Aiken Polo Club 2023

engine horsepower open-platform Model YT347 with Yanmar loader

engine horsepower Model 359 with factory-installed cab and Yanmar loader & backhoe.

Letter from the President

Dear Friends of Aiken Polo,

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Aiken Polo Club, welcome to Whitney Field and the 141st renewal of polo in Aiken. We are looking forward to another year of fast, exciting and competitive matches on our historic elds, and we are happy to be able to share the polo experience with a growing number of players, social members, fans and spectators.

As ever, the year is divided into spring and fall seasons, and we will be hosting 13 tournaments, seven in the spring and six in the fall. ese tournaments include a National Youth Tournament Series quali er for young players from across the region, as well as a total of four women’s tournaments, which always attract talented players from around the country and the world. In addition, we also have 4- and 6-goal contests, along with practice polo and regular pro-ams. Our featured Sunday matches will once again be doubleheaders, with our rst game starting at 2:00 pm and our second one at 3:30.

Polo is a unique sport and it has an important place in Aiken’s history and culture. Our club bene ts from the foresight of members of the old Aiken Winter Colony who established the Whitney Trust, preserving our eld “for sport.” We are also grateful for the ongoing support of the City of Aiken. We thank all of our friends and promoters, our players, and perhaps most of all, the people working behind the scenes who make our club run smoothly.

Whether you are a rst-time spectator or a dedicated polo enthusiast, we hope you enjoy your time at Aiken Polo Club, and that you will join us to watch polo every Sunday a ernoon in the coming seasons. Welcome to our elds.

Charles S. Bostwick, President

Aiken Polo Club has been playing on Whitney Field since 1882. Need more information? Visit our website www.aikenpolo.org. For daily updates call the hotline: 803-643-3611. Find us in Facebook and follow us on Twitter, too.

HOTELS DOWNTOWN

The Carriage House Inn 139 Laurens St. NW 803-644-5888

Days Inn - Downtown 1204 Richland Ave. Aiken, SC 29801 803-649-5524

419 Hayne 419 Hayne Ave Aiken, SC 29801 803-761-2980

The Willcox 100 Colleton Ave. SW 803-648-1898/ Toll Free: 877-648-2200

HOTELS AROUND TOWN

America’s Best Value Inn 2577 Whiskey Rd. 803-641-8800

Clarion Hotel 155 Colonial Parkway 803-648-0999

Country Inn & Suites 3270 Whiskey Rd. 803-649-4024

Econo Lodge 3560 Richland Ave. 803-649-3968

Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott 185 Colony Parkway 803-648-7808

Hampton Inn 100 Tamil Drive Whiskey Rd. South 803-648-2525

Hilton Garden Inn 350 East Gate Drive 803-641-4220

Holiday Inn Express & Suites 2897 Whiskey Road 803-508-7700

Howard Johnson’s 1936 Whiskey Rd. South 803-649-5000

Inn at Houndslake

897 Houndslake Dr. 803-648-9535

Knights Inn 1850 Richland Avenue West 803-648-6821

Quality Inn

3608 Richland Avenue West 803-641-1100

Sleep Inn

1002 Monterey Drive 803-644-9900

Towne Place Suites

1008 Monterey Drive 803- 641-7373

BED & BREAKFAST

208 Abbeville Bed and Breakfast

208 Abbeville Ave. NW 803-649-3109

The Birdnest Inn 5200 Sizemore Circle Aiken, SC 29803 979-530-3900

RENTALS

Aiken Luxury Rentals

215 Grace Ave SE 803-640-1756

Downtown Aiken Rental Historic District 803-648-2804

Fairfield and Park 227 Park Ave SE Aiken SC, 29801 803-507-1132

Stable View 117 Stable Drive Aiken SC, 29801 484-356-3173

Tallyho Aiken Downtown Rental www.airbnb.com

In Loving Memory

Henry P. Cato

July 19, 1955 - August 16, 2022

Beloved husband, son, brother, brother in-law, uncle, cousin and friend to many! His kindness and love will live with us forever!

Henry's Favorite Poem

Love Now

Enjoy today. Tomorrow may not be. There is no crystal ball wherein you’ll see the fate that may call either one tonight, erasing all tomorrows from your sight. Be sure you love today with all your heart. You do not know the hour when you must part. Then, greet each morning with a kiss to last, for evening may look only at the past. Remember that the kiss before you sleep may be the final memory you keep. Be certain love is what you free’st give each moment you are granted time to live. So, always only loving thoughts commune. The unknown moment comes to us too soon.

Poem by Erich Hardt

Given by Henry Cato in 1971 to his father and six siblings.

In Loving Memory Of Henry P. Cato

The Cato Family extends congratulations to the players and the winning team of The Henry P. Cato Memorial Tournament, Spring 2023.

Polo is an addictive sport. Just ask any player. There is something about it that gets into your blood, takes hold of your imagination and brings you back to the field, year after year. What is it? The teamwork among the players, the power and nobility of the horses, the sound of the mallet hitting the ball? Or maybe it is the thrill of speed, the adrenalin rush of scoring a goal, that sense of being truly present during the game – when you are on the field, there can be no other thoughts on your mind. During a game, everything that is important is right there: your horse, your opponent, the ball, the goal. And afterwards, you are tired and exhilarated, maybe proud of your win, or disappointed in a loss, but there is sense that you have done something. Polo can become all-consuming.

But what is the game all about? People who have never been to a match sometimes refer to it as “croquet on horseback”, but in fact, polo is nothing at all like croquet. It is a fast-moving, physical contact sport, where the horses reach speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour, the ball can fly as fast as 110 mph, and players must rely on an intense partnership with their horses to be successful. There is no other sport like it.

INTRODUCTION TO POLO A Separate World

By Pam Gleason

POLO BASICS

At its heart, polo is a simple game. Four mounted players make up a team. ese players meet on a manicured grass eld, each armed with a wooden-headed mallet that is generally between 49 and 53 inches long. All players are required to hold the mallet in their right hands, even if they are le -handed. ey hold the reins and control their horses with their le hands.

e rst objective of the game is to hit the ball through a set of posts marking a goal 8 yards wide. e ball can go through the posts at any height. Polo is a game where

geometry counts, and the parallel lines formed by the goal posts are considered to extend in nitely into space. A goal judge ( agger) on each endline is charged with determining whether a goal has been scored or not. If the ball passes between the posts, he waves his ag over his head for “yes.” If the ball goes outside the posts, or passes over the top of them, he waves his ag by his feet for “no.”

e second objective of the game is to prevent members of the opposing team from hitting the ball and scoring. Defensive plays include hooking an opponent’s mallet as he or she tries to strike the ball — you can only do this if

George Hempt and Harry Caldwell in a rideoff.

you are on the same side of your opponent’s horse as the ball, since it would be dangerous (and a foul) to reach, over, under or in front of another rider’s horse. You may also ride o , which you accomplish by placing your horse next to your opponent’s and encouraging your horse to push his o course. Finally, you may bump, which is riding o with a bang — but it is illegal to bump or ride o at an angle greater than 45 degrees, or to do anything that causes your horse or your opponent’s horse to lose balance, stumble or fall.

In addition to eight players, each game also includes two mounted umpires in striped shirts who ride along with the players to ensure that everyone is adhering to the rules. Any time one of the umpires sees something that looks like a foul, he blows his whistle, which stops the play. If the other umpire saw the same thing and agrees with him, the team that was fouled is awarded a penalty shot. If the other umpire does not think there was a foul, the two umpires consult the third man, who sits on the sidelines. e third man, otherwise known as the referee, decides whether a foul was committed or not.

THE PLAY

e play begins with a line-up at the center of the eld. Members of each team line up opposite members of the other team. en one of the umpires bowls the ball between the two teams. Each team ghts to gain possession and drive the ball down to the opposite goal. A er each goal, the teams switch directions. If the blue team scores on the east end of the eld, then in the next play, blue will be trying to score on the west end of the

eld. Switching directions a er each goal equalizes eld conditions.

It o en happens that a team attempting to score a goal will hit the ball over the endline instead. When this happens, there is a knock-in: the defending team is given possession of the ball on the endline and has a free hit at it. On the other hand, sometimes the team that is defending the goal accidentally hits the ball over the endline while trying to get it out of danger. When this happens, the opposing team is given a safety, which is a free shot on goal from 60 yards out. e ball also sometimes goes over the sideboards. Hitting the ball out of bounds is treated like a minor foul, and the team that hit the ball out gives the other team possession and a free hit.

A polo match is divided into periods called “chukkers” or “chukkas.” Each chukker consists of seven and a half minutes of playing time. e timekeeper stops the clock when a player commits a foul, or when someone hits the ball over the endline, but not when a player scores a goal. At seven minutes, the timekeeper sounds a warning bell. Play continues until a goal is scored, or 30 seconds have passed. e nal chukker ends at the seven-minute mark unless the score is tied.

When time is up for each chukker, the timekeeper sounds the horn. en the players have four minutes to leave the eld, change horses and come back for the next chukker. Play is continuous in polo, which means that the action starts in the second chukker at the place where it ended in the rst. A er the third chukker in a six-chukker match, or the second chukker in a four-chukker match,

Malachi Light hits ahead of Robyn Leitner and Kelsey Bray.

Each player wears a jersey bearing a number from 1 to 4, reflecting which position he or she plays on the field.

there is a longer half-time break, during which spectators are encouraged to walk out on the eld to smooth down bits of turf that were torn up by galloping hooves, otherwise known as stomping the divots.

Most players prefer to have a fresh horse for each chukker. As a rule, a horse can play one or two chukkers per game. is means that a player must have a minimum of three horses to compete in a six chukker match. Some players use as many as eight or ten horses in a game, jumping o one and onto another mid-chukker. Although they may decide to change horses when the clock is stopped, the umpires do not stop the clock just because one of the players is changing mounts. ey also never stop the clock just because a player has dropped or broken his mallet. ey may not even stop the clock if a player falls o . As long as that player is not hurt and isn’t in imminent danger of getting run over, the umpires are not required to blow their whistles, and usually don’t.

