Click on the image to view full PDF
Just when you think the Hampton Classic Horse Show can’t get any bigger or better, it does exactly that. Prize money this year will be a whopping $250,000 for the FTI Grand Prix and World Cup Qualifier. Additional temptation is hardly needed—the best riders in the country are already there in Bridgehampton—but who could fail to be impressed by such an opulent cup and not try to shave off an extra second or two jumping to victory?
The Hampton Classic Horse Show is rich in tradition—the time-honored ways of the sport of show jumping as they have evolved over many decades, and the customs that have formed here in the Hamptons over the past 34 years. The roots of the Classic go back to the early 20th century, to an annual show held on the open fields of First Neck Lane overlooking Lake Agawam. Discontinued during World War I, the show was revived in the 1920s. After six years of construction, the stables and posh clubhouse of the Southampton Riding and Hunt Club were completed in 1928 near Major’s Path. One of the renowned equestrian showcases of the east coast, the club and its horse show survived until World War II. A horse show was again revived in the post-war years, but without the site or the glamour and energy of the club, it never quite caught on.
Conditions seemed right again in 1970s. Riding and show jumping were becoming more popular and horse shows more competitive—more of a real sport with well-trained and disciplined riders rather than just social occasions for the wealthy. In 1976, Marie-Christophe de Menil suggested that the Southampton Horse Show, as it was then known, be expanded from a one day competition to a five-day A-rated event that would draw in top riders and horses from around the country. A hurricane delayed the start of the 1976 show by a day and a half, and it will always be remembered not only as the birth of the Classic as we know it (the name became official in 1977) but the first of many times that disastrous weather has struck. The show has since survived downpours, weeklong rains, mud, hurricanes and tornados.
The Hampton Classic has constantly grown, becoming one of the largest and most important equestrian events in the United States—and certainly the most beautiful. It moved to its current 60-acre location in Bridgehampton in 1982, and was then extended to a seven-day show spanning two weekends. (In 1988, as the final selection trial site for the American Olympic team, the show advanced to the end of July to permit the lengthy quarantine of horses heading to Seoul.)
Whatever the date, whatever the weather, nothing takes away from the sheer joy of equestrian activity in two jumper rings, four hunter rings and six schooling rings. More than 1,600 horses will be exhibited. More than $600,000 in prize money will be offered. Some 50,000 people will attend, and 3,000 guests will be seated in the VIP patrons’ tents.
The Hampton Classic Horse Show: August 23rd to August 30th