Gill Oliver talks to Olympic dressage champion Emile Faurie at his riding operation near Burford

At Olympic dressage champion Emile Faurie’s farm near Burford, three dogs appear from nowhere and hurtle towards me.

But there is absolutely no barking and plenty of tail-wagging.

Their master, who has represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games, three World Equestrian Games and four European Championships, has planned it that way.

“It’s got to be a welcoming place,” he explained. “Horses immediately pick up on a stressful atmosphere, so I don’t want them to live where there are people shouting and dogs barking.” Aside from his own ongoing international success as a rider, the 49-year-old is much in demand as a judge.

He is also a top-level coach, most notably with the British start and potential squad, our future Olympic hopefuls. The heart of the operation is Heath Farm, home to Emile and 33 valuable horses Five are his, with the rest belonging to others who trust him to train and ride their mounts.

Does he have a favourite? He looks shocked at the idea. “It’s like asking a father if he prefers one of his children to another.”

He spends anything up to seven or eight hours a day in the saddle plus hours more schooling other professional riders in the indoor and outdoor Olympic-sized arenas.

The different skills needed to ride, coach and judge interlink, he believes.

“Since I have been a judge, it has improved my riding because it has helped my understanding of what you see from the ground. “Riding is good for teaching, because you learn to explain things to horses and other riders.

“And watching other riders helps my own technique.”

The 50-acre farm is also headquarters to a charity using riding to turn around the lives of troubled youngsters.

The Emile Faurie Foundation was set up seven years ago, after Emile became concerned riding lessons are too expensive for many children.

He and co-founder Maryanne Horn fundraise and are heavily involved, on a voluntary basis.

Thanks to their efforts, the foundation has helped around 9,000 vulnerable and disruptive children gain valuable personal and social skills.

Emile is visibly passionate about the subject: “The difference it makes to some of these kids is incredible. Some have turned their lives around as a result.

“Horses have an amazingly therapeutic effect on children. “It gets my goat that there’s an enormous lack of attention being paid to kids who are struggling. If we had more funding we could double the number who are riding and help twice as many.”

Quite a few go on to a career with horses but it is not necessarily about that, he pointed out.

“We get hundreds of letters from teachers saying their concentration and attitude has improved. We insist on 100 per cent attendance at school before they can ride and because of that, they turn up every day. That alone improves their academic performance.”

Despite his position at the top of one of the most elitist sports in the world, Emile did not come from a privileged background.

His main contact with horses growing up in South Africa, was watching them on television in cowboy films and he didn’t sit on one until he was 15.

His parents struggled to find the money for riding lessons but it quickly became obvious he was a natural.

He was just 17 when he came to England as a working pupil to a leading dressage rider.

After spending time in Germany learning more about how to recognise horses with potential, he came back to the UK.

During the next few years, he began to make his name and attracted owners who wanted him to ride their horses.

To help him in the mammoth task of caring for more than 30 horses, dealing with owners, vets, farriers and sponsors, he has a team of nine.

Days at the yard start at 7am and usually run on until late, most of it hard, physical work. Then there is the constant travelling to Europe and further afield to compete and coach.

But alongside the grafting, there is plenty of camaraderie.

He pointed out: “I spend so much of my time out here with the horses, I want a fun atmosphere.

“It’s taken me a long time to get here but finally I have a team of people who are so hardworking and incredibly loyal.”

He is clearly delighted to have been asked to be godfather to Max, the son of yard manager Kelly Lainsbury.

Bouncing the three-month-old on his knee he joked: “You are looking at a future Olympic dressage champion here.”

So, after 30 years of competitions, travelling and dragging himself out of bed at the crack of dawn, doesn’t he ever think about hanging up his stirrups for good?

He shook his head: “If you have such a strong passion for something, like mine for horses and riding, it never dies.

“There are cold winter mornings when you have to get up before it’s light and you can feel your body is not what it was 20 years ago — but I never, ever forget how lucky I am.”