FAIR AND FOUL

Most of the rules in polo come from the concept of the line-of-the-ball, an imaginary line that the ball creates when a player hits it. A simpli ed explanation is that a player must not cross this line if there is another player behind him who is on the line and therefore has the right of way. is sometimes means that a player must take the ball on the le side (near side) of his horse, and sometimes means he must not try to hit it at all.

If a player does cross the line or commits another foul such as high hooking (hooking another player’s mallet

when it is above the level of his shoulder), the fouled team gets to take a penalty shot. e more serious the foul, the closer this shot will be to the fouling player’s goal. Fouls that occur closer to the goal are more serious than fouls that occur further away from the goal. A minor foul might merit a hit from the spot. If the foul is more serious, or is repeated, intentional, or dangerous, the umpire might move the ball up to mid- eld, to the 60yard, the 40-yard or the 30-yard line. e umpire might also move the ball up if a player on the fouling team complains about the call. A serious foul near the goal might result in a Penalty One, in which the team that was fouled is awarded an automatic goal, and then gets to take a penalty shot at mid eld.

THE MAKINGS OF A TEAM

e four players on each team wear jerseys bearing a number from 1 to 4. e number refers to the player’s position on the eld. e Number 1 is primarily an o ensive player, whose job is to run to goal, hoping for a pass from his or her teammates. e Number 2 is also an o ensive player, but must be more aggressive, breaking up the o ensive plays of the other team, and continually forcing the attack. e Number 3 is usually the strongest player on the team, whose job is to hit long balls, plan the plays and make them happen. e 3 covers the opposing 2. e Number 4, or Back, a primarily defensive player, covers the opposing Number 1 and generally shuts the back door, preventing the other team from scoring.

Del Walton leads the charge in front of Justin Pimsner and Jewel Gregoncza

HANDICAPS

All polo players are assigned handicaps which are expressed as a number of goals. e handicap re ects how many goals a player is theoretically worth to his or her team, but has nothing whatever to do with how many he or she might actually score in a game. Players are assessed and assigned a handicap in the fall and the spring a er the summer and winter seasons respectively. ey normally keep their handicap until the next handicap meeting, though it is possible for someone playing signi cantly above or below his rating to have a handicap change midseason. Handicaps run from C (-2, or beginner) up to 10 (the best in the world.)

When men and women play together, they are all rated on the same scale. In women’s tournaments, however, there is a separate women’s handicap, also running from -2 to 10. A 1-goal player in open polo might be a 4-goal player in women’s polo. e highest rating a woman has ever achieved in mixed polo is 5 goals. e top female players in the country might be 2 or 3 goals in mixed polo and 8-10 goals in exclusively female matches.

To arrive at a team handicap, one adds up the individual handicaps of the four players on the team. ree 1s and a 2, for instance, would make a 5-goal team. is team could play in a 6-goal tournament. If they were playing against a 6-goal team, they would start the game with one goal on the scoreboard. Tournaments are classi ed by how many goals they are. For instance, Aiken Polo Club’s USPA Constitution Cup is a 6 goal: no team may be rated more than 6 goals.

e handicapping system keeps teams that play against one another relatively even and allows players of di erent abilities to compete on the same eld. Handicapping also gives rise to the unique pro-am aspect of polo. ere is very little purely professional polo in the United States. e most usual situation is to have amateurs hire higher rated professionals to play with them in tournaments, thus raising the level of the polo.

THE HORSES

e animals used in polo are called ponies, but they are not really ponies at all. In America, most are

oroughbreds, and some began their careers as race horses. Others were bred speci cally for polo, and still others were imported from Argentina, where polopony breeding and training is a big industry. Aiken has a growing reputation as a top place to breed, train and bring along young horses.

Polo ponies generally stand between 15 and 16 hands at the withers (a hand is four inches.) ey are trained to stop and turn quickly, to boldly face oncoming horses, to tolerate ying mallets and balls, to ride-o , bump, and run like the wind when asked. Players say the horse makes up 60, 70 or even 80 percent of a player’s worth. An exceptional string of horses can make the di erence between a good and a great player. Conversely, a player mounted on a slow, sluggish, unwilling or unmanageable horse can be quite useless to his team. A er all, you can’t hit the ball if you can’t get to it.

THE LIFE

Polo was once the sport of kings, played only by the wealthy leisure classes. Today, although playing polo certainly requires a signi cant investment of time and money, the people who play have di erent backgrounds and occupations. People of all ages and abilities can play, and the sport does not really require vast sums of money, although money certainly helps. Yes, the game attracts princes and oligarchs, but may also be played by the local veterinarian, real estate agent, blacksmith or carpenter.

Some polo players are professionals, who make their living playing polo, teaching, or training and selling horses. Other players are dedicated amateurs, who spend much of their spare time riding and playing. Still others are more casual, playing on weekends or occasional weekdays a er work. Whatever their level of commitment, all polo players share the special world of polo; a world with its own language, its own worries and preoccupations and its own set of celebrities. ey are united by a shared passion for horses, a shared commitment to the sport, and a love for the game, which is like no other game on earth.

