IT was the shorthand that convinced Joanna Jackson to cut short secretarial college and embark on a career in horses, writes BRIAN DOOGAN.

"I hated every second of it," she recalls unashamedly.

"I went for six weeks, then left and went full-time into the horses."

Tomorrow she rides on Mester Mouse in the dressage at the Atlanta Olympics so few can argue with her choice.

Part of the four-member British team, she prefers not to tempt fate by over-hyping her chances.

But you sense that there is a quiet confidence burning deep within, a conviction that she is not in Atlanta just for the sun tan.

"We're going out to do our best, nothing more, nothing less," she said emphatically.

"If we do, I'll be satisfied."

Part of that conviction, no doubt, rests on the proven quality of her horse.

Given to Joanna to ride by Lady Joicey when he was an eight-year-old (in 1988 the Jackson family bought a share in him), Mester Mouse replaced in-foal Wooden Top in 1990 as Joanna's ride.

The pair went on to win the National Advanced Medium and Prix St George Championships in the same year.

A spirited horse - Joanna likes to describe him as "15 going on three" - Mester Mouse is boisterous and possesses an abundance of character. He has a tendency to jump from the top of the horse box to the bottom - taking anybody unfortunate enough to be in his way with him.

Always striving to be the centre of attention, he bangs his door at feed times and quickly becomes upset if too much consideration is paid to another animal.

Selected as reserves for the 1995 European Championships, Joanna and Mester Mouse went on to compete and finish as the most successful British combination.

That, as much as anything else, cemented their selection for Atlanta.

"Mousey has grown in himself and shows off now like a veteran," says Joanna.

When I spoke with her the night before she set off for Atlanta, the atmosphere in her Chatburn home was not one you might expect for a departing Olympian.

Red, white and blue bunting lined the driveway but inside the spacious country house, life seemed to be passing as normal.

Joanna was cooking her tea after completing Mester Mouse's training for the day.

Marion, her mother, was busily using her sewing needle to tuck in some light tops that Joanna would need in the heat and humidity of Atlanta. (Between stitches, she was busy making sure this visitor had adequate supplies of tea and an even healthier supply of chat.) And the young kids, Joanna's nephews and nieces, were creating enough din to make their grandmother wish they were catching the next flight to Atlanta as well.

Joanna, herself, was calm, looking forward to her participation in the "Greatest Show on Earth" but betraying few signs of becoming carried away by it.

"I don't think I'll realise it till I get there," she told me.

"I heard of my selection on June 10th and since then it's just been all systems go.

"I've been on such a high and have so much stuff to get ready in such a short space of time.

"Last week I was heavily teaching to build up some money.

"This week I've been on strike in order to enjoy the build-up to going.

"I'll be glad that I can go knowing everything's in order."

In a sense Joanna has been preparing for this moment all her life.

She was competing at County Shows in lead rein classes from the age of four.

At 10, she won the Supreme Working Hunter Pony Championship and went with the British Show Pony Society to Verona in Italy as part of the British Working Hunter Pony team.

She was also longlisted for the junior event team at 15-years-old.

A combination of several of her ponies dying through illness or injury, and finally her horse Top Secret breaking its back, presented Joanna with a dilemma. Devastated and laden with guilt, she decided never to jump again.

"It was a very troublesome and introspective moment," she confessed.

"You grow very attached to your horses and when you see so graphically what jumping can do to them, it weighs very heavily on your mind."

After spending her life surrounded by horses, a clean break from all things equine was inconceivable.

Dressage was a far more appealing alternative.

Wooden Top was bought as an eventer, but Joanna took the horse from novice to advanced level in dressage.

In 1988 she won the Talent Spotting final at Waverton.

She went from strength to strength, taking the Young Rider Open Championship and the Hermes Scholarship, winning £5,000 to spend on dressage training and became one of the top exponents in the country.

"Dressage is a cross between ice skating and gymnastics," she explained.

"It's all about control, elegance and ease of the movements.

"When it's done properly it should appear that nothing's happening, that the horse is doing it on its own.

"There are three stages in competition: the Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special and - the new phase - the dressage to music. "This was introduced to popularise the sport and dressage is now the fastest growing equestrian sport in the country.

"On the continent, though, it's completely different.

"The best dressage exponents are treated like football stars - and paid like them too!

"It takes about five years to train a horse to Grand Prix standard.

"Obviously, you can't make a baby horse do it.

"It comes with progression.

"When you're getting a horse nearer to teaching it piaffe and passage it's a feeling that you're sitting on a controlled explosion.

"The horse wants to go forward and you're saying, 'No, you've got to wait'.

"And it starts to come up more and higher on the trot."

Joanna will be happy to finally let the explosion happen in Atlanta.

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