US Equestrian is pleased to share that Kent Farrington (Wellington, Fla.) has been voted the 2020 International Equestrian of the Year. For Farrington there's double joy as his horse Gazelle (Kashmir van Schuttershof) was also crowned Horse of the Year.
Kent Farrington is one of top jumping athletes in the world, consistently producing dominant results in the United States and abroad year after year. Farrington’s roots in equestrian sport were seeded in Chicago, Illinois, where he began riding at the age of eight. He quickly made his mark, ascending through the junior ranks before turning professional in 2000. He has since gone on to represent the United States at numerous international championships, including the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, 2015 Toronto Pan American Games, 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, and 2011 Guadalajara Pan American Games. In 2019, he became the first U.S. rider to win the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen and the International Jumping Riders Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva in the same year.
Gazelle and Kent Farrington began their partnership in 2014, and since their debut, the pair has amassed an impressive record of wins and top finishes at many the most prestigious competitions in the world, including memorable and historic wins in the 2019 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, the 2017 International Jumping Riders Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva, and the 2016 ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows, alongside numerous other CSI5* wins. Gazelle, a 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Kashmir van Shuttershof x Diva ‘Ter Elsen’) owned by Robin Parsky and Kent Farrington, anchors Farrington’s talented string of quality horses.
In 2020, Farrington and Gazelle took home their biggest win of the year in the $213,000 American Gold Cup Grand Prix CSI4* hosted in Traverse City, Mich., where they outpaced 15 other combinations in the jump-off. The pair also finished on the podium in the $401,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix CSI5*, placing second, and added a top-five finish in the $73,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup CSI5* in Wellington, Fla.
source: USEF