Hawtins San Floriana Named 2026 British Hanoverian Horse Society Mare of the Year 2026

Breeding

British Hanoverian

-- BHHS press release, edited by Eurodressage

The British Hanoverian Horse Society (BHHS) named Hawtins San Floriana the BHHS Mare of the Year 2026, recognising an exceptional British-bred mare whose career has taken her from the BHHS breeding programme to the very highest level of international dressage.

Bred by Judith Davis of Hawtins Stud, Hawtins San Floriana has enjoyed an extraordinary career spanning young horse championships, national titles and international Grand Prix competition, culminating in her selection with Ashley Holzer to represent the United States at the 2026 World Championships Dressage in Aachen.

A Breeding Story Generations in the Making

San Floriana's story began long before she entered the competition arena.

Judith Davis established Hawtins Stud in 2000 with six carefully selected State Premium Hanoverian mares. Among those foundation families was the line descending from State Premium World's Finest, which has subsequently produced an outstanding succession of horses including Hawtins Floriana, Hawtins Delicato, Hawtins Duchessa and Hawtins San Floriana.

World's Finest was herself named BHHS Mare of the Year in 2019, making San Floriana's award seven years later a particularly special recognition of the strength and longevity of this exceptional mare family.

Born at Hawtins Stud in 2012, San Floriana is by San Amour out of Judith Davis's Elite mare Hawtins Floriana (by Florestan x Weltmeyer). Her dam had already demonstrated the international quality of the Hawtins breeding programme, representing Great Britain at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden in 2012. San Floriana soon began creating an impressive record of her own.

Three-time British Young Horse Champion

Initially produced by Bryony Goodwin, San Floriana became British Young Horse Champion as a four-year-old in 2016. That same year, she also excelled within the Hanoverian breeding programme, winning the BHHS Mare Performance Test with the highest mark and forming part of the winning Mare Family at the BHHS Annual Show.

At five, with Charlotte Dujardin in the saddle, San Floriana won the British Young Horse title for a second time. At six, she won it again. The result was a remarkable run of three consecutive British Young Horse Championship titles at four, five and six years old.

San Floriana also claimed national titles at Novice, Elementary and Medium level and, as a six-year-old, followed in her mother's footsteps by representing Great Britain at the World Breeding Dressage Horse Championships in Verden.

From young horse promise to Grand Prix success

One of the greatest measures of a breeding programme is whether the promise demonstrated by a young horse can be translated into success at senior level. San Floriana has emphatically achieved that. Following some time away from competition, including time for breeding, she returned with Charlotte Dujardin and progressed through Prix St Georges and Intermediate level.

In 2023, she became British Intermediate II National Champion with 77.88% and was also awarded British Dressage's Tyrell Trophy as the highest-placed British-bred mare at the National Championships. Another chapter began in 2024 when San Floriana crossed the Atlantic and was acquired by Ashley Holzer and Diane Fellows, with Holzer taking over the ride for the United States.

In 2026, at the age of fourteen, the British-bred BHHS mare reached the highest level of international dressage.

San Floriana recorded her first international Grand Prix victory with Holzer in Florida before helping the United States to victory in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup in Wellington. The pair went on to become Reserve Champions at the 2026 USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship.

Returning to Britain for the CDI3* at Hartpury in July, San Floriana finished third in the Grand Prix before taking second place in the Grand Prix Special with 72.574%.

Her remarkable journey reached another milestone in August when Hawtins San Floriana and Ashley Holzer were selected to represent the United States at the 2026 FEI Dressage World Championships in Aachen.

From a British field to the World Championships

San Floriana's career represents an extraordinary journey for a British-bred Hanoverian mare.

With Holzer at the 2026 World Championships

Born and raised at Hawtins Stud and registered with the British Hanoverian Horse Society, she progressed from BHHS Mare Performance Test winner and winning Mare Family member, to three-time British Young Horse Champion, World Breeding Championships representative for Great Britain, British National Champion and, ultimately, a senior World Championship horse. For the BHHS, however, the Mare of the Year award recognises more than competition results alone.

Judith Davis has spent more than 25 years developing mare families rather than simply breeding individual horses. Hawtins-bred horses have competed at international Grand Prix, represented their countries and appeared at World and European Championships – most famously Hawtins Delicato with Carl Hester – while successive generations continue to emerge from the breeding programme.

San Floriana is an outstanding example of what can result from generations of thoughtful breeding, careful selection and patience.

Katy Holder-Vale, Chairmain of the British Hanoverian Horse Society said:

“As breeders, we make decisions when horses are still only ideas on paper. We choose a stallion for a mare and hope that, perhaps years later, somebody will see in the resulting horse what we hoped might be there.

“Very occasionally, that journey takes a horse all the way from a British field to a World Championship arena. San Floriana has done exactly that. “It gives us enormous pleasure to recognise not only a quite exceptional mare, but also an exceptional achievement in British breeding and the many years of dedication behind the Hawtins breeding programme.”