Welcome to the Lima Lowdown! To introduce myself, I’m Jessie Christie, the Media Attaché for the Canadian Equestrian Team in Lima. I’m proud and honoured to be part of the ‘team behind the team’ – and each day of the Games, I’ll be bringing you exclusive stories and photos from our Canadian athletes, grooms, owners, and team personnel here in Lima.
Have you ever wondered exactly how it works to have horses flown around the globe for competitions?
Horses on planes has long been an interesting topic amongst horse people and the general public alike – probably because the thought of an animal the size and strength of a horse casually boarding a plane and jet-setting around the world is an intriguing one!
In honour of the Canadian Eventing Team horses, Mississippi (Dana Cooke), FE Golden Eye (Colleen Loach), Pavarotti (Jessica Phoenix) and Fernhill Wishes (Karl Slezak) having arrived to Lima, I had the pleasure of meeting Tim Dutta of The Dutta Corporation, who was kind enough to shed light on the ins and outs of this fascinating industry that is such a vital part of top equestrian competition like the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games.
Here, straight from the horse transporter’s mouth, is an inside look at how the elite equine athletes of the world travel to Games.
Tim Dutta, owner and founder of The Dutta Corporation, is responsible for the air and ground transportation of not only the CET horses, but all horses competing at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games.
Photo Credit: © EC/Jessie Christie
I have been appointed the logistics manager of the 2019 Pan American Games at Lima. I’m grateful and honoured to be part of these Games.
My responsibility is to manage the overall import/export of horses, feed, forage, supplements, goods of trade, medical equipment, etc. Also to manage the truck flows, loading and offloading at the airport, making sure the convoys get here on time, and in general, managing everything to do with the arrivals and departures of horses from all over North and South America for these Pan Am Games.
Airplane selfie! Jon Garner and Fernhill Wishes.
Photo Credit: © EC/Jon Garner
The Dutta Corporation is based in the United States. We are in Wellington, FL, the heart of the horse capital, as well as in New York. Our company was born 32 years ago, in 1988. I came here from India to spend the summer vacation in New York in 1984, after I graduated high school, in between joining the army. But, I never joined the army. I never went to college.
I was meant to go to the United States just for three months. My father was in the army in India, and at that time he was commanding a regiment. So, I had to make sure that his son wouldn’t join his footsteps, and I was very ginger in giving him the news that I loved America, had fallen in love with it, horses were always my dream – and I didn’t want to go back to India and join the army. Of course, we didn’t have family in the States. We came from a humble background and didn’t have the money. But like people say, if you want it bad enough, you find a way. And, I found a way to live and make the States my home.
In four years’ time, I had done multiple jobs, from grooming to being a truck driver, and I discovered that there was the need for a horseman in the equestrian transport world and not freight forwarders – who just did it as part of a portfolio of their moving goods. And the rest is history.
Today, we are a worldwide company, operating in 16 different countries. We do all the top global sports, from Global Champions Tour to the FEI World Equestrian Games, including last year in Tryon, to the World Cup Finals, which we’re doing again next year in Las Vegas. Plus, in our daily business we put about 6,000+ horses a year in the air. So it’s a large business, and I have an amazing team behind me that makes me look good. We keep it up, and every day is a new challenge because we are doing something, somewhere, that is fun and exciting. We love to see our clients winning, whether it’s at Aachen or Spruce Meadows or Lima.
Canadian eventing horses, Mississippi (left) and Fernhill Wishes (right), checking out their flight digs.
Photo Credit: © EC/Jon Garner
For Lima, 141 horses have flown here from 18 different countries in North and South America. Our main hub of operation has been Miami, FL, with about 51 horses flying in and out there.
Once the team were named, I started dealing with the team veterinarians, discussing pre-travel logistics. And we spoke to each and every groom to get a feel for the horses. Most of them we knew, but some are joining us for the first time. The actual day of the flight is pretty simple. They get a pre-export quarantine, stabled with the USDA keeping an eye on them and managing them. Once that happens, we get into our operational mode.
We discuss and confirm if the plane is on time, and based on that timing we start loading the horses at the quarantine facility. Then they get driven to the airplane. They’re loaded onto the aircraft. We use an Avianca 330-200 freighter airbus – so a very comfortable plane, and the flight is five hours and 10 minutes from wheels up to touchdown.
Pavarotti (left) and FE Golden Eye (right), snacking away on board an Avianca 330-200 freighter airbus.
Photo Credit: © EC/Jon Garner
Once the horses arrive, I greet them at the airport plane-side. We bring them to an offloading area – which we are lucky that we are using the military base here, the presidential air squadron, so we have full access to whatever we need. And that’s just amazing that we can get this kind of access in Lima for our horses’ health and safety. There is about a two hour offloading process including the horse equipment, which in any standard is pretty swift. And it is a 45 minute drive from the airport to the venue, with police escort.
We are operating in a new environment in Peru because it didn’t previously have the infrastructure. We had to reinvent the wheel here, and organize the health certificates, and the waivers to bring in hay and feed from the States. There is a lot of development here and it’s been an amazing journey because the people I’ve met along the way, and the local Peruvian team, are amazing.
Dutta Corp. staff preparing CET eventing horses, Pavarotti (left) and FE Golden Eye (right) to de-plane.
Photo Credit: © EC/Jon Garner
Peruvians are horse people. They love horses, and the venue is truly world class. In any environment, I’ve not seen such a beautiful horse show venue with the top footing, top sport and top stables and infrastructure. And it has one of the finest hospitals designed inside the venue, so you don’t have to go more than 10 feet away from your stables to get veterinary services, if that’s what you need. It’s very rewarding to see all the athletes moving in to the venue, and amazing to see them putting their best foot forward in competition.
All of these horses are here to represent their country, and the Pan American Games is a very important step before the qualification of the Olympic Games. So, most nations bring their very best athletes and riders. It’s an honour and a privilege to join the Olympic movement – for every athlete, that’s what they dream about. So, it’s my job to make sure to understand what the horse needs, and then understand the psychology of the team and its riders. And each is different, so we are here to assure them we will do our very best.
Horses are the most prized possession they have, and attending a Games is a dream that they wait for all their lives. We are here to be their partner and to bring them here safely. And, of course, we have also already planned ahead on how to get them home safe so when they are finished competing, the horses can get in their trucks, through quarantine, and everyone can go home to celebrate.
I was happy to see the horses all get off the truck, they look fresh. They’re ready to go and I hope each and every horse has a chance to have their career best performances.