Speaking during a team get-together at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre in rural Buckinghamshire, Breisner said that whereas four or five teams were normally in contention for the medals, "this year I think we have 10 nations with a chance of getting a team medal".

Two of the teams expected to be firmly in the medal hunt along with host-nation France are Germany and Great Britain, the gold and silver medallists in team eventing at the London 2012 Olympics.

"At the moment the Germans would have Messi and Ronaldo and Neymar in their team," observed Breisner, using a topical footballing analogy to highlight what he sees as the quality of the German horses.

"They probably have two or three of the best five or six horses in the world."

The top six teams in Normandy will secure qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic three-day eventing competition.

Britain's line-up of riders for Caen - consisting currently of Tina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Pippa Funnell, Zara Phillips and Oliver Townend - must constitute one of the most experienced Great Britain teams assembled in any sport and any era.

Three of them, Cook, Fox-Pitt and Phillips, were in the London 2012 team, while Funnell won team silver at both the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Games (the latter along with Fox-Pitt), and the individual bronze medal at Athens.

Tina Cook, William Fox-Pitt and Zara Phillips, who won silver in the team eventing at London 2012, will all compete at the World Equestrian Games ©Getty Images



Cook and Fox-Pitt were on the team that took bronze at the 2008 Olympic competition in Hong Kong, where Cook also won the individual bronze medal.

Breisner expects the cross-country course in France to be fairly twisty in places and quite undulating - "pretty similar to Lexington [in the United States] in terrain".

He suggests that while the weather could be hot, it is unlikely to be humid.

"It is a place we know very well," he says.

"It is a great setting for an event."

The World Equestrian Games are due to take place from August 23 to September 7.