Twelve more horses will play a part in the Olympic Games, the organisers have announced.
But they will be the envy of the 200 Olympic, 78 Paralympic and 30 modern pentathlon mounts, as their only duty appears to be grazing.
Slum Dog Millionaire director Danny Boyle’s vision for the opening ceremony was last week described as resembling Teletubbyland by some national papers.
He plans to recreate a “green and pleasant land” in the Olympic stadium, complete with maypoles, Glastonbury Tor and horses.
From the model, it looks as though two may be harnessed to a plough, but the rest will be dotted around the stadium grazing, with sheep, cows, goats, various poultry and three sheep dogs.
A spokesman for the London organising committee LOCOG said: “The set will be complete with meadows, fields and rivers.
“It will feature families taking picnics, sport being played on the village green and farmers tilling the soil, while real farmyard animals graze – including 12 horses.”
Although quite how peaceful they will be with a roaring crowd of thousands remains to be seen.
This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (21 June 2012)
