Well now … I guess now we know why Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t have time to hang out with his buddies Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong here in SoCal these days … Jakey poo has been bizzy training in the UK for his upcoming role as Prince Dastan in his new movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (which is based on the video game of the same name). Here are a few pics of Jake as he practices his horseback riding skills somewhere in England earlier today:

I’m actually very surprised that Jake has to prepare at all for any role on horseback … did he forget all of his training from working on Brokeback Mountain with Heath Ledger? Tsk Tsk. Well, I suppose he didn’t have to wield a sword while riding on top of a horse (tho, if memory serves, he may have learned how to wield another kind of sword in those steamy tent scenes) so I guess some training is in order. Le sigh. I forgot how good Jake looks sitting atop a bucking bronco. I hope we get to see more training pictures of Jake over the coming weeks. Shirtless jousting, perhaps? ;) Just as long as he butches things up a bit …

… the limp-wristed look does nothing for him.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]