What a year 2012 was for British dressage: two Olympic gold medals followed by the revelation that the best-known horse in the country, Kauto Star, was to try his, well, hoof at the discipline.

When the story broke in December that the then 12-year-old was retiring from racing and being taken under the wing of Laura Collett, a young eventing rider, it sparked inevitable speculation as to whether the five-time King George VI steeplechase winner might make it all the way to the Rio Olympics in 2016.

One bookmaker was reported to be offering odds of 50/1 against him winning an Olympic gold medal.

But is there really any chance of him emerging as the first dual Cheltenham Gold Cup-Olympic winner?

Think about how rare it is for human athletes, such as Rebecca Romero and Alex Zanardi, to reach the absolute pinnacle of two sports.


Is there any reason to think it should be different for equine athletes?

Following a recent conversation about re-schooling racehorses with Yogi Breisner, British Eventing's performance manager, who looks in on Kauto Star on a regular basis, let's just say I would want odds much bigger than 50/1 before taking a punt on this miracle happening.

The chief enemy is time: the horse is 13 now, which leaves a period of around five years during which he could reasonably be expected to retain the physical capabilities necessary to compete at Olympic level.

Yet, according to Breisner, "to produce a horse to top level in eventing or dressage takes approximately five years".

So, even if he took famously to the new discipline, by the time he attained Olympic standard, it would probably be too late.

Although experienced racehorses have much going for them, not least their familiarity with travelling and with noise, Breisner says it can take a while to teach them how to canter.


"Racehorses want to gallop, but riding horses canter," he says.

"Galloping is a four-time beat [ie each hoof hits the floor at a different time during the cycle]. Canter is a three-time beat [with the horse's outside front and inside hind hooves striking the ground simultaneously on the second strike]."

So, he concludes, "the time needed to teach a racehorse to canter can run into months".

Flat racehorses, who might exit the sport at just three or four years of age, have a better chance of reaching the top in a new discipline simply because they have more time.

But they will almost certainly be absolute or relative failures as racehorses, rather than a great champion like Kauto Star, simply because champion Flat racers, like Frankel, perhaps Kauto's only present rival as Britain's best-known horse, tend to be of great value to the breeding industry.

Even if they very rarely get a shot at Olympic glory, however, Breisner believes that most retiring racehorses can be found second jobs.


"The majority of horses that come out of racing can find a job elsewhere," he says.

"But, if they go into dressage, show jumping or eventing, it will be at novice level.

"Very few will go to the top in another discipline, whatever level they raced at.

"For a racehorse it's like going back to school.

"If a horse is good-tempered - and most British racehorses are nowadays, which is a credit to the trainers - the rider doesn't need to be all that experienced.

"As long as you take things step by step, use common sense and study the animal.

"There will be situations where a horse has had an injury that doesn't allow even the smallest competitive activity.

"However, there are a lot of riders who just want to go out and hack, and there are very few ex-racehorses which aren't capable of that.

"The life of a riding horse is so much less stressful on their limbs; they can have a good active life for a long time."

Regardless, then, of where his post-racing existence takes him, Kauto Star has already done less prominent members of his species a favour by publicising that there is plenty of life in old racehorses.

In fact, Breisner says, Kauto Star has started off well in his new life: "He is a delight to deal with and is showing all the qualities and class he had as a racehorse."

He emphasises, though, that "this exercise is not about making him a dressage star; he might not even compete at dressage.

"It is to give him something to do in his retirement."


For those who insist on dreaming, against all odds, that he might just amaze us all by pitching up at Rio, I can point to what, if not a precedent, is an example of a well-known racehorse who got close to top level at an Olympic sport.

Mr Frisk won the 1990 Grand National in a record time that has still not been beaten.

Having retired from racing, like Kauto Star, at 12, he proceeded, under the guidance of Tracey Bailey, his rider, to make it close to the top of the tree in eventing, which combines dressage and show jumping with a demanding cross-country element.

"He was a couple of points off advanced level," Bailey recalls, suggesting that it was the sands of time, rather than reaching the limit of his ability, that stopped the horse progressing still further.

"I have always said whatever sport he went into he would have gone to the top," she says.

"He was a very, very talented horse."

She points out, moreover, that in addition to eventing, Mr Frisk performed to top national level in the sport of team chasing as well.

Whether Kauto Star goes on to emulate such feats of non-steeplechasing attainment, or simply settles down to life as a pensioner enjoying an active retirement, we should thank him for the moments of sheer heart-stopping excitement and wish him well.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.