There is some precious cargo in the air right now, high above the Atlantic. Following the first of several chartered flights that are part of the largest commercial airlift of horses in history, the next passengers — event horses from the Australian, British, Dutch, German, Italian, New Zealand, Swedish teams — arrived at Liège Airport in Belgium ready for their turn to take to the skies.
The horses spent much of yesterday on a trailer en-route to Liège ahead of the flight and then spent a the night resting at the airport’s Horse Inn before being locked and loaded into the customized stalls for the specially-designed Boeing 777 freighter aircraft that they are traveling on. The flight will touch ground in Greenville, South Carolina later today and the horses will subsequently be transported to the Tryon International Equestrian Center by trailer.
Thanks to the magic of social media, we can get a peak at what it looks like to pack up and send off some of the world’s top athletes. Bon voyage, horses! Take a look: