Inspirational talk with Scott Brash at Gothenburg Horse Show

During Gothenburg Horse Show, Lövsta Future Challenge hosted a get together with an inspirational talk together with top rider Scott Brash. The invited audience got to know Scott, his story and how he has made his way to the world top.

-"There are many different ways and paths to become a successful rider. My advice is to take in as much as you can, look at different systems, and take in what you believe in. It is important to have a good relationship with your team and care about, see them, appreciate, talk to the team about everything possible.", Scott Brash says.

Scott Brash has not made his rider career the traditional way, h a as a pony and youth rider. He did ride, but it wasn't about any big competitions. It was only in adulthood that he took the first steps towards a career as a competitive rider.

In the first years, he was employed at a Brendon Stud. There were many hours in the saddle and lots of jumps in the body, at most he jumped 23 horses in one and the same day!

Alexandra Mörner, who led the conversation, asked how it went when he started his own business.

-"I started by buying three horses for 2100 euros per horse. I put a lot of time and hard work into developing them and they started delivering results. From there I could start building something real. Instead of selling them too early I kept them and managed to move up in the sport. It was clearly a gamble and I turned down good offers. But for my long-term career it was absolutely the right decision to keep them," he explains.

The story of Sanctos

In November 2011 Scott received a call from Lord & Lady Harris who wanted to buy a horse that could go to the Olympics and they wanted Scott to ride. Scott test rode Sanctos (Quasimodo Van De Molendreef – Nabab De Reve) and his first impression of Sanctos was that he felt cautious, wise and pulled a little to the right in the jump. The prospective buyer then asked on the phone; Can you ride the Olympics with my horse? No, Scott replied. But can he win the World Cup? Yes, Scott replied, and so it was a deal and the start of what has become a long-term collaboration. Scott took team gold at the 2012 Olympics (with Santos) and in 2015 he made history by becoming the first rider ever to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping after winning the three events in a row in Aachen, Geneva and Spruce Meadows.

Scott has been ranked number 1 in the world and won the Longines Global Champions Tour two years in a row, in 2013 and 2014.

Lord and Lady Harris of Peckham and Lord and Lady Kirkham are all part of the successful "Hello stables" that own many of Scott's horses.

-"It's hard to find good horse owners, you have to be open, talk to people, work hard, take care of the horse and do the right things and hope that the right person sees what you're doing and wants to be a horse owner," says Scott.

Another horse that has meant a lot to Scott's international success is the mare Ursula XII (born 2001 Ahorn-Papageno), when the mare was 15 years old she won her first Grand Prix jumping together with Scott. It wasn't just any Grand Prix, but the one with the highest prize money historically of 3 million dollars, 1 million of which went to the winner. Ursula XII together with Sanctos was retired in 2019 and Ursula XII has since produced five fine foals and all have her lovely attitude to work.

Scott concludes by sending some final good advice to the Lövsta Future Challenge finalists:

-"The key to success is hard work. Many have started with little and still work hard every day. There is so much to learn in our sport, you learn from horses, riders, everyone you meet. Have a good partnership with your horse, make sure to get to know it and understand it. When you win or have success, enjoy the moment but the next day, keep working hard!"