I meet Classic Dressage’s Rebecca Hughes and Julia Hornig on the eve of the concluding day of the 2016 British National championships, where Rebecca had qualified her five-year-old Classic Goldstrike for the final round of the British Young Horse Finals.
Guest rider Eva Möller test-rode the Tango x Krack C gelding, as is customary for all top four horses of each age division, and her first comment when she dismounted was “this is a really well-ridden horse. It is always a little bit difficult to differentiate between natural rideability and the way a horse is trained, but I have to say this horse is really well trained.”
Good riding, good training, and a skill for enhancing the horses’ natural rideability – rendering them rideable by anyone – is Classic Dressage’s trademark, and Classic Goldstrike is the latest in a long series of particularly successful horses sourced in Holland and produced by Rebecca.
“Over the years, we learnt how to select the best and remove or minimise the chance element, finding the right amount of hotness and temperament” says Julia.
“We also learnt that to make a grand prix horse you need to start as a three-year-old; a 70%-plus GP horse is made through a partnership,” chips in Rebecca. “I think that Gareth [Hughes, European and WEG medallist and Rebecca’s husband] and Classic Briolinca are the perfect example. She is an exceptional horse, with stunning temperament: we bought her as a three-year-old, I produced her for the first couple of years and then Gareth took over. Their partnership is amazing, and the two of them are completely intertwined. We start horses in a way that makes them very rideable; we make sure they are balanced, safe, and have seen a bit of everything. They go out in the field and they have a very all-round education, and the ultimate result is that anyone can ride them. That is very attractive to people.”
Rebecca is one of the few international grand prix riders happy to sit on a three-year-old, and in fact sits on absolutely every horse the team are interested in. “My criteria are that I don't want to sweat and I don't want to fall off,” jokes Rebecca. “But what I am looking for in a young horse is, really, a cocktail. I like to feel the adaptability – that the paces are adaptable in the back, the horses can close in their body, and that they are balanced, because if you have balance it make the test looks easy. You want as much quality as you can cope with and be confident with – everyone is different and I am trying to match that up.”
Julia and Rebecca are inseparable - it’s a genuine friendship, and one that has lasted over twenty years: pretty rare, in this sport as well as in life. They met when Julia was a trader in the City, getting up at 4.30am so that she could leave work early and squeeze a ride on her horses in the evening. She was living in the same area as Rebecca, and started training with her. The two clicked immediately and, over a glass of wine, thought it would be fun to join forces: that’s how Classic Dressage was born in 1998. Julia eventually gave up her job to work full time at Classic Dressage, which branched out in two different directions, with Julia focusing on the shop (specialising in high end dressage clothing and equipment), marketing and advertising while Rebecca concentrated on the riding side, taking horses in for training and competing, as well as sourcing horses and matching the right horse with the right rider – something she has always excelled at. This way, “all angles are covered, and it maximizes everyone’s chances of success,” Julia says.
The brand was immediately successful, with their first horse Classic Collection, sourced in Holland, produced and eventually sold on, winning the British five-year-old championships in 2001. Rebecca met Gareth in 2004 and he then went on to take over the reins on the supremely talented Classic Sandman, whom Rebecca had bought as a three-year-old stallion in Holland. The horse was five when Rebecca and Gareth met: she asked him to have a sit on him and the rest is history. “We always joke that he either had to marry me to secure the ride, or I had to marry him to secure him as rider for Sandman,” laughs Rebecca, referring to the horse’s enormous potential but also his ‘huge ego’. But there are plenty more success stories: Claire Gallimore’s Ballerina, who went from being successful in young horse classes to U25 grand prix; or Lucy Fallen’s Cruise, produced from scratch by Gareth through to medium before Lucy took over; they are now competing at big tour. It’s not just professionals who have benefitted from Rebecca’s touch either: competing at the British Nationals was Classic Extasia, bought as a two-year-old, produced until she was five and then sold to amateur rider Laura Strawbridge, who continued her education up to advanced medium.
Although Rebecca and Julia have a good network of contacts in Holland and beyond, over the years they have developed a particular affinity with the Equine Elite auction, which takes place on 29 October this year. “It’s been a hunting ground for us privately, and we have been very successful there, so we are now able to transfer that to clients. We like the fact that the horses are there for a long time; we know the riders there and we can have an open discussion with them,” says Julia, who was instrumental in getting multiple pony gold medallist Phoebe Peters to be a rider at this year’s auction. “We put the time in: we visit once or twice a week for the six weeks prior to the auction, so by the time of the auction I really do know the horses inside out, and have formed a full opinion on all the horses” says Rebecca. Plus, it’s great fun, and Julia thoroughly enjoys, and excels at, bidding. “I absolutely love it: it’s as close as it gets to trading,” enthuses Julia, already excited at the thought of this year’s auction.
What is clear about spending time with Rebecca and Julia is that they are forever optimists, loving their journey and determined to make Tokyo a realistic goal with one of their horses. After 20 years of friendship, they feel this is just the beginning of the next chapter!
For more information, visit www.classicdressage.com
by Selene Scarsi - Photos © Selene Scarsi - private
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