The world-class showgrounds at Aachen, Germany will house horses for quarantine before the Hong Kong Olympics.

For more than 300 Olympics-bound horses, the familiar CHIO grounds in Aachen?, Germany will be the quarantine site in the run-up of the Olympic Games 2008 in Hong Kong, China. In addition to the jumping, dressage and eventing horses, the horses of the Paralympics participants will also be accommodated in Aachen, Germany.

The horses will be quartered in the stables of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV). ?The quarantine gives the guarantee that the horses are absolutely healthy prior to their journey?, according to Dr. Johannes H?rmeyer, the official veterinarian for the City of Aachen who is in charge of the project.

Martin Atock is responsible for the horses’? transportation to China. The General Manager of Peden-Bloodstock?, one of the world?’s most renowned horse shipping agents, is very satisfied with the situation in Aachen: “?The conditions in Aachen are ideal. The grounds are completely fenced, we only have to add a few more fences. Furthermore, the journey to the airport in Amsterdam is very short.? From the Dutch metropolis, the horses will be flown out to China,” Atock reported.

During the quarantine, the stables, the training areas, the indoor arenas and the Deutsche Bank Stadium will be used?, explains Frank Kemperman, General Manager of the ALRV. Within a radius of 100 meters of the quarantine area, no other horses will be allowed. Horses from about 40 nations are expected to arrive in Aachen for quanrantine, though it is not confirmed yet which nations exactly.

Aachen also served as the quarantine site in the run-up to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and since then served as the site of the World Equestrian Games in 2006.

The Jurga Report thanks Niels Knippertz of CHIO Aachen for these details.