Blair: popular in France

Gift Horse Delights Blair Family

But the Prime Minister's children will not be bringing the animal home to Downing Street with them, as their parents have decided to leave it with a family in France.

The pet, of the Pyrenees Merens breed, was presented to the Blair children by the municipal authorities of Saint-Martin-d'Oydes, where the family are staying at a chateau owned by High Court judge Sir David Keene.

Kathryn, nine, is reported to have been taking riding lessons in Oxfordshire, but has not managed to persuade Tony and Cherie to buy her a pony.

"The municipality offered a horse as a gift to the Blairs," said a Downing Street spokesman.

"It was very much appreciated, but the Blairs will leave the horse with a local family who also have children who are able to ride it," he said.

He was unable to say whether the animal was given to the French family to keep or for safekeeping until the Blairs are able to visit it again.

It is not known why the Blairs decided not to bring the animal home with them, though it is thought they may have been concerned about finding adequate stabling for it in the Downing Street area.

Horses with proper veterinary documentation do not have to go into quarantine on their way into the UK.

The foal was presented during a champagne reception hosted by the municipality alongside the village's war memorial, which was also attended by the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

The experiences of Tony Blair's predecessor John Major suggest that Prime Ministers would perhaps be wise to look gift horses in the mouth.

Mr Major was presented with a highly-strung stallion by the President of Turkmenistan for his 50th birthday in 1993, but gained only a series of diplomatic embarrassments from the present.

First the President took offence as months went by without the £30,000 horse being collected from his stables, then came the long and arduous transportation from the central Asian state and then Maksat was turned down by the Queen's Life Guards as too frisky for use.