THE SCENE is reminiscent of Clint Eastwood, in one of those famous spaghetti westerns, turning up on his mule, writes BRIAN DOOGAN.

An eerie silence descends and the lights suddenly go down.

Dust floats through the air.

The man with no name comes to a sharp halt, turns to his dog and spits a gob of tobacco which lands between its eyes.

Unsettled, he pulls a six-shooter, guns down the naive observer who has approached him from behind and shouts out: "Anyone else in this town stupid enough to test my firepower?"

The bystanders erupt with laughter, safe in the knowledge that it's only Accrington's Geoff Billington in cabaret with John Whitaker on their "Simply The Best" tour.

Later, the native of Claremont Road, where his parents still live, will don full dress and regalia and perform impressions of his fellow riders from the showjumping circuit.

Geoff is one of the most respected figures in the game, as well as one of its genuine characters and entertainers, so none of his friends mind him "taking the Michael". But they still chomp at the bit to get their own back.

The ideal opportunity arose on the morning Britain's showjumping team for Atlanta was announced at the Royal Show.

Billington was part of the team, for the first time, alongside three Olympic equestrian veterans, Nick Skelton and the Whitaker brothers, John and Michael.

Before the scheduled press conference, the trio turned up to Billington's room wearing tracksuits and convinced him that was the attire expected for the group photos.

They left, Billington reluctantly put on his tracksuit - which he freely admits suits his figure as much as a bikini might suit roly poly comedienne Jo Brand - and trooped across the arena into the press tent.

Naturally, he was the only one of the four still wearing a tracksuit and the depth of his embarrassment was only matched by his burgeoning waistline. (Okay, so he hadn't worn the tracksuit in a while!)

During the press conference Skelton was asked what it was like falling in the last event that day.

"Well, I finished with muck on my jumper," said Skelton.

"Was that on the outside or inside?" jibed Billington.

He may have been the new (41-year-old) kid on the block but he was not going to be easily outdone.

It will not be easy to outdo him either when the Olympic showjumping competition gets under way in Atlanta on Tuesday. His mount, It's Otto, is widely regarded as one of the finest in the field.

Billington rides the horse well, hands light to the touch.

The relationship between horse and rider has flourished and the star of Billington's ever expanding stable has won an impressive total of £105,174 in prize money to date.

"He's a character," says Billington, who will be joined in Atlanta by his dad, his wife Julie, and James, the eldest of his three sons.

"The bigger the occasion the better he performs.

"He thrives on attention.

"He grows.

"At 10-years-old, he's still quite young but has plenty of experience.

"With such oppressive weather conditions currently in Atlanta, young horses are at an advantage.

"He doesn't like knocking fences down - he seems almost allergic to wood!

"Overall, he's a wonderful horse."

Perhaps it is a touch extravagant to put man's affinity with horses down to years of using them as the sole means of getting from A to B faster than on foot.

But it is a plain truth that there are few spectacles in sport which stir the blood like the sight of a horse at full gallop.

Few activities are likely to empty the pockets quicker either, but the gambling so prevalent in betting rings at racecourses has not, so far, been transferred to equestrianism.

In a discipline in which control over the horse is fundamental, Billington has for 20 years displayed his expertise, both in riding at top level and developing young novices. He attended the riding school in Accrington, under the tutelage of Billy Platt, from the age of 10 and by 16 was committed to a career in the sport.

He served his apprenticeship with Blackpool's David Bowen, then one of the top riders, before establishing his own stable first in Mobberley, Cheshire and later in Nantwich.

"You require a certain degree of natural talent - you have to have feeling for the horse," suggests Billington. "It's not like a man driving a racing car.

"This is two living things together and it's important that the rider works out exactly how the horse ticks.

"In assessing horses you never stop learning.

"Everybody's always striving for a bit more.

"Experience is crucial - the older you get, the better you get.

"And the other guys on the team have been at the top of the sport for nearly 20 years."

Geoff's inaugural International competition was in Poland in 1976 when he was part of the fourth-placed Nations Cup Team riding Talk Of The North, owned by nightclub impressario Joe Pullen.

His next trip abroad, representing Great Britain at the Hamburg CSIO, was in 1981 and since then he has been a valued member of many Nations Cup teams.

But he admits that he thought the Olympics had passed him by.

"I always thought this competition was just out of reach," he said.

"I never felt I would have a horse good enough to compete.

"But It's Otto compares favourably with the best of them and I'm looking forward to the competition."

Atlanta is sure to find the slightest flaw in a horse's fitness and ability.

It's Otto, in the skilful hands of Billington, should measure up on both counts.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.