Shine Aiken Players

By Pam Gleason

Polo was quiet here on Whitney Field from November to April this year, but Aiken players were very active elsewhere. In fact, some local young players made a name for themselves on the national and international stages throughout Aiken’s o season. From the FIP World Cup championships in Florida, to the Argentine Women’s Open in Buenos Aires, to the Girls’ Interscholastic Finals in Texas, players who ride and train in Aiken have been extremely impressive, not just winning but making a real mark on the sport.

For instance, in November 2022, Hope Arellano, then 19, joined her brother Agustin Arellano to represent the United States in the FIP World Cup Championships in Wellington, Florida. e FIP World Cup, organized by the Federation of International Polo, was a 10-14 goal contest that featured eight teams winnowed from 25 participating countries. Hope’s father, Julio Arellano, was the team coach and Agustin was in the starting line-up, while Hope was originally an alternate. A er another player was unable to participate, Hope stepped in for the semi nal and nal games, becoming the rst woman ever to represent her country in FIP polo.

Hope was not just out on the eld, either. Her role was crucial in getting the U.S. to the nals since the team had to get past the reigning champions in the semis, a very tough and unbeaten team from Argentina. Hope earned her keep by marking their number 4 player, Tommy Moreno, a hard-hitting and aggressive Back, and scoring two of her own goals, and the U.S. team won the semi nal game in overtime. In the nals, however,

Team USA , FIP World Cup Finals.

Photo by David Lominska

Spain ultimately defeated the U.S. in another overtime nail-biter.

Hope further burnished her credentials the following month when she went to Argentina to play on the La Irenita team in the Argentine Women’s Open. Her team made the nals, where they were overcome by the reigning champions and ve-time winners, La Dol na. Back in the U.S. in the spring, Hope’s team, La Fe, captured the U.S. Women’s Open crown, in a nal game that saw her score six goals and earn the MVP title. Already the highest rated player in America with a women’s 8-goal handicap, it has been announced that Hope will be raised to 10 goals, making her the second American woman ever to attain that honor, alongside the immortal Sunny Hale. Hope, whose family is based in Aiken, has been playing in Aiken Polo Club tournaments since she was a pre-teen, and can o en be found at the trophy table in both women’s and open polo. She is considered by many players and polo watchers to be the best female player in the world.

In another set of achievements, the Aiken Girls’ Interscholastic team continued its dominance with an impressive third consecutive national championship win in Brookshire, Texas this March. Aiken’s interscholastic teams are coached and organized by Tiger Kneece, who is the Aiken Polo Club manager. e Aiken team (Summer Kneece, Brianna and Madison Jordan, Alea Crespo) earned a wildcard spot in the Nationals a er a disappointing narrow loss to Maryland in the Southeast regionals. At the Nationals, both the numberone-seed Maryland and wildcard Aiken earned a bye to the semi nals, where each won convincingly to set up a repeat of that regional match. (Aiken crushed Maui 22-5, while Maryland downed Kingswood 17-6.)

Hope Arellano takes the eld in the FIP World Cup Finals.

Photo by David Lominska

e Aiken interscholastic team was more than ready to take on their rivals this time. A er their regional loss, they studied game tapes, practiced against strong teams in the arena and devised a disciplined strategy of getting to the wall early and backing each other up. It worked. Aiken pulled ahead in the rst chukker and never looked back, emerging the winner 13-8. Summer Kneece and Madison Jordan were named tournament All Stars, and Summer won the horsemanship award.

Although this was the team’s third consecutive national championship win, it was actually a mostly new team –only Summer has played in all three championship nals. Brianna Jordan was on the Girls' team last year, but her twin sister Madison previously played on the Aiken Open Interscholastic team. Alea Crespo, a veteran of outdoor polo, had never played in the arena before, much less in the interscholastics. All four young women are graduating seniors this year.

Coach Tiger Kneece is justi ably proud of the Aiken program, which has risen to national prominence just six years from its founding. He said that winning the championship this year was particularly gratifying because of the participation of his own daughter.

“It was super special to be able to do it three years in a row, especially with my daughter Summer,” he said. “ is year, being her senior year was probably the most special one. Outside of that, if you look at the landscape of programs across the United States, you have to consider that Aiken Youth Polo is such a young program. It says a lot about what Aiken has to o er for us to get to that level that quick.”

Aiken Youth Polo is thriving, with Middle School, Interscholastic and Intercollegiate teams and there are many young players in the pipeline. Tiger says that he doesn’t expect to have a national championship interscholastic team next year, however.

“We’re strong and we’re reloaded, but most of our kids are at the seventh, eighth and ninth grade levels,” said Tiger. “For whatever reason, we have a gap in the age group. So we’ll compete, but our players will be super young.”

