# How an elite racehorse travels by air **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672 "2013-03-22T19:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/1 "2013-03-22T19:08:50Z")
Interesting stuff - and expensive!: [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/sport/air-travel-race-horse-flying-class/index.html?iid=article\_sidebar](http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/sport/air-travel-race-horse-flying-class/index.html?iid=article_sidebar) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/2 "2013-03-22T19:47:33Z")
Cool. We ran into a variant of this when we looked into flying our two Great Danes across the country. I spent an hour on the phone with an increasingly hysterical airline cargo agent as every alternative dissolved in impossible logistics and spiraling costs. Even she couldn’t believe it was a complete “ya can’t get there from here, buddy!” situation. (We drove.) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/3 "2013-03-22T22:24:51Z")
I’ve never actually done it but the company I work for has approval and equipment to carry horses in their cargo aircraft. We can take eight horses I believe, and burning 5500 lbs of fuel per hour plus all the other costs of flying an aeroplane, I imagine it would be very expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/4 "2013-03-22T23:59:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Interesting stuff - and expensive!: [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/sport/air-travel-race-horse-flying-class/index.html?iid=article\_sidebar](http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/sport/air-travel-race-horse-flying-class/index.html?iid=article_sidebar) And I had previously assumed that this [The Black Stallion Revolts by Walter Farley: 9780394836133 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books](http://www.randomhouse.com/book/48077/the-black-stallion-revolts-by-walter-farley) was accurate - teaching me that elite horses that travel by plane routinely end up destroying the plane from the inside with their sheer fury. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/5 "2013-03-23T00:29:16Z")
Check out this [horse insurance policy](http://www.qig.co.nz/cr_data/files/content_files/149/untagged/What_You_Need_to_Know_-_Horse_Policies.pdf) : Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained within this policy or any endorsement thereto, the policy does not cover: 1. Intentional slaughter by or under the order of any government or public or local authority or any person or body having or claiming jurisdiction in the matter or otherwise. Except where: (a) We have expressly agreed to the destruction of the horse, or (b) in the case of humane destruction, or (c) where the horse is destroyed, whilst onboard an aircraft, and such destruction is carried out by or on the order of the authority at the time and later confirmed by sworn statementby said authority that in his opinion the horse was so uncontrollable as to have been a danger to the safety of the aircraft, crew, passengers or cargo. So you have to be prepared to have your own horse put down if all goes badly using air transport. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/6 "2013-03-23T00:38:10Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Check out this [horse insurance policy](http://www.qig.co.nz/cr_data/files/content_files/149/untagged/What_You_Need_to_Know_-_Horse_Policies.pdf) : > > Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained within this policy or any endorsement thereto, the policy does not cover: > 1. > Intentional slaughter by or under the order of any government or public or local authority or any person or body having or claiming jurisdiction in the matter or otherwise. Except where: > > (a) We have expressly agreed to the destruction of the horse, or > (b) in the case of humane destruction, or > (c) where the horse is destroyed, whilst onboard an aircraft, and such destruction is carried out by or on the order of the authority at the time and later confirmed by sworn statementby said authority that in his opinion the horse was so uncontrollable as to have been a danger to the safety of the aircraft, crew, passengers or cargo. > > So you have to be prepared to have your own horse put down if all goes badly using air transport. Wow. I was thinking that “Black Stallion” scenario was pure invention, but apparently, it’s thinkable enough that insurance policies explicitly mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/7 "2013-03-23T02:01:11Z")
I had no idea. Would the “authority” in that situation be the pilot of the plane? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/8 "2013-03-23T03:15:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I had no idea. Would the “authority” in that situation be the pilot of the plane? I would think so. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/9 "2013-03-23T03:26:09Z")
I opened this thread thinking it would be about Anne Romney’s horse flying across the Atlantic to the Olympics, strapped on top of a 747. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/10 "2013-03-23T17:05:34Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I opened this thread thinking it would be about Anne Romney’s horse flying across the Atlantic to the Olympics, strapped on top of a 747. 🙂 What? The Romneys always flew their horses first class. Real barnyard PITAs, too, demanding extra drinks, hoofing the stews on the butt and snickering while leaving horse biscuits under every seat. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-an-elite-racehorse-travels-by-air/653672/11 "2013-03-24T03:00:39Z")
They also always had carry-on saddlebags that were too big for the overhead compartments. And don’t even get me started about how they’d stampede for the door the moment the plane landed.