The Race to Evacuate the World's Elite Horses from the Iran War

Transporting elite horses across borders is usually a carefully choreographed exercise demanding weeks of meticulous planning.

When Iranian missiles lit up Gulf skies in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes, the whole playbook had to be ripped up.

Nearly 150 of the world’s elite horses were in Qatar for the Longines Global Champions Tour of Doha, part of the world’s top show-jumping circuit.

The riders and their teams knew they needed to get their prized horses, which can carry price tags of up to several million dollars each, out of harm’s way.

“As soon as the bombing started, we wanted to send the horses on the first flight home,” said French rider Lara Tryba, who was in Doha with her horses Memphis and Shot Gun.

The Iran war had turned one of the world’s most rarefied sports into a high-stakes evacuation mission—one that would be filled with logistical obstacles including soothing jumpy horses, scrambling for last-minute cargo flights and navigating Belgian bureaucracy.

Read the rest of the story . . .

Georgi Kantchev | March 14, 2026 | The Wall Street Journal

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This story reminded me of when General George Patton saved all the Lipizzaners and a few other breeds from extinction during "Operation Cowboy." The Lipizzans were beautiful white horses trained to do dressage and "airs above ground" movements. I attended these Royal Lipizzans Performances more than once as a young girl.

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