Managing the effects of the weather on the Equestrian Events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

This paper describes a 3 year project to investigate and manage the effects of the local weather conditions on horses competing in the 2008 Olympic Games. The first part of the investigation involved estimating the expected heat load on horses during competition and suggesting measures to ensure their safety based on data collected from dedicated weather monitoring at both Olympic venues during August 2006, 2007 and 2008. The aim of the second part was to establish a reliable system of point forecasting to monitor and predict inclement weather that might affect the competitions. This involved setting up automatic monitoring systems and exploiting numerical weather prediction models. The monitoring and predicting capabilities were tested by running two ‘virtual’ or simulated cross country competitions in 2006 and 2007. They were further trialled with live horses during the Test Event in August 2007, when a rapid cooling system for horses using shade tents, misting fans and iced water was refined.The results of both parts yielded valuable information which was used to establish a protocol to ensure that horses would not become heat stressed or subjected to dangerous weather conditions. Despite some very high temperatures and humidity, a number of storms and two serious tropical cyclones, there were no disruptions to the competition schedule and no serious injuries or heat stress to the horses throughout the 2008 Equestrian Events.