The Hong Kong Jockey Club said Thursday that they will arrange modern fleet of horse floats for the transportation of the Olympic equestrian horses, to give them safe and comfortable rides.

At a media briefing on Thursday, the Jockey Club showed the local media their advanced air-conditioned horse transport lorries which will be used for carrying the Olympic horses from the Hong Kong International Airport to the competition venue at Shatin and from Shatin to the venue located at Beas River.

The Club's Administration Manager Vincent Wong said that one lorry can accommodate nine race horses at most at a time. During the Olympic Games, each lorry will carry a maximum of six horses to give the animals more room.

The temperature of the horse section of the lorry is 21 degree Celsius, which is lower than the Olympic stables as the lorry temperature is more readily variable.

Wong said that horses get nervous easily when staying in narrow spaces and that they might hurt themselves by kicking and bumping into the walls. Therefore, there are rubber mats lining the walls and floors of trailer to avoid them to be hurt.

A speed monitor and an impact sensor were installed inside the lorry tractor to monitor the vehicle's speed and centrifugal force respectively. The speed of the lorry will be maintained at about 70 kilometers per hour.

Besides the lorries, the fleet, which will be escorted by the police motorcade, will also include horse ambulances, veterinary car, maintenance care and other vehicles.

"During horse racing seasons, our transportation team transport horses from the airport to the race courses at the city center, the procedure will be more or less the same as what we will do in transporting Olympic horses," said Wong, adding that he was confident that the Club will get the job done smoothly.

According to the Club, the first batch of Olympic horses will arrive at Hong Kong on July 26.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2008)