Text © World of Showjumping

In our series ‘That Special Bond’ – first introduced in 2016 – World of Showjumping highlights what equestrian sport truly is about; the unique connection between horses and humans. Speaking with some of the top names in the sport, we learn more about the horses that have shaped careers, fulfilled dreams – and sometimes even broken hearts. 

This time, World of Showjumping sat down with Great Britain’s former world number one – and the only rider to ever have won the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping – Scott Brash. “Hello Sanctos and Ursula XII have both been very special for me,” the 38-year-old tells WoSJ about the two exceptional horses that found Brash in the most surprising ways. “It is in black and white what they have won, but the day-to-day life with them is what I enjoyed the most; they have been a complete joy to work with.” 

In 2019, Brash announced the retirement of the incredible Hello Sanctos (Quasimodo van de Molendreef x Nabab de Reve, bred by Willy Taets), who recorded Grand Prix victories all over the world, and who is the only horse ever to have won the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping after topping the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva in 2014 and then following up with victories in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen and Spruce Meadows in 2015. Brash and Hello Sanctos were also part of the British team that won gold at the Olympic Games in London in 2012, as well as at the European Championships in Herning in 2013. In Herning, Brash and Hello Sanctos also won the individual bronze medal. However, when Brash first tried Sanctos, he was not sure of championship potential. 

“Lord and Lady Harris as well as Lord and Lady Kirkham wanted to buy a horse with the 2012 Olympic Games in London in mind, and they wanted me to ride it,” Brash recalls about the beginning of what turned out to be a partnership that has written history.

Lord Harris asked me if Sanctos would jump the Olympics? I said 'no, I don’t think he will'

“David Broome and Rob Hoekstra had already found a suitable horse in Germany for me to try – and this was Sanctos,” Brash continues. “Sanctos was nine at the time, and I think he had had a bit of a break – he had not shown for a couple of months, so he had not jumped that much. After trying him, I felt like we clicked as a partnership, like we got to know each other in that short time and it felt good."

"However, Lord Harris asked me if Sanctos would jump the Olympics? I said 'no, I don’t think he will' – I had jumped a championship before and I didn’t feel Sanctos had that championship scope in him. He then asked me did I think he could win a World Cup qualifier and I said yes, in time I think he can. He said 'okay, then we will buy him' and he took a chance on us. Lord and Lady Harris and Lord and Lady Kirkham decided to buy Sanctos – and the rest is history, as they say.”

“Sanctos is an incredible horse,” Brash continues. “I think he is one of the best horses there has ever been. Being able to win Olympic gold, the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, and to win classes in small and tight arenas like Miami, but also at venues such as Aachen and Calgary, shows how much diversity he had. He is the most clever horse I have ever worked with and I think that is what makes him so special. Just being around him on a daily basis, the feeling I had working with him made him a special horse for me.”

I think I never had such a good feeling on any other horse than I had on Sanctos, in a sense that we knew each other 100%

“I think I never had such a good feeling on any other horse than I had on Sanctos, in a sense that we knew each other 100%,” Brash continues. “I could do things in the ring with him that are not possible with any other horse. It got to a point where he knew exactly what I wanted and would respond to anything I asked him to do: He really let me ride him. Even though he had an unconventional way of doing things, he just knew where the wood was, and loved winning, loved the sport. The confidence between us was so good that back then – when many of the Grand Prix orders for the jump-off were based on the fastest time from the first round going last in the jump-off – I always wanted to be last to go and would ride the first round with that in mind. I was last to go in so many Grand Prixs and I think that showed the confidence we had together.”

However, despite their seamless partnership and great successes, there were challenges as well. “I would say that Aachen was the most challenging ring for him,” Brash recalls. “He was scared of this arena, with the big water feature back in the corner – he just never felt that comfortable in this ring. When I first brought him to Aachen, he felt terrible. It was a challenge to get him around, and as I was scratching my head afterwards Kathi Offel – who used to ride him before me – told me about her experience with him there and that he didn’t like the ring. That helped me understand the situation better.”

“So, ahead of Aachen in 2015 when I was trying to win another Major, my plan was to bring Ursula but she was not fit – which meant it had to be Sanctos. In the build-up, I picked shows most similar to Aachen – like Hamburg – as a preparation.”

It shows how special a horse he is; winning on a Sunday with the feeling that this wasn’t his favorite ring to jump in

“I remember working him in the ring, thinking he felt ok,” Brash explains about the beginning of the big week in Aachen in 2015. “However, as I cantered around the water, and then passed the gate, he just tried to run out. And that was on day one!"

"I jumped him quite a lot in the ring that week, and the first round in the Grand Prix was good, but just good. The second round, I felt him jump fantastic, but when I got on him for the jump-off, I worried I had ridden and jumped him too much. When we went into the ring for the jump-off, he grew and the adrenaline got up on him, and he probably did one of his best rounds in that jump-off to win it. It shows how special a horse he is; winning on a Sunday with the feeling that this wasn’t his favorite ring to jump in. He has been a horse of a lifetime for me – as has Ursula.” 

Another special horse for Brash is Ursula XII (Ahorn x Papageno, bred by J. & M. Turnbull/Ashton Stud). Together, Brash and Ursula won the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix of Mexico City in 2018, the CSI5* Grand Prix of Doha in 2017 and the CSIO5* CN International presented by Rolex at Spruce Meadows in 2016 – as well as recording numerous podium finishes in prestigious Grand Prix classes worldwide. In 2018, after finishing 6th in the CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva, Brash announced Ursula’s retirement.

