Growing Double H Farm Finds Success And Stability In Wellington
For Quentin Judge and Cayce Harrison, the unstoppable husband-and-wife duo behind the international training, breeding and sales operation Double H Farm, expanding their operation from their Ridgefield, Connecticut, base to include Wellington was a no-brainer. In the last decade, Wellington has offered Judge and Harrison a place to find stability to balance in both their thriving business and growing family.
Harrison’s family started Double H Farm as a private training facility to support her passion for the sport when she was still a junior and, as her competitive career took off, Double H Farm followed suit, expanding its offerings to eventually welcome clients, introduce breeding and compete at the highest level of the sport.
Since the stable’s origins, Double H Farm has become a force to be reckoned with on the world stage, developing elite competition horses that have supported riders such as McLain Ward (United States), Darragh Kerins (Ireland) and Rodrigo Pessoa (Brazil), each of whom have held top spots in the world rankings.
As an up-and-coming professional rider, Judge joined the Double H Farm team in 2008, later marrying Harrison in 2011 on the picturesque Grand Prix field of their Connecticut farm. The pair have worked hand-in-hand ever since, splitting business tasks to fit each other’s strengths. While Judge serves as the head trainer, Harrison takes on the role of the director to handle all things behind the scenes. The partnership has proven exceedingly fruitful, as is evident based on the walls of Double H Farm’s Wellington property, which are lined with accolades and memorabilia to commemorate the team’s considerable success.
“I think the growth that we have seen in Wellington over the last decade has been incredible, and we have grown with Wellington in that sense,” Harrison said. “Wellington, just as a network itself, has been super helpful for our business. Everyone is here during the winter season, and if you are going to compete, sell horses or produce horses during that time, this is the place you need to be.”
Judge agreed, echoing Harrison’s sentiment.
“Because Wellington is where we are the majority of the year, it serves as a good training ground for our younger horses,” he said. “We travel so much in the summer that if we try to train at home and then leave for a show, I sometimes feel like we are taking two steps forward and one step back. Here, you have the best of both. It has been really great for our young horses especially, because we can build them up slowly and thoughtfully here.”
Wellington has played a pivotal role in the growth and success of Double H Farm. Although the village was originally more of a stopover for competitors, it has grown to represent more and more long-term equestrian residents, including the Double H Farm team. Though they and many equestrian peers spend significant amounts of time on the road, home zip codes have increasingly changed as many have committed to Wellington as a home base of operations.
More than just an ideal base for operational and logistics reasons, Wellington has become a mecca of memories for many equestrians, including the members of Double H Farm.
“We had one of my dad’s favorite horses and a barn favorite called Night Train, and he won a big World Cup Grand Prix here in 2010 with Rodrigo [Pessoa]. McLain [Ward] and Sapphire were second in that same Grand Prix, and they were really at their peak at that point. They went last in the jump-off, which was a real nail biter, so it was an exciting win for us,” Harrison recalled. “That was an incredibly fun win for us. Our whole family was in town, which was rare, and they all went out for the prize-giving ceremony. It was one of those nights that just worked out perfectly.”
The other half of the power duo, one of Judge’s favorite memories came at the very onset of his career in Wellington.
“For me, it was my first win in the International Ring in Florida against real competition. I will never forget, Eric Lamaze was second, and it was a huge win for me,” he said. “It is something I will forever remember because it was my first step onto the bigger stage. I showed myself I had the effectiveness to win in Wellington, so, hopefully, I could do it somewhere else, too.”
Aside from being able to grow their training and sales business, Judge and Harrison most enjoy the fact that Wellington provides them with a place to grow their family.
“This horse industry is great, but it can get crazy. Being able to have a home base for a period of time for our son, who is now 3 years old, and our newborn daughter, is really important to us,” Judge said. “We are starting to appreciate more down time, so it’s nice to have that somewhere we can consistently call home.”
With Wellington as their home, the Judge-Harrison family and Double H Farm are finding success in and out of the ring. While their location cannot be credited with all of their achievements, it surely plays a pivotal role in a family and business that have made a name for themselves locally and globally.
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