Law has also been using a heat chamber at Gloucester University to get himself “warmed up”.”In Athens, any one of six nations could walk away with the gold, more in the individual events” he says. “In the end it’s about riding skill, communication with the horse and the trust you build with it.” His own Olympic horse, Shear L’Eau, is now 12. Their rivalry will be intense, for Kate Allenby turned the tables on Hungary’s Szuzsa Voros, who pipped her for the gold medal at the World Championship in Moscow, to win with a storming finish.
Her Bath colleague and Olympic team-mate Georgina Harland was third and Jo Clarke, who travels as a reserve to Athens, fourth. Britain’s Action Women turned in a five-star performance in yesterday’s modern pentathlon international at Bath University and can now look optimistically towards Athens with the glint of gold in their eyes. While Cutteridge’s pose may be eye-catching, there actually isn’t a real poseur among them.. He has had him since he was five and it was his full brother, Shear H2O, that he rode in Sydney.Eventing may seem a somewhat ?tist world, but its current crop are all friendly, down-to-earth folk, who might well help save Britain’s blushes should the bigger, more publicised pursuits not do the business.

“We are fortunate to have such a strong team, great depth of horses and riders,” he says. “Sometimes you have the quality of riders but you don’t have the horses at the time. Obviously there are other strong nations, and you need luck on the day, but I think we can be confident without being too complacent.”He has walked the cross-country course at the new Markopoulo Equestrian Centre in Athens, which he thinks is excellent. One of the biggest obstacles, besides the fences, will be the heat. To acclimatise the horses they are now being ridden at the hottest part of the day in the afternoon, instead of the traditional early morning. The horses also wear a fleece-type rug to raise the temperature and body heat.

From between the blades I could just about see the disappointed little face of my gorgeous daughter who, just moments before, had been proudly pointing out her dad to her little friends.When it was all over she and I walked back to the school together. She held my hand in a rather sweet way and told me not to worry Apparently she was not embarrassed by my performance Stacey was less convinced. She lagged behind with Jackson trying not to let anyone know we were together. When we got home she told me that I didn’t have to come next year if I didn’t fancy it.On sober reflection, I’ve decided that I will be back. I’ve hired this excellent Bulgarian trainer to pump me full of performance-enhancing drugs. I’ll show them.I actually think the Olympics should be like that.