Officials from the Federation Equestre Internationale joined officials from the International Olympic Committee in Hong Kong in mid-August, evaluating plans to coordinate the three equestrian disciplines that will be held there while the rest of the 2008 Olympics goes on 1,200 miles north in Beijing.

The IOC\’s directors voted in July to move the equestrian events from Beijing to Hong Kong, after Beijing officials convinced them they couldn\’t establish a disease-free zone around the planned equestrian venue in Beijing, as required in the bid the IOC accepted. The dressage and show jumping competitions will be held at the racetrack in Hong Kong, with eventing\’s cross-country phase planned for a golf course about 20 minutes away.

Catrin Norinder, head of the FEI\’s Olympic department, and Leopoldo Palacios, the overall technical delegate for the equestrian events, met with representatives of the Beijing organizing committee and the IOC in Hong Kong on Aug. 23-24. Their goal was to develop a master plan to deal with the logistics and organizational structure needed to pull off this change of plans. An FEI statement said that plan would be published on the FEI website (www.horsesport.org) “in due course.”