Julian Lloyd, lead bloodstock underwriter at Hiscox, in London, England, told National Underwriter that the sponsorship "keeps us pretty closely in touch with the people and the changes in the industry; the movement of horses?who's buying, who's selling."

As an insurer this information is "nice to know, especially when you're dealing with an industry where very little is written down in hard fact. It's all about opinions and hopes, really." The sponsorship also "lets people get to know us, as well," he said.

Mr. Lloyd acknowledged that it is also enjoyable, although, he said, "I'd hate for other people to think that we actually had fun at work."

He said Hiscox has sponsored Mr. Davison for more than six years. "We've actually been one of the few fairly long-term sponsors in the equine business in this country," he said. "We sponsored him through one Olympic and hopefully through another one."

As a member of the European Bronze Medal team at the 2003 European Championships, Mr. Davison recently qualified for the 2004 British Olympic Dressage team.

Mr. Lloyd described dressage as a "living art form." The dressage horse does a series of athletic movements on a predetermined course in an arena, he explained. The horses walk, trot, canter, and do a "flying change"?where the horse changes from one lead to the next and back. "It's almost like watching it skipping," he said.

Mr. Lloyd explained that traditionally the great dressage masters in continental Europe were the great cavalry instructors. He said that many of the movements were based on cavalry movements.

Dressage horses do not jump, he said, "They are far too precious." The horses that do tend to jump, are mentally "more like truckers," he joked.

Britton is "improving its dressage, but it's not quite up to the level the Germans have gotten it up to," he said.

The sport goes back hundreds of years, "but if you think about Germany, it's a landlocked nation which has relied on cavalry for centuries. And dressage basically had it's beginnings in the cavalry. England, being an island, had a navy instead," he explained.

Mr. Lloyd said that the equine line is small by comparison to the rest of the company's business, but "it's actually quite an important line."

Many of the people who own horses also own "large expensive houses and large art collections, which are all other areas of specialty of this business," he said.

He added that, "This exposes us to the high net-worth people who we have a specialty division to insure."

As well as supporting Mr. Davison, the specialist insurer also will be working behind the scenes with ground transportation to ensure the best and safest transport once the horses arrive in Greece for next summer's Olympic Games, according to Hiscox.