As for the current team, at least two players, Brianna Jordan and Summer Kneece, plan to enter USC Aiken and play on the intercollegiate team in the fall, with Madison Jordan possibly joining them in the spring semester. With that kind of power in the line-up, it looks like USC Aiken, which has previously had teams mostly made up of newer players, will be a bright star on the intercollegiate polo map in the near future.

Top: Alea Crespo, Brianna Jordan, Tiger Kneece, Madison Jordan, Summer Kneece

Middle: All Stars: Summer Kneece, Madison Jordan, Isabelle Brackett, Emerson Bruce

Bottom: Summer receives the horsemanship award om Steve Armour

Summer Kneece on the ball. Photo by David Murrell

Tournamen

Harry Caldwell and Lucas Arellano

Jake Kneece Memorial: Un Stable. Del Walton, Harry Caldwell, Chase Butler, Barry Limehouse, Jewel Gregoncza, Chip Limehouse

USPA Players Cup: Shepherd Partners. Madison Jordan, Tony Natale, Denys Santana, Luis Galvan (Photo by Austin Ross)

Womens Challenge B Flight: Polo Adventures. Summer Kneece, Madison Jordan, Sydney Jordan, Shannon Eckel

Womens Challenge A Flight: Banks Mill Feed. Suzanne Duncan, Jewel Gregoncza, Madison Jordan, Hope Arellano

(Photos by Larry Johnson)

USPA Constitution Cup: Peach Tree. Robbie Mooney, Randy Rizor, Jesus Ontiveros, Marcos Onetto

Aiken Spring Challenge: Un Stable. Jewel Gregoncza, Madison Jordan, Chase Butler, Harry Caldwell, Del Walton. (Photos by Larry Johnson)

Alan Corey Memorial: Jet Set Polo. Julia Kline, Mario Baldebentez, Charlie Caldwell, Ruben Coscia

USPA Governor's Cup: Prestonwood. Brianna Jordan, Madison Jordan, Nachi Viana, Vaughn Miller, Jr.

USPA George Patton Cup: Un Stable. Jewel Gregoncza, Chase Butler, Harry Caldwell, Del Walton

Women’s Fall Challenge: Kylie Sheehan, Kimberly von Stade, Rachael Spenser, Casey Floyd

USPA Player's Cup: Un Stable: Madison Jordan, Chase Butler, Harry Caldwell, Del Walton

NYTS Champions: APC White: Ramon Caro, Kelsey Bray, Olivia Reynolds, Sophie Grant

In Loving Memory

In Memory of Delmer C. Walton

January 29, 1983 -

December 3, 2022

The Mallet normally ranges from 49 to 53 inches and is made of malacca cane.

e head is fashioned from tipa, a South American wood.

The Team

Jersey sports the color of the player’s team and the number of the position that he or she plays, from 1 to 4.

The Helmet is required equipment. Modern helmets are modeled a er the pith helmets that the British wore in 19th century India. ey must pass strict safety standards and are designed to fend o ying balls and mallets and to protect the head if the player should fall.

The Bit controls the horse. Polo players use many di erent kinds of bit. is one is called a gag.

Knee & Elbow

Leg Wraps & Boots provide support to tendons and ligaments as well as protection from balls and mallets.

Pads protect against fast balls. Knee pads are appreciated during hard ride-o s!

The Ball is made of hard plastic that dents a little each time it is hit.

Pictured above: Sophie Grant

Flaco Lizaso; Aga Morgan

Above: Chilo Cordova; Tony Natale

Below: Connell Erb on the ball with Sophie Grant, Norine Foley, Malicia von Falkenhausen

Above: Amy Cortazar, Harry Caldwell, Charlie Caldwell, Chase Butler. (Photo by Lori Metz)

Below: Jewel Gregoncza, Tom ayer

Adam Snow’s Lightning in a Bottle

By Sarah Eakin

Finding “lightning in a bottle” is a racehorse breeder’s dream, but, rather than as a racehorse, Hale Bopp, a diminutive black oroughbred mare, blazed her trail across the polo eld. Her achievements over an 11-year career with the former 10-goal player and Aiken resident Adam Snow distinguished her from her peers. is February she was honored at the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in Wellington, Florida as a “Horse to Remember,” one of the legends of the sport. Hale Bopp joins 11 other polo ponies with Aiken ties in the Hall of Fame.

Under her racing name, Dances With Flames, Hale Bopp went to the track just once, as a 2-year-old at the Detroit Race Track, where she nished fth in a maiden claimer, taking home her career earnings of $36. en Roger Redman bought her as a polo prospect. He trained her using cattle penning as part of her introduction to the sport. When she was ready to move on, Redman, who was based in Sarasota, Florida in the winters, was told that Adam Snow would be a player worth approaching.

“I got a phone call from Roger Redman,” Adam recalled. “He said he was driving over from Sarasota with a trailer load of six horses to show. Someone had given him my name as a good person to contact and he said, would you like to see my horses? Of course I said yes.”

Hale Bopp TO THE HALL OF FAME

At rst sight, Snow, was concerned that the 15-hand mare was too small. e 26-goal was about to start in Wellington. Snow had been playing for Steve Van Andel’s Orchard Hill and Redman brought his horses to the practice eld at the team base. Snow played and rode the other horses before Redman mentioned the little black mare saying “I think she’s too small for you.”

