Man of the Hour: Up Close and Personal with 2013 GCT Champion Scott Brash

Photo: Stefano Grasso/Longines Global Champions Tour

By: Global Champions Tour

Scott Brash is known not only for his impeccable ability to perform under pressure, but also for his candid honesty and genuine charm both as a rider and role model within the sport of showjumping.  Having made Longines Global Champions Tour history as the youngest rider to ever win a season title, Scott is well on his way to joining the British greats such as Nick Skelton, David Broome and John Whitaker in the show jumping hall of fame. His humble persona and honest, straightforward approach to his profession explains why this young Peebles-native is so popular among his fellow riders.

Hailed by Lord Harris as the next David Broome, Scott is proving how rewarding natural talent can be. Now reigning as the 2013 Longines Global Champions Tour season winner and World Number One in the Longines FEI World Ranking, Scott truly is becoming a household name for British show jumping. We spoke candidly with the Olympic and European gold medalist about which riders he looks up to, which international horses he admires and how he came to join forces with two of the most influential and supportive owners in the sport of show jumping.

Besides your own horses, which other international horses do you admire the most?

"I love Cedric. I quite like small horses. He has so much power. Cedric is such a power pack. He has tons of heart. Cedric and Laura have a fantastic relationship, too. Cedric is a horse of a lifetime. He really is fantastic. I love watching him."

As a young rider, you had the opportunity to compete against so many riders that you would have looked up to in your childhood. Who do you look up to and admire the most as a rider now?

"I talk a lot with the British riders and I respect them all individually. Apart from that, I really admire Marcus (Ehning) as a rider. I love watching Marcus ride. His rhythm is always unbelievable and he is just so smooth. Ludger (Beerbaum) and Christian (Ahlmann) - these guys are on the top of their game and the top of the sport. You can always learn things from just sitting and watching them. You can look up to a lot of different riders for a lot of different reasons. You can take a bit from each rider and learn from each. But I do like watching Marcus (Ehning) especially."

Confronted constantly with questions and comments about his cool and calm approach to pressure and his ability, like so many great jockey's before him, to handle tremendous pressure in moments of intense expectation, we asked Scott what he thinks about his nerves of steel.

"I love a bit of pressure. I love it. I think I do need that extra bit of pressure to make me focus. I'm quite a laid back person in a lot of ways and in my attitude in life. I love having a lot of pressure on me. I really enjoy it."

As reigning Champion for this year's Longines Global Champions Tour, holding an Olympic gold medal and two European Championship medals, it was obviously quite an amazing a moment for Scott's career when Lord Harris contacted him a few years ago and offered to buy him a world-class horse. How did that relationship come about?

"Originally, my two top horses were Intertoy Z and Bon Ami. I won the World Cup Qualifier in Toronto on Bon Ami. That next week, when I got home, I got a phone call saying they (Lord Harris and Lord Kirkham) wanted to buy me a horse. I don't know why they picked me, but they said they wanted to buy me a horse and they wanted me to go try Sanctos. They already had Sanctos in mind. It wasn't like I found Sanctos. I had to go try Sanctos and give them my opinion of him. That was how the relationship started."

"The Kirkhams and the Harris' are great friends. They came to me together. They do everything in the horses together. They come to shows together. They are great, great people and I'm not just saying that because I ride for them. Even if, for whatever reason, we ever had to part company, the respect I will always have for those two families is unbelievable. The things they have done for charities, for communities, for schools, they are inspirational people, they truly are."

"I've been quite lucky through my life. I've always had loyal owners and that means the world to me. People that believe in me mean more to me than anything else. I mean even if they can't buy me a top horse or whatever, if they are 100% behind me, then that means more to me than anything else. It really does."

"My owners matter to me the most in my life. Even away from the horses, they have given me so much advice in life. They really are great people. They are lovely. They have been unbelievable for the sport for a number of years. I am really lucky to have them. They mean the world to me."

So, what was it like trying the horse that would lead you to so many Championship and international titles?

"Sanctos had been ridden by Katharina Offel but he had been off for three months. So he hadn't done very much in three months. So it was quite hard to try him because he wasn't 100% match fit. It was quite a tense trial."

"I just gave Phil (Lord Harris) my 100% honest opinion. I actually had never met Phil. He rang me as soon as I got off the horse and asked me, what do you think. I just gave him my honest opinion. It wasn't like I said, 'We have to buy this horse'. I just gave him my opinion of what I thought. I must have been on the phone for a minute-and-a-half with him and then it was done. That was it, just like that. I only got to meet him for the first time about a month after. I went to Olympia and I met him there. Sanctos arrived at my stables and then I flew him off to Florida. I wanted to take my time with him and I thought Florida was the best place for that. So I didn't actually see him until the middle of January. I didn't really see him until Florida."

It is safe to say, that the rest is history. Scott stands as the youngest rider to win a season title since the beginning of the Longines Global Champions Tour in 2006. It is without a doubt this young man has the most incredible future ahead of him and that future includes Hello Sanctos. The 2014 season is quickly approaching and one can be sure that this young Scottish talent will not skip a beat. He will be seeking out his next big Championship win, no matter how high the stakes are, because remember ladies and gentlemen, the more pressure the better.

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