Into the abyss...

So, Tate and I have met up. He's doing quite well. He had himself a good warm mash (with a side of Succeed and Ulcergard of course!) for dinner, has polished off half a bale of alfalfa in just 24 hours, and had a nice nap in USDA quarantine.

We then proceeded to the cargo area via horse box

where they assembled the cargo stalls, and the "horse pen" which is all portable to allow for easy unloading from the van into the cargo stall.

He is flying business class, so will only be sharing the cargo stall with one other horse instead of 2.

Tate didn't think he should do things quite the way anyone expected (as usual!) and launched  himself in 2 strides from the van onto the "pen" and then into the cargo stall. Great fun! He's a special child!

He then moved on with his buddy to the scales to be weighed, then onto a flatbed and then he'll be hoisted into the airplane, locked into place, and ready for take off.

Check out this video for more details : Olympic Horses fly to Hong Kong on KLM and this one for a diagram of the combined cargo/passenger plane that we will be traveling on : KLM air cargo/passenger plane.

I will sit with him for take off and landing and check on him several times throughout the flight. So far, so good. Tate is definitely the newbie on this flight as the other 7 horses are imported warmbloods (even a pony!) who have flown before. He can tell track stories as they recount their lives in different countries!

So, now we leave JFK for AMS and the internet abyss that awaits. Stay tuned for further updates as the internet is accesible.

Cheers!

The Itinerary...

So, along with all adventures, there must be a grand plan, right? Tate has already embarked on the first leg of his journey, as have I :) We've both arrived in Jamaica, NY safely.

Next, though, should get more interesting. We will leave this evening out of JFK for Amsterdam via KLM plane. We should arrive Amsterdam mid-day on Tuesday at which point we will layover at a Horse Hotel :) Tate will have a stall, and I will have a room.

Then, on Wednesday morning, we will be picked up by John Parker International for our trek to the Hook of Holland where we will board the ferry to the Hook of Harwich. After a 9 1/2 hour ferry ride, we will disembark and head to Parker's yard near the port in the Southwest corner of the UK for the evening.

And finally, on Thursday AM, we will leave from Parker's and head to New Barn Farm in Chedworth.

Stay tuned...

To JFK!

So, we're all now officially arrived in New York for departure this evening. Tate is being delivered to the USDA quarantine barn (after removing his halter so many times on the journey North that the shipper extroidinaire left it off for the remainder of the trip!) and our air cargo is being appropriately handled as well. One stop down, several to go!

I promised I'd blog, so here we go!

Follow Intermediate level OTTB "Wade and Tay" (his friends call him Tate, among other things!) as he ventures to the UK for a year of Eventing competition "across the pond." Joining Tate in his adventure is his owner/rider. She too will have her own journeys about the UK with the B & W Equine Group as a practicing Equine Veterinarian from the US.