STOP PRESS
The decision has been taken to continue campaigning Jaguar in Dressage competitions. Louis is confident that he's identified areas of improvement that would put him into contention for a podium finish, despite using a horse whose form is bred to race rather than dance. Winning isn't the be all and end all, but, for me at least, having a realistic chance of finishing well is important, even if the odds are stacked against you. 

If one thinks in terms of professional boxing, where rules apply, if you're 17 weight divisions below the guy in the ring, you'd have to be downright stupid to jump in there and try and fight fair. On the other hand, if the difference is only three or four weight divisions, the odds would still favour the bigger chap, but if your heart is in it, it's well worth giving it a go if there's a benefit to be gained when the final bell rings. 

What I want to avoid is the scenario I encountered with a struggling F1 team a few years ago, the publicity folks justifying the programme (and their existence) by saying: "Millions of people see us on TV every weekend." My response was to tell them that if all those watching only ever see you fail to finish, crash or make up the numbers at best, it's better not to be seen - it's simply wasting time and money, and tarnishing a hard-earned reputation that took decades to establish. That may not be a particularly sporting attitude, but as far as I'm concerned, that's the difference between competition and messing around in an expensive hobby. 

It's certainly not going to be easy with Jaguar, for it seems to me every time you do something to make progress, he steps backwards in another direction as if to balance things out in his head! As it happens, Hannah Shakespeare at Crowood Press told me about a new book the other day called The Difficult Horse, and we had this wonderful idea for a PR photo of Jaguar chewing on the covers - the perfect example of a difficult horse taking a bite out of The Difficult Horse...

It's a credit to the boy, though, that he wants to continue to make his bid for gold with Jaguar, rather than take an easy route. I like that. At the end of the day, he's not far off the pace, and if his desire to compete at higher levels is that strong, on a par with his love of the horse, how can I possibly say no? Good luck to the two of them!