My son (who is taking riding lessons) and I attended the opening day of the Hampton Classic this past Sunday. We were rewarded with a beautiful day, good food, lots of fun fashion and amazing riding. There was so much to feature, I wasn’t sure where to begin, but my son inspired me to feature the family-friendliness and diverse activities of the Classic. If anyone thinks that this show is just for the extremely horsey set, or that it would be too boring for kids, is simply wrong.
There was just so much to do. After a long drive, my son was hungry, so we grabbed a pizza at Pizza Luca by Stable Row. I’ll get into more detailed food reviews later, but we gobbled it up! Any kid can easily find something to eat, but I truly recommend the pizza (side note to Pizza Luca: please add more of your delicious mozzarella and basil to the margherita!!!).
Off to the practice/warm up rings for an up close and personal with the competitors. The mounts were absolutely gorgeous, as were the riders; I was so jealous that I wasn’t competing or at least simply sitting on a horse. We also caught some of the short stirrup classes (soooo cute).
We then toured the swanky VIP tent, but my son was anxious to get to the kid’s area, so I was only allowed to pretend to be a VIP for 5 minutes. Long enough, however, for a quick glass of Wolffer Estate’s white – yum!
The kids area was (is) fabulous! There is a full size play ground, petting zoo (with very CLEAN and friendly animals), a cookie decorating station (thanks Citarella!), and an art station. The little kids can also join in the horse action with an adorable pony ride. We loved the gallery of children’s art – some was truly amazing. We can’t be there on Optimum Kids’ Day, but no matter, we had plenty to do anyway.
This takes me to the short walk over to the boutique gallery. Even if you don’t want to tack up and jump an oxer, you can find some amazing fashions, fun crafts, quality bags and farmer’s market specialties (I’ll get into the farmer’s market in my food review yet to come).
We then watched the main event of the day, the $50,000 Clear Channel Hunter Derby. I love watching the hunters – I know many people love the thrill of the jumpers, but the smoothness and grace of the hunter horses really is something to see. Congrats to Patricia Griffith, on Black Label, who won the Derby!
Enjoy my pictures – fashion and food reviews to come!
xo
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Tack and Tweed Equestrian: The Love of Horses 