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LONDON - James the horse is in his ritzy digs at Windsor Castle today, resting up before meeting his new owner, Queen Elizabeth. The seven-year-old gelding is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's gift to its honorary commissioner to mark the force's 125th anniversary. He arrived at London's Heathrow airport yesterday following an overnight flight from Montreal. He will be presented to the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday in a ceremony that will include his RCMP handlers and force commissioner Phillip Murray. Air Canada spokewoman Jane Whigham said James' flight was uneventful, but his arrival was fairly exciting. "He's a star now", she said. "He was filmed, he had his picture taken and everyone made a fuss". Not that James would let that kind of attention turn his head. A seasoned veteran of the Mounties' famous Musical Ride, James has been trained to take all the excitement of his new life in his stride. He'll be expected, for instance, to participate in ceremonial events, such as the rich pageant of the annual Trooping the Colour, without letting the crowds and camera flashes spook him. One of his predecessors, Burmese, which the RCMP presented to the Queen in 1969, was Her Majesty's chosen mount for that summertime ceremony for 12 years running. James can only hope to be so honoured. But it is unlikely. At 71, the Queen, once a keen horsewoman, doesn't often ride on horseback through the popular tourist pageant anymore. Since Burmese retired in 1986, she's been driven in a phaeton instead, a sleek, open-air, horse-drawn carriage. So James may play a somewhat different role than was the lot of Burmese and her immediate successor, Centennial, who the RCMP presented to the Queen in 1977. He can, nonetheless, probably expect to hobnob with the rich and famous. He could, for example, carry Prince Charles from time to time, as well as other crown heads, presidents, prime ministers and seriously important people who are frequently the Queen's guests at Windsor Castle. Like all of the Musical Ride mounts, James is a mixture of thoroughbred and Hanoverian - spirited and sturdy. He stands 16.3 hands high. He was born ((! just 10 miles or so up the road from Almonte !)) at Pakenham, outside Ottawa, in 1991. His sire was Gaucho and his dam was Joy. by Aileen McCabe The Ottawa Citizen, Saturday 24th October 1998 janet paterson - 51 now / 41 dx / 37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/ [log in to unmask]