Horses at the Olympics and Paralympics

Pre-competition:

With horses from 40 different countries on 6 continents it is no wonder prevention of disease is taken so seriously.  The screening process for the horses are even stricter than the riders!  They start with an initial health check off-site which is carried out by a veterinary team to make sure they have no signs of infectious disease or injury. This is standard bio-security procedure at all international events.  The horses are reloaded, and the ramps and doors are then security sealed with tape from the outside.They are escorted to the Olympic park then straight to their stables and given a complete health check by an official from FEI.  They are then checked against their passports to check if it is the horse the passport claims it to be.  They then have a 24-hour veterinary team incase anything does happen. There are four supervised treatment boxes, overseen by the FEI veterinary commission, where onsite experts provide a range of treatments including endoscopy, radiography, ultrasonography and physiotherapy.

During Competitions: 156 jumping horses were tested for hypersensitivity just before the show jumping and the only one that failed was Victor, belonging to Tiffany Foster . He has a small nick on the coronet band, a fleshy ring where the hoof joins the leg. He was disqualified much to team Canada's distress leaving them with only 3 team members putting pressure on all 3.  So hypersensitivity is one of many tests carried out among with detecting heat to try and detect where trying to cheat is happening, however this can cause problems when boots and bandages rub.  The horses are also subjected to multiple health checks especially during the cross country to make sure the horses are in optimum condition to try and prevent as many falls and injuries as possible.

The stables are outfitted with closed-circuit television cameras and round-the-clock security, and the lights go out from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. (midnight to 5:00 the night after cross-country) to give the horses a chance to rest. If a groom, say, wishes to enter a stable during the nighttime hours, he or she must be escorted in and out by an FEI steward to ensure proper security.

So it appears horses at the Olympics in 2012 are looked after more than their riders are and it isn't as simple as just seeing what happens in the ring.  Many people are behind the scenes making sure those horses are at their peak condition and to ensure there is no advantage to any riders.