‘Great to have him back’: Scott Brash’s top horse makes comeback after injury

One of British showjumper Scott Brash’s top horses, Hello Senator, has made his return to five-star competition, a year after he picked up an injury.

Lady Harris and Lady Kirkham’s 13-year-old gelding was back in action at the London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) last weekend (19-21 August). He picked up four faults in the opening CSI5* two-phase, going on to jump clear in Sunday’s speed class where the pair finished seventh to winner Belgian rider Gilles Thomas.

Their appearance on home soil came a fortnight after Scott Brash and Hello Senator made a low-key return to international competition at the CSI2* in Lier, Belgium.

Senator was injured when competing as part of the British team in the Nations Cup of St Gallen in Switzerland in June of last year. The competition was run in bad weather and the British team withdrew at the halfway point; performance manager Di Lampard stated: “The conditions were out of our control and not the best today.”

Scott Brash: ‘It’s all about giving him the best chance of a full recovery’

Scott told H&H after his appearance in London: “He feels good – we’re still at an early stage, we’ve just done a couple of shows now, but he’s happy and it’s great to have him back.”

“The ground wasn’t great in St Gallen and he picked up an injury there,” explained Scott. “So we’ve just taken our time with him and tried to bring him back properly and as good as we can. It’s all been about giving him the best chance at a full recovery from everything.”

Hello Senator has been one of Scott Brash’s leading performers since joining his yard in 2017 as an eight-year-old.

The duo finished third in the prestigious young horse final at Aachen that year and have since gone on to win a four-star grand prix in St Tropez in 2019 with podium finishes in the Stuttgart World Cup qualifier and the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva.

Scott Brash, who is fresh from his bronze medal-winning team performance at the World Showjumping Championships earlier this month, is back in action this week at the CSI5* Stephex Masters in Brussels, where he rides both Hello Senator and Hello Mr President.

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Jennifer Donald

H&H showjumping editor

Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.