50 Years of Hampton Classic History

For people who love horses and riding, and have a passion for competition, there is no shortage these days of venues to choose from when it comes to donning a jacket and tall boots, and taking their horse on the road to showcase all the hard work they put in at home.

But there’s a reason why, for the past half century, one horse show in particular has remained at the top of almost every rider’s priority list.

The Hampton Classic Horse Show has a tradition like no other. Over the 50 years it has been in existence as a top-rated, multi-day event, the showgrounds, located on Snake Hollow Road in Bridgehampton, have attracted some of the top talent from not just the country but the world. Dozens of Olympic riders and medalists from many different countries have competed at the show, and many of them got their start in the industry at a young age, steering ponies into the ring while they were elementary school age.

The modern day Hampton Classic first began in 1976, and was originally called The Southampton Horse Show. It was hosted at the former Dune Alpin Farm in East Hampton before moving to the current showgrounds.

But the roots of the show date back to the turn of the century.

In the early 1900s, a one-day horse show took place every year in Southampton, on open fields that overlooked Lake Agawam. The show was discontinued after the start of World War I, but was revived again during the 1920s, thanks to creation of the Southampton Riding and Hunt Club in 1922. The club and its wealthy patrons occupied 20 acres of land on the outskirts of the town.

The club hosted the show throughout the Great Depression and until the start of the next World War. The war and the death of the Club's founder led to the end of the Horse Show, and eventually the club disbanded, and the property was sold.

The Show was revived in 1952 and was held through 1958, but the glamour and enthusiasm that had distinguished the event in pre-War years were largely absent. Then in 1959, Mrs. Morris Scott Wadley helped to reorganize the Show as a fundraiser for Southampton's Parrish Art Museum, leading to the formal incorporation of the Southampton Horse Show. For several years, the Southampton Horse Show, held at the Stanley Howard Estate in North Sea, and the Horse Show Ball were major social events of the summer.

For several years, the show was dormant, and it seemed that the sixty-year tradition had died. But in the late sixties, horses and riding in the area were again rising in popularity, and those who remembered the colorful days of the Horse Show and Hunt Club in the twenties and the elegant revival of the Show in the early sixties felt that it would be a shame to let the tradition slip away.

Mrs. Edwin M. Schwenk, Jr. revived the show in 1971, and for several years it was held at the Topping Riding Club in Sagaponack as a fundraiser for the Hampton Day School. Schwenk’s revival of the show in the early 1970s set the stage for what would become the creation of the modern-day Hampton Classic.

Before the 1960s and 70s, horse shows were mostly a superficial affair; a reason for wealthy and well-heeled members of society to gather, to see and be seen. But as time went on, riding and equestrian competition began to be taken more seriously from a sporting perspective, and there was a demand for shows that had more structure when it came to competition and judging.

This became an important cause for one local resident in particular — Marie-Christophe de Menil. Her daughter, Taya Thurman, was one of many people across the country who had started to take show jumping seriously as a sport. De Menil wanted to see opportunities for riders like her daughter to showcase their skills at top-level competitions, so in 1976, she proposed the idea of creating a multi-day, ‘A’-rated show in the Hamptons.

Dune Alpin Farm was chosen as the location, and the early organizers of the show brought in a married couple, Tony Hitchcock and Jean Lindgren, to provide the catering. The couple could not have predicted, at that time, that they’d become the co-executive directors of the show for 30 years, before handing over the reins to current executive director Shanette Barth Cohen in 2006.

Hitchcock and Lindgren spoke in early August about the history and legacy of the show, and about the various people who paved the way for it to become such a huge event.

In the early days, the Classic was owned by a company called Stadium Jumping, run by Jean Misch.

Hitchcock and Lindgren did an admirable job as caterers in that first year, even though it was one of the bigger jobs they’d ever taken on--and despite the fact that a hurricane had hit the area one day before the show started, leading to a delayed start because of the effort required to evacuate the horses and set up all the infrastructure for the show all over again. (It would not be the last time the staff of the show would experience that situation--more on that later).

The couple were asked to be the local coordinators of the show the following year--Hitchcock joked that some people called them “loco” coordinators for their willingness to take on such a big event. Before long, Misch decided to step away from the show, figuring it would not be a profitable business venture, particularly if and when de Menil decided not to underwrite the cost of it anymore.