But Snow rode her and loved the way she felt under him. He asked if he could play her the next day in a 26-goal practice at the Coca Cola team’s base, Everglades.

Once on the eld, any second thoughts he might have had were quickly dispelled when his Coca Cola 26-goal teammate, Roberto Gonzalez, gave his endorsement. “He said: ‘If you don’t buy that mare, I will,” Snow said. “She felt that good, too! But it’s always nice to hear some outside con rmation.”

e purchase was secured over lunch that day, and having passed the vet, Be Bopp – the name Redman had given her – became Hale Bopp, named for the comet called Hale-Bopp that was visible in the night sky throughout 1997. Mike Morton, a player from Wyoming who often found horses for Snow, visited Snow’s barn the next day. “He said: ‘I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this mare’s too small for you,’” Adam said. “I love to tell that story back to Mike now.”

Hale Bopp made rapid progress that winter.

“I took her to my next game – our rst game in the U.S. Open – versus Outback,” Snow said. “ e idea was to warm up on her and maybe I’d get on her for a minute in the rst half. So I warm up on her, play her for 45 seconds in the second or third chukker, and I scored two goals on her. We’re playing against Adolfo [Cambiaso] and we were beating them pretty well, until Adolfo gets mad, takes over the game and it’s tied in the sixth chukker half way through. So I get back on her and end up playing her for the whole second half of the sixth, and we win the game by two.

“I’ve never had a mare that I had brought that quickly into tournament polo and been so successful.” It was 1998, and the horse had never played higher than 8-goal polo before joining Adam’s string. “Within a week she was looking like a champion in 26-goal polo,” said Snow. “And she was just 6 years old.”

When Snow learned that Hale Bopp was being recognized by the Polo Hall of Fame this year as a “Horse to Remember, post-Hartman Award Era,” he looked for and found the tape of that rst 26-goal game.

“I didn’t teach her anything,” he said after

watching it. “She had it from the moment I bought her from Roger. Maybe Roger taught her this stu . . . She was quicker to turn than any other horse and quicker to slow down from speed.”

Hale Bopp played in Snow’s string for 11 years and has a long list of Best Playing Pony accolades to her name. “ is was a horse so good, she probably single-handedly changed my career,” said Snow, adding that she never felt small to him because her body was wide and her personality was large. “She had an attitude. She would pin her ears. She was bossy and very con dent and she didn’t care what size the other horse was. You were on this little reball that if you think something, you’re doing it.”

Hale Bopp became a well-known presence on the eld where she was given the sobriquet ‘La Negra.’ Snow said he asked his groom to not warm her up, so that the other team would not know she was about to come on the eld. e umpires, too, initially blew the whistle on her until they learned her capability.

“You’re quicker than everybody else,” Snow said. “You can come into any line at any angle, but she was doing it safely without crossing that line. e umpires realized it: that’s that mare – she can make the play.”

Hale Bopp lived on in retirement for 11 years at Snow’s New Haven Farm in Aiken, and passed away at the age of 29. She is buried on the farm, the spot commemorated by the planting of a tree. She bore four foals, the youngest of which, LollyBopp, is part of Snow’s string today. Her legend continues.

Summer Kneece gets the shot; Anna Coscia rides o

Above: Jewel Gregoncza; Patrick Marinelli

Below: Justin Pimsner

Alan Martinez ahead of Nachi Viana

Above: Harry Caldwell

Below: Robyn Leitner; Flaco Lizaso and Marcos Onetto

Brad Limehouse

A Polo Timeline History of the Game in Aiken

By Pam Gleason

1913: Louise Hitchcock, who was married to omas Hitchcock, became the guiding spirit of the Aiken Winter Colony. An enthusiastic athlete, she played polo along with her husband and her children, and she organized and coached games for young players, many of whom went on to be the most illustrious players of the 1920s and 1930s.

1932: e Aiken

Polo 50th anniversary celebration took over the city. Everyone dressed in “old fashioned” 1880s clothing and reenacted the rst game in Aiken using antiquated rules and costumes. 10-goaler Devereux Milburn was the grand marshall of the parade; Seymour Knox and Lewis Smith in stripes.

Polo in Persia, 14th century miniature. Polo originated in modern-day Iran at least 2,000 years ago and spread throughout the Middle and Far East. It entered the Western world in the mid-19th century when colonial tea planters and Army o cers in Assam, India learned the game and brought a version of it back to England.

1890: Members of the Meadowbrook team who formed the Polo Association. e rst American polo game took place in New York City in 1876. omas Hitchcock, second from the right, learned the game at Oxford and would become a mainstay of polo in Aiken.

1891: e Reds play the Blues in Aiken. Polo came to Aiken because of Clarence Sutherland Wallace, a horseman, composer and executive at the Havemayer Sugar Company in Brooklyn, New York. Wallace, playing on the Red team here, bought a home in Aiken around 1880 and organized Aiken’s rst games in 1882.

