In a few weeks time I will be officiating at a horse trials.
The difficulty with being a judge at any horse trial is that the horses invariably saunter in to the court with a guilty expression.
Seldom do they appear before the judge looking the model of innocence.
‘Yes,’ their faces say, ‘I stole that apple from the tack box’, or ‘I took the quadbike for a spin around the village after a couple of pints too many in the local.’
I know we have the presumption of innocence, but it is still very difficult to remain impartial when their expressions largely say ‘I did it guvnor, it’s a fair cop’.