevent shoe pulling in-transit and they were restless with expectation. There was a very clear loading order and as it came time for each pair of horses to walk up the ramp, their rugs were taken off and they were loaded into the warm trucks. The operation ran very smoothly with all horses behaving impeccably and the Glen Haven Park and Sydney Livestock Transport teams running a slick operation. By 11.00pm the loading was completed and all trucks had trundled down the driveway, on their way to Brisbane International Airport, where the horses would begin the final leg of their journey to Singapore.

After the trucks and all the other staff had gone, the empty stable block - with still-warm rugs abandoned on the doors and wind whistling through the only sound - was more than this already emotionally fragile blogger could handle! Stay tuned for details on the horses' flight and their much anticipated arrival in Singapore!

(photos from top: Tom Sedger and David Hamood with Virtuous Flare after taping her hooves; Flash Top Hat loading up; Emmaville Persuasion eager to be on his way!)

Singapore Here We Come!!

It's been all happening here at Glen Haven Park with preparations for our departure for Singapore! The horses have remained in training and are working really well, looking very fit and ready for the their journey to Singapore and the competitions at the Youth Olympic Games. The competition saddlery arrived (each horse has a full set of tack - saddle, bridle, breastplate and boots) and had to be oiled and put together, allocated to the various horses and then packed into large tack boxes for safe delivery to Singapore.

Today is D-day! The freight company, DHL, arrived this morning and picked up all the saddlery and other gear that is required when moving 12 people and 38 horses to another country. Later tonight the horses will be loaded into Sydney Livestock Transport trucks and make their way to the Brisbane International Airport, where they will then be loaded into 'air stalls' and lifted onto a huge Singapore Airlines Cargo Aircraft. The flight leaves at 6.00am tomorrow and will be in Singapore 7 hours later.

The Singapore Government are very excited about the arrival of the horses and have invited many dignitaries to attend the unloading of the horses from the plane and, of course, the world's media will be watching closely. Stay tuned to the blog for more news on the horses trip and their arrival in Singapore!