Lam said Hong Kong has a wealth of experience in staging international events but it's the first time for them to run an Olympic equestrian event, especially with less than three years to prepare.

Lam said: "Among the 28 sports in the summer Olympics, equestrian events are the most complicated. The decision to move the equestrian games from Beijing was made last July, so time for preparation is tight and we have to race against time.

"But with government and community co-operation and support, I am confident the Olympics equestrian games to be staged here will be a success," said he.

To better understand the organization, preparation and operation of such events, Lam led a team Thursday to a one-week tour to the World Equestrian Games 2006 in Aachen, Germany, which is the biggest equestrian event before the 2008 Olympics.

Lam said the visit will focus on the cross-country contest, including programme rundown, crowd management, security, medical services, adjudication and media arrangements.

"The 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events will last three weeks. Compared with jumping and dressage, the cross-country test in eventing is more difficult and demanding. For audiences, the cross-country test is the most interesting, but for us it is the most intricate in terms of arrangement. Therefore, the event requires thorough preparation, flawless arrangement and sufficient safety measures.

"Hong Kong has extensive experience in horse racing. However, the sport is entirely different from equestrian games. Take dressage for example, competitors are judged on their display of horsemanship skills as they dance their horses to the music using a series of commands for walk, trot and canter. Hosting the Olympic equestrian events is a challenge for Hong Kong."

The Olympic equestrian games will comprise three disciplines - dressage, show jumping and eventing - involving up to 220 horses. Six sets of medals will be fought for in the three disciplines' individual and team events. About 80 horses will compete in the Paralympic Games.

To bring in the horses, discussions with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports on the detailed arrangements are underway.

Lam said: "In the past six months, we have been working meticulously on the quarantine protocol, trying to strike a balance among different stakeholders. We have come to a stage where almost all agree with the detailed arrangements, which are being fine-tuned and will be announced before the end of this year,"

He said that Hong Kong has good experience and credentials in equine health. The city's hot and humid summer weather should not pose serious problems for the animals.

"Judging from past Olympic equestrian games, high temperature is not a problem. Humidity may be a concern but Kuala Lumpur always hosts world equestrian events despite its hot and humid weather, and participating horses have not presented any health problems so far.

"The important thing is to make arrangements for horses to cool down in the shortest possible time after the games. We will make sure such facilities are in order."

Lam also revealed that they are thinking of renting a hotel instead of building a athletes village.

"The hotel's facilities will have to meet International Olympic Committee requirements and it must be in a location convenient for athletes to travel to the competition venues in Sha Tin and Sheung Shui, " said Lam.

So far the closest challenge for Hong Kong is a test event, which will be held next August, one year before the Olympics, to test various aspects of the games, such as competition venues, accreditation, transportation, medical services and event management.

"Although the scale of the test event will only be one-tenth of the Olympic equestrian games, the test run will help us find out problems and have them fixed early. The test event is also one of our work priorities," added Lam.