I think I will always have a soft spot for her

“I could talk about her and Sanctos forever,” Brash says. “Ursula was an incredible horse for me, and still is – I think I will always have a soft spot for her. She is part of our breeding program at the Hello Stud now and has produced some lovely, lovely horses; thankfully her fantastic temperament and willingness to work is what she seems to pass on to her progeny. I think there is no other horse than her that could have walked out of a ring like Aachen or Spruce Meadows, the biggest courses you will ever face, and give you the feeling that it was easy. They could build what they wanted, it didn’t matter sitting on her. She was ranked as the number one horse in the world before Sanctos was, she was just so consistent. She came second in many big classes, and the first five-star Grand Prix she won was not until she was sixteen.”

“Ursula got injured in 2014 and was out of the sport for two years,” Brash continues. “They had to do an operation to tidy up a ligament and ended up scraping away more than they had hoped of that ligament. She was given a 20% chance of making it back to the sport. She came back, and she won more than she ever did in her entire life – including the CN International presented by Rolex in 2016. The same year, she placed second in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen and third in Geneva – which was my fault, I was 0.4 seconds away from winning. She did all this at 16, very nearly winning the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. It just shows what a big heart she has and how strong a mare she is. Even today, she is 23 and instead of standing in her shelter when the weather is bad, she’s out in the middle of the field striding about as tough as you like; she’s an incredible horse. It is nice now to hopefully bring her qualities on to a next generation with our breeding.”

As with Sanctos, the story behind Ursula ending up with Brash is an unusual one. “Ursula was in Scotland with Mark Turnbull, whose family had bred her,” Brash recalls. “I first saw her as a five-year-old. I remember standing at a show saying to my dad what a cracking mare I thought she was – and my dad said we should ask if she was for sale. We know the family well, but they were not keen to sell her."

"Years went by, and a couple of people asked me if I knew a nice horse. One day, when Peter Charles told me he needed to find a really good horse for a young rider – and this was many years after I had first seen her – I told him I knew a perfect horse, an amazing mare called Ursula. However, she was still not for sale. A year later, Nick Skelton asked me did I know of a good horse for a client – and again, I recommended Ursula and her owners again chose not to sell. However, eventually Lord and Lady Harris and Lord and Lady Kirkham ended up buying Ursula for Tina Fletcher, two years before they bought Hello Sanctos for me. I met them through Sanctos, and then a year later, they asked me to ride Ursula as well. So, she kind of went full circle, but for me it felt like we were sort of meant to be together in the end. She was twelve when I got her, after having loved her since she was five.”

For me it felt like we were sort of meant to be together in the end

“I don’t think people realize how small she is,” Brash continues to speak about Ursula. “When she was competing, she was so scopey and careful, and her stride was massive. At the start, it used to get us in trouble as it was easy to run too deep on her. It took me six months to a year to really get a good partnership with her, but when we clicked, she was so consistent, she jumped clear after clear. She has such a good nature, such great willingness to work.”

“Ursula retired at the end of seventeen,” Brash tells. “I thought she still felt amazing, but the sport is so demanding these days and both Sanctos and her are not the type of horses you are going to drop down a level just to carry on. I always put pressure and a responsibility on myself to be able to retire my horses in good health. She was retired in Geneva after placing 6th in the Grand Prix there having one down in the jump-off or else winning, so she really finished her career at the top and that is something I am very happy about.”

“The hardest horse to get to know would have to be Hello Jefferson (Cooper van de Heffinck x Irco Mena, bred by Bernard Mols),” Brash says.

With Hello Jefferson, Brash has taken five-star Grand Prix wins at venues such as Valkenswaard, Stockholm and St. Tropez as well as countless top placings. In 2022, the two won the CSI5* World Cup in London, placed second in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen and were part of the bronze winning British team at the World Championships in Herning.

I probably spent more hours in my life riding him than any other horse I’ve ever worked with

“When I tried him, I could feel the quality straight away, but he was very sharp,” Brash recalls. “He is clever, but strong minded and he has so much quality that it took a bit of time just to really understand and know one another. He had all the talent, but the rideability and everything else on him took time to get ironed out. I probably spent more hours in my life riding him than any other horse I’ve ever worked with. He takes a lot of work; he is cheeky and has such a busy brain. He has to be doing something all the time, and if you are not getting him out of the stable 3-4 times a day then that is not going to work for him.”

“I have always thought that he has the quality to win any Grand Prix in the world,” Brash continues. “He is capable of doing that, but to actually achieve it takes a lot of work, time and patience. However, he is very, very talented, and I would say the horse that took the longest for me to gel with. Today, I feel like we really understand and know each other well. When I walk a course, I can imagine how he will see it. He is intelligent, very aware of everything. He feels in good shape at the moment and now it is just about trying to get those results I know he is capable of.”

“I tried Imperial when he was 6-years-old,” Brash tells about the now 11-year-old Imperial Hbf (Glasgow vh Merelsnest x Original VDL). “My friend Alex Barr produced him and did a great job with him. Imperial was a big, weak horse when I tried him, but I thought he was very scopey and careful. Even though I liked him, he just wasn’t my usual type."

He passed me by back then to my regret

"He passed me by back then to my regret, but a couple of years on I was sitting with my friend Tim Gredley at the show in London. As he was looking for a good horse, he asked if I knew of something and I told him that there is a cracking horse here in the two-star classes with Alex. I told Tim to watch him, and explained how I had tried him and liked him and he that had jumped clear after clear since then. Tim saw Imperial and bought him. I’m delighted, because Tim has a great horse and Imperial has gone on to achieve great things – with the best still to come.” 

18.7.2024 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.