Ben Maher is determined to see British showjumping recapture "the glory days" that have deserted it for too long.
Maher should be confirmed in the next few days as part of Great Britain's London 2012 showjumping team.
The Hertfordshire-based rider, an Olympian four years ago, looks set to be joined by Nick Skelton and Scott Brash at Greenwich Park, with probably Peter Charles or Tina Fletcher completing the quartet.
Team chief Rob Hoekstra and his fellow selector Di Lampard are currently putting the finishing touches to a team on which British Olympic hopes will be pinned.
Both the dressage and eventing teams are widely expected to be serious London medal contenders, with star performers like Carl Hester and William Fox-Pitt additionally challenging strongly for individual honours.
The showjumpers could also make a mark - they were European team bronze medalists in Madrid last September - even if recent Olympic history suggests otherwise.
It is 28 years since Britain won an an Olympic showjumping team medal, while 1972 was the last time they enjoyed an individual podium finish.
Britain collected five individual Olympic showjumping medals between 1960 and 1972, courtesy of David Broome (twice), Peter Robeson, Ann Moore and Marian Coakes, but the cupboard has been largely bare since then.
"We need to get our sport back to the glory days," Maher told Press Association Sport.
"I remember when I was just a kid and being mesmerised by all of those big name riders and dreaming of being there and competing at the highest level one day.
"Things have slipped back. While other countries have raised their game, perhaps we stood still, but our sport has a long history in this country.
"We need one thing just to lift it, and then hopefully we will be a bit more centre stage.
"It is going to be difficult to win a medal. The fences are big, there are good teams, but home ground in London is something that needs to be taken full advantage of.
"British dressage has been very strong the past few years, eventing has always been strong, but if anything the showjumping has probably been down a little. We are making a comeback, though.
"Maximum effort has gone in to try to put a team together. We have great riders, and I think times have got to change at some point. We are on the up."
Former British number one Maher helped Britain to European team bronze nine months ago, while he also contested strongly at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 Europeans before encountering final round difficulties.
And his form on Tripple X III - they have won the Olympia World Cup and Valencia Global Champions Tour events in recent months - bodes well for London.
"The European Championships last year gave me great confidence in my horse and it showed Rob Hoekstra the type of things my horse can do. That was kind of goal one," he added.
"And then moving on to Olympia, the horse showed he had really grown up a lot to win the World Cup.
"He had a relatively easy January and February, which was always planned because it is a long season, but we stepped up the pressure a little bit on him recently and we had the Valencia grand prix victory.
"I've been with the horse from the start. We've had our moments, but he has always been a good horse. We needed to prove we were a good enough combination to be in with a chance of making the Olympic team.
"But also, it was about just keeping enough back so we did not peak too early. I don't feel that I could have done any more at this stage."
If, as expected, 29-year-old Maher gains London selection, it will see him return to the Olympic stage ready for a medal assault that proved agonisingly out of reach four years ago.
"Beijing was a real whirlwind for me," he said.
"I pushed hard to get there, and we had a good Games, although it was a very disappointing final round in the individual competition, which I have never really got over, to be honest.
"We were so close - five or six jumps off a medal - and it all went a little bit wrong, but that's horses.
"And then there were the Europeans in 2009 with Robin Hood. We were in a medal spot until the last round, so I have kind of knocked on the door twice.
"I know now what it takes to be ready at the right time, and I have firm belief in my horse.
"Rob Hoekstra has done an amazing job in working with us in terms of producing the horses at the right time, and I hope I am a part of it in London - it is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
