After his win in the 2015 Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final, Kent Farrington met the press in Geneva to talk about his breath taking performance that brought him to the top of the podium in this prestigious competition. 

“In a competition like that you have the best riders in the world, and they are all incredibly fast. So going early in the jump-off, I decided I was really going to go for the win and try to put the pressure on everybody else. My horse is very fast, and I ride pretty fast so luckily today it paid off,” Farrington said about his tactics.

On the importance of the final Farrington was clear: “I think all of us here would love to win this class. It has turned into a really special class; they have made big prize money for it and it has become part of the Geneva show. Competing against the best is always special, and with a Top 10 Final you really show case the best in the sport. So, today was a great win for me.”

Although he won the Top 10 Final, Farrington tries to not get too focused on the ranking and where he finds himself on it. “I try and make my year based on the horses that I have, and the competitions where I want them to go well. I think a ranking is a consequence of good results. But, it is not something that I chase or worry about. I try to focus on winning big classes and I try to focus on having my horses on form for those days. I would like to be number one in the world one day, but I think that will happen all by itself without me doing anything different than I am already doing.”

On his winning horse Voyeur, Kent said: “He is a special horse, as I think many top horses are. He is a little bit difficult; he is quite a strong horse with a lot of blood so I think he has gotten better with age and experience. He has gotten more manageable than he was when I started. I try to keep his mind as calm as possible, and the jump-offs are actually easier than the first round because you can kind of let him go at his own speed and he really likes that. So, the first round is always a struggle to keep him calm and I do my best to let him not get too aggressive.”

As to next year and the Olympic Games in Rio, Farrington said modestly: “I think Voyeur has a very good chance, and I also have a couple of younger horses that I think could possibly do it. But, that is still a bit away so we go one step at the time.”

Text © World of Showjumping // Picture © Dirk Caremans/www.hippofoto.be.