HORSING AROUND
Not a Thoroughbred in sight today, other than a cookie and a pat on the nose for the favourites, but Louis had his first proper jumping lesson in the afternoon, so it may as well be recorded for the family archive. Who knows - if he makes the Olympics one day, we can look back on this moment as the starting point!

As it happens, it was watching a show-jumping event at Higashi-Kanto that first got the boy interested in riding, although Dressage became so much fun, jumping has hardly been mentioned in the two years since he started. But with Jaguar resting for the day, the hard lesson was reserved for Heart - a young Hanoverian being honed by Tokoro's Megumi Bamba as a jumper for the future.

Well, today, Louis fell off twice. But after brushing the sand away, he wants another go tomorrow and he's already talking about competition entries, so all told, it looks like the enthusiasm wasn't dented, just a little pride!