It was at that time, Hitchcock said, that Emily and Anne Aspinall and Ross Reynolds came up with the idea of creating a nonprofit to run the show, and donating any money to the Southampton Hospital, which ended up being a smart move that has helped ensure the show’s success. In 1977, the Hampton Classic formally incorporated the Southampton Horse Show, and held the inaugural Grand Prix offering $10,000 in prize money. The winners of that inaugural Hampton Classic Grand Prix were Bernie Traurig and his horse, Southside.

The show has come a very long way since then.

The Hampton Classic has grown to be one of the largest hunter/jumper shows in America, with more than 1400 horses competing annually in nearly 200 classes events. The United States Equestrian Team was made an additional beneficiary in 1981, and team officials have worked closely with Hampton Classic management to achieve and maintain the highest standards of competition. In 1981, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) designated the Hampton Classic's Grand Prix as the first of a select number of qualifying events for the following year's World Cup Final.

The show moved to its current location, the 65-acre showgrounds on Snake Hollow Road, in 1982. That same year, after the tents were assembled, the show experienced its second major weather catastrophe when a freak tornado ripped through the stabling, destroying several tents just a week before the show was set to begin. Replacements had to be flown in and crews labored overtime, and the show was able to begin on time.

In 1984, a day was added to the schedule to provide a full seven days of competition. On Grand Prix Day of that year the Olympic show jumping riders of the United States Equestrian Team, just returning from a Gold Medal victory at Los Angeles, were honored in a special ceremony. That group included Joe Fargis, who won the Hampton Classic Grand Prix twice and still judges the popular leadline class to this day.

In 1985, bad weather returned with a vengeance. That year is remembered as the "Year of the Mud." One day before the show was to start, a torrential rainstorm deluged the showgrounds as exhibitors arrived from all over the country. Eighteen-wheeled transports and small cars alike became mired in the stabling area; parking fields had to be closed to spectators for two days. Just as the showgrounds began to dry on Friday, the heavens opened again; tornadoes touched down in Southampton, Water Mill and East Hampton, but miraculously missed the horse show. Heavy rains, with rivers and lakes appearing out of nowhere transformed the grounds. Incredibly, the show grounds were dried out in time for Grand Prix Sunday, and the sun shone on a record crowd of onlookers.

In 1986, the schedule was revised so that Opening Day would take place on a Sunday, enabling Hampton Classic festivities to span two weekends and in 1987 the Grand Prix was telecast on ESPN for the first time.

In 1988, the show was chosen as the final selection trial for the Olympics. The show’s dates were moved up from the end of August to the end of July to facilitate the lengthy mandatory quarantine of Team horses destined for Seoul.

The following year, 1989, is one that stands out strongly in Hitchcock’s memory.

Riders Michael Matz and D.D. Alexander, husband and wife, were in a plane crash in Sioux City, Iowa, less than a week before the start of the show. They survived the crash--which killed more than 100 people on board the United Airlines flight--and Matz had emerged as a hero after helping three unaccompanied minor children get off the burning plane after it had made a crash landing. Less than a week after that harrowing ordeal, Matz and Alexander arrived at the Hampton Classic. Not only did they find the strength to compete that week, but they found success in the show ring as well.

Alexander went on to win the $10,000 Warner Communications Jumper Classic on Saturday. The following day, Matz won the $75,000 Grand Prix class in a field of very strong competitors with his horse, Schnapps. Matz's repeat win in 1990, this time aboard "Heisman," cemented his popularity with the Classic's spectators.

“That incident gave us the most press we’ve ever had,” Hitchcock said of Matz’s storybook win, just days after the trauma of the plane crash. “It was an amazing, heartwarming story.”

After retiring from show jumping, Matz became a successful thoroughbred racehorse trainer, and trained the legendary Barbaro, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2006.

The show continued to grow and thrive throughout the 1990s, adding features meant to enhance the show offerings for both competitors and spectators. Putting in an all-weather schooling ring was a big bonus for riders. The show also created Kids Day, putting effort toward bringing a wide range of entertainment acts to the showgrounds, to appeal to families and children. The corporate chalet tents were added to the Grand Prix ring spectator area in 1995.

