Two of Britain's top showjumping horses will now be ridden by Saudi Arabia team members following a number of sales and transfers in the run up to the Olympics.

Old Lodge's Sultan V 

According to a press release from Old Lodge stud, the 10-year-old Sultan V has gone to Wisbeq in Belgium to be part of the Saudi Equestrian team. 

"Sultan V is a once in a lifetime horse and to have bred him makes him even more special," said a report on the stud's website.

In 2009, Sultan V won both the Horse & Hound Foxhunter final and the Grade C Championship, and he began jumping in Grand Prix classes the following year. This year, ridden by Bruce Menzies, Sultan V was selected to jump on the British Nations Cup Team at Lummen, Falsterbo, Lisbon and Gijon.

It was also reported in a statement from Old Lodge that the stud would "maintain its support of the British Show jumping industry".

"Many thanks go to all the people who worked very hard in bringing Sultan V up and special thanks to his trainer Bruce Menzies who did a magnificent job in producing him to this level. Hopefully Old Lodge will have an upcoming star who will participate with the British team in the 2016 Olympics."

Robert Smith's Talan 

Another horse to be joining the Saudi team is Talan, a 12-year-old stallion previouslly ridden by Robert Smith. Talan's new rider is HH Prince Faisal. 

The stallion had been placed in the Hickstead Derby and the Longines King George V Gold Cup, and was part of the winning Nations Cup team in Dublin this summer. He was co-owned by Robert and Di and Pennie Cornish.

While Robert has another Olympic prospect in Ude, Bruce Menzies does not have another horse for the Games. 

Last-minutes sales

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia secured the final qualifying slot for the Jumping competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games on 30 December, at the final qualifying event.

The 15 teams that will compete in London are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and Ukraine.

According to FEI rules, horses entered for the equestrian events at the Olympic Games must have been registered with the FEI as property of owners of the same nationality as the athlete by the deadline of 31 December 2011, hence a flurry of last-minute purchases.

Other horses reported to have changed hands in the lead up to the Olympic deadline include:

Antonio Mariñas' (ESP) ride Al Capone and Svante Johansson's (SWE) Caramell KS both sold to Saudi Arabia

Gregory Wathelet's (BEL) ride Copin van de Broy now ridden Germany's Marcus Ehning

Edwina Tops-Alexander's (AUS) ride Ciske van Overis now ridden by Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa

Nina Fagerström's (NOR) ride Uraquay sold to be the ride of Brazil's Karina Johannpeter

Shane Breen's (IRE) ride Luikka sold to be the ride of Canada's Eric Lamaze 

Christina Liebherr's (SWI) ride Casanova sold to the United Arab Emirates