Scott Brash, a Champion Show Jumper, Reflects on His Grand Slam
How do you challenge athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport?
That is the question asked and answered by the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, a series of four competitions modeled on the grand slam events in tennis and golf.
For riders to achieve the grand slam title, they must win three of these grand prix events in a row — a feat that has been achieved only once, by the Scottish show jumper Scott Brash, who won the C.H.I. Geneva, the C.H.I.O. Aachen in Germany and the C.S.I.O. Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, Alberta, in 2014 and 2015.
The grand slam grew in 2018 to include the Dutch Masters, whose grand prix will take place on Sunday.
'The best riders in the world come with their best horses,' Marcel Hunze, the director of the Dutch Masters, said in an interview last month, 'so the level is really high.' Seven of the top 10 ranked riders are signed up to compete in the grand prix, event organizers said.
That means the course set for them must be an incredible challenge. If the horse and rider are communicating well, it should look easy, Louis Konickx, the course designer for the competition, said in an interview last month, 'but it is definitely not.'
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