1936: Tommy Hitchcock, the 10-goal son of Louise and omas Hitchcock, became the most famous polo player in the world leading the United States to victory in many international contests. He grew up playing in Aiken and on Long Island.

1947: Pete Bostwick was an accomplished at and steeplechase jockey as well as an 8-goaler who played in Aiken for decades. His sons Charlie and Ricky would become strong and dedicated players, and today Charlie is the Aiken Polo Club president.

1972: Polo in Aiken, like polo everywhere, was at a low level in the early 1970s. But things in Aiken were starting to look up, and the club now had its own program.

1956: Seymour Knox played in Aiken during the winters and in Bu alo, New York during the summer. His two sons, Seymour and Norty, o en joined him on his Aurora polo team.

Tiger is now the Aiken Polo Club manager and Tommy, a member of the Polo Hall of Fame, is playing and coaching the high goal in Florida.

1996: Megan Arellano goes to goal in the Cup of Aiken. With Adam Snow, Tommy Biddle and Joey Kneece. Polo in Aiken was on the upswing, as high goal players moved to Aiken from all over the country, turning the city back into a national polo destination.

2007: 125th anniversary game. Jack Whittemore, Charlie Bostwick, Gene Fortugno, Walter Durrett dressed for the 1882 reenactment.

1982: Aiken Polo Club Centennial Game. Aiken Polo Club organized a gala celebration for its 100th birthday, once again staging a game in 1880s costume.

1985: e New Aiken Team. A er the 1982 centennial celebration, Tom Biddle, who had been running the club, organized leagues and instruction for new players, young and old, to bolster club membership and participation. e New Aiken Team, undefeated for more than three years, was the crowning achievement: Devane Batchelor, Tommy Biddle, David Widener Jr., Tiger Kneece. Tommy and Tiger went on to be top professional players.

2009: Alan Corey III, who grew up playing on Aiken’s elds, continued to play and serve on the board of directors into his 70s. Alan spearheaded the construction of the pavilion on the side of Whitney Field that bears his name. e pavilion opened in 2014.

2015: Copper Cup 12-goal action on Whitney Field. Owen Rinehart backs the ball ahead of Alan Meeker, Matias Magrini and Antonio Galvan. In the mid 2010s, Aiken had a respectable contingent of high and medium goal teams and the club bene tted from the intense competition this brought with it.

2022: Young players on Whitney Field. Tiger and Susie Kneece’s Aiken Youth Polo Program has graduated scores of young players who are beginning to dominate the play at Aiken, developing their skills and ensuring that polo will survive in Aiken for many years to come.

Nachi Viana leads the charge ahead of Brianna Jordan

Above: Hope Arellano

Below: George Hempt gets the hook on Chase Butler; Norine Foley

Above: Max Hempt; Madison Jordan

Below: Luis Galvan

Above: Ramon Caro rides o Malachi Light; Brianna Jordan rides o Sydney Jordan

Below: Summer Kneece goes for the hook on Omar Cepeda

New Technology

an Ancient Sp t

Polo Umpiring in the 21st century

By Pam Gleason

o one would mistake polo for a modern sport. e game is at least 2,000 years old, and much of the equipment used in a match recalls an earlier era. Today’s polo helmets incorporate the latest innovations in protective headgear, but they are still modeled a er 19th century pith helmets. Mallets are still made of natural cane with wooden heads, and look almost exactly the same as they did 50 or even 100 years ago. e tack used on the horses has changed somewhat, but saddles and bridles continue to be fashioned of traditional leather and there has been little evolution in style during the last century.

ere is one aspect of the game that is on the technological cutting edge however: umpiring. Although the rules about what umpires do have not changed recently, the methods by which they o ciate have accelerated into the 21st century. Credit for these advances must go to USPA Umpires LLC, an organization that works with the United States Polo Association to train and certify professional polo umpires. Although there have always been some professional umpires in polo, the creation of this organization has made umpiring a respected career path, and has helped to standardize o ciating at clubs around the country.

According to the polo rulebook, a polo match requires two mounted umpires who must ride along with the play to look for infringements of the rules. Polo is such a fast sport and it covers so much ground that two umpires are necessary because a single person would not be able to see all angles of the play. In addition, there is a referee, known as the third man, who normally sits on the sidelines and casts the deciding vote if one umpire sees a foul and the other disagrees.

As recently as 10 years ago, umpiring looked about the same as it did in the early days of American polo. e rst change in the 2010s was that the umpires began using walkie-talkies during breaks in the game, which made it unnecessary for the umpires to ride over for a face-toface discussion with the third man in case of a disagreement. Soon, they started using wireless, handsfree headsets instead, which makes it possible for them to communicate with one another during the game itself. is is particularly useful as a training aid when a new umpire is on the eld with a veteran because the veteran is now able to provide much more instruction and mentoring. In all games, it also tends to minimize the need for the third man because the umpires are able to discuss plays as they are happening and are more likely to agree on a call.