Six-time Olympian McLain Ward won the first of what would be his record-setting seven Grand Prix victories--and counting--in 1998 when he bested the jump-off field with Twist du Valon.

Ward will be back at the Classic this year, as always, looking to add to his impressive total.

Many of the top riders in the world showed at the Hampton Classic into the 2000s, including Margie Goldstein-Engle and Kent Farrington, among others, as the show continued to attract top talent from around the world.

In 2011, the staff was once again rocked by Mother Nature when Hurricane Irene blew into town.

The show was delayed three days due to Hurricane Irene. On the Friday before the Classic’s scheduled Sunday start, the decision was made to take down 18 tents with 1,600 stalls as well as 40 other large tents housing the chalets, VIP seating, and boutiques plus dozens of other small tents. After the hurricane hit on Sunday, approximately 150 staff and crew worked from about 5 am until dark on Monday, and almost as long on Tuesday, to restore the show grounds, allowing the show to begin with a compressed schedule on Wednesday. The Classic managed to keep almost its entire competition schedule, although compressed from eight days into five. Despite this, it proved to be one of the most successful Hampton Classics ever. Highlighting the competition was another history-making performance by McLain Ward. Riding Antares F, Ward rode to another win in the $250,000 Grand Prix. Ward tied his own record winning a grand prix at the Classic on three consecutive days. He also tied Margie Engle’s record by winning the featured Grand Prix at the Classic for three consecutive years and added to his own record by winning the Classic’s featured Grand Prix six times, twice as many as anyone else. He won his seventh Grand Prix in 2018.

In 2013, LONGINES became a major partner of the Hampton Classic. Their support enhanced the Classic in several ways, including instituting the LONGINES Rider Challenge that awards $30,000 to the rider who accumulates the most points in the Classic’s Open Jumper division; sponsoring the LONGINES Cup and working with the Classic to make it an FEI-recognized class which gave the Classic an FEI-recognized Grand Prix on three consecutive days; and becoming the Official Timekeeper and providing timing services for the Classic.

The show had a one-year hiatus in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but returned the following year and has been back at top form since. The prize money for the Grand Prix is now set at $400,000, a remarkable leap from its humble beginning offering just $10,000 in prize money.

The reason why the Hampton Classic has not only survived but thrived, and grown, year after year, for half a century is simple, according to Hitchcock.

“It’s that old adage,” he said. “Location, location, location. I had a wealthy friend who was a businessman in Buffalo, New York. He said, ‘I want to have you turn some shows we have in Arizona into another Hampton Classic.’ I said, ‘it’s not like we have magic dust we can sprinkle on any location. The success of the Hampton Classic is because it’s in the Hamptons.’”

While the location might be the dominant factor, Hitchock and Lindgren both said that so the devotion and smart decision-making of so many dedicated individuals over the years is also a big part of the show’s success.

“It’s crazy now when you think of how many tables there are under the VIP tent,” Lindgren said. “In the early days, we had to beg people to buy tables. After a few years, people from the real estate and financial services area started to buy tables, and then people would start to say, ‘why doesn’t our company have a table under the VIP tent? Such and such company has had one for years.’ That corporate jealousy was one of the driving factors.”

Generosity on the part of wealthy horse owners, who were eager to see the sport grow and thrive, also played a big role, as did the devotion of local riders and trainers who wanted to continue the legacy of such an important and prestigious event being held in their backyard.

And the show has always made sure to create the best possible experience for its most distinguished guests--the riders, and their horses.

“There are so many rings and they’re so well cared for,” Hitchcock said. “The focus is the Grand Prix ring, but there are so many hunter and jumper rings at the show too. Trainers in the U.S. make their living not off the Grand Prix riders, but from customers who are either wealthy adult amateurs or their children ride. A successful horse show has to have enough rings to support all those riders. The Hampton Classic was designed to not just be a one-ring circus but to serve the entire competitive equestrian community.”

Hitchcock and Lindgren also gave credit to Barth-Cohen for continuing the legacy and ensuring the show has remained a success and grown.

They pointed out that her experience as a competitive rider growing up has made her uniquely well suited to the role.

“She brings a different perspective from what Jean and I had,” Hitchcock said. “She really had that in-the-saddle experience.”