Pete Blake: Modern umpire equipment

e next innovation in umpiring is the GoPro camera strapped to the umpire’s helmet. GoPros were initially used for umpire training and review, allowing the umpires to review the calls a er the game, discuss the plays, hone their ability to call fouls, and learn to recognize when apparently tricky plays are actually safe and legal. Game tape is used for training purposes as well as to settle disputes with players.

“A er the game, if we have a contentious play, or a team or a player requesting a review, we can go back and look at it,” says Fergus Gould, who is the executive director of USPA Umpires. “ at happens fairly regularly: the player might say, this guy did this to me, and we have the tape and we can con rm it, or say, well, actually that’s not what happened.”

By far the most cutting-edge new technology in umpiring is the drone. Drones were initially used to provide a unique perspective while lming a game, and are a staple of the USPA Polo network that video records important games for livestream broadcast. It quickly became clear, however, that drone footage can also be very helpful in sorting out exactly what is happening on the polo eld. Drone footage is used in conjunction with helmet cam tape for reviewing the plays a er the game and is also sometimes used during the game itself, particularly in the Florida high goal matches where instant replays are now a reality.

“ e third man has an iPad that has access to the cameras on the eld and the drone, so they have four full camera angles on the game,” says Fergus. “ e drone provides a perspective you can’t get any other way, so it has been really good for us.” In games where a drone is available,

each team is permitted to challenge a call on the eld one time per half, and the play is then reviewed by the third man, who generally acts as the “instant replay o cial.” Polo may have been the rst sport to use drones in this way, but now other sports are following the lead: sailing races, baseball, soccer and even the PGA tour.

“We’re always looking for the next tool that can help us really improve and provide better information, better data, better decision making,” says Fergus. “I think it’s such a complicated sport, and the rules, no matter how simple and clear, are still subjective. Clarity and consistency is really what we’re chasing with all this.”

Umpiring in polo is sometimes disparaged, usually by members of a losing team convinced that a match was called unfairly. Although there can certainly be disagreements, there is no question that technological and other advances have improved things greatly in recent years.

“I think that people have a short memory when it comes to umpiring,” says Fergus. “It wasn’t so long ago that the games were umpired by unpaid by players who were playing against the same teams they were umpiring in a tournament. e level of professionalism now is in the stratosphere compared to then.

“ e umpires make a lot of use of this technology,” he adds. “ ey spend a lot of time going back and reviewing games and plays and calls in an e ort to continually improve. Some people might feel like, oh, the umpires just come in and do the game and go home and never think about it again. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“I think it’s such a complicated sport, and the rules, no matter how simple and clear, are still subjective. Clarity and consistency is really what we’re chasing with all this. The level of professionalism now is in the stratosphere compared to then.”

Drone footage from the USPA livestream of the FIP World Cup Finals

Above: Sophie Grant and Reagan Leitner; Deep Singh

Below: Ruben Coscia

Polo

Glossary

Understand the players! Like any other sport, polo has its own language. Some terms you might hear come directly out of the equestrian world. Others are unique to polo. Here are a few of the most common terms and what they mean.

Bump: A player may ride into his or her opponent’s in order to spoil the shot or remove the opponent from the play. e angle of the bump must be no greater than 45 degrees. Although a bump can be quite hard, it may not endanger either horse or rider. A bump is “dangerous riding” and a foul if either horse is signi cantly ahead of the other, going much faster than the other, or if the bump causes either mount to lose its balance.

Chukker: A period in polo is called a “chukker,” or sometimes a “chukka.” Each chukker lasts seven and a half minutes and there are usually either four or six chukkers in each game. A er each chukker, the players leave the eld and then return with fresh horses for the next chukker. A horse may play one or at most two chukkers in a game.

Divot: A loose piece of turf created by galloping hooves, or by horses stopping and turning quickly. At hal ime, spectators are invited on the eld to replace the divots, otherwise known as “stomping the divots.”

Flagger: An o cial stationed behind each goal to determine whether or not a goal has been scored. If yes, the agger waves the ag over his or her head; if no, down by the feet. Flaggers must be t and have quick re exes! Otherwise they might be in danger of getting run over.

Foul: Also a “penalty.” A foul is any infringement of the rules. When the umpires blow their whistles, time stops and the team fouled takes a free hit. Depending on the severity of the foul, the free hit may be from the point of the infraction, or closer to the goal. If the umpires determine that there was no actual foul or that both teams fouled simultaneously, they may have a throw-in instead of the foul shot.

Goal: e purpose of polo is to score goals by hitting the ball through the goal posts. It doesn’t matter how high in the air a player hits the ball: as long as it passes between the parallel lines created by the goal posts, it counts as a goal. A er each goal is scored, the teams switch directions and return to the center of the eld for a throw-in. Goal is also a term for a handicap, as in “How many goals are you?”

Groom: e person who cares for, tacks, untacks and washes the horses during the game. Many players have fulltime

grooms whose jobs may also include caring for, training and exercising the player’s horses six or seven days a week, as well as driving the truck and trailer, cleaning the tack and even cleaning the player’s boots and knee pads. Other players employ a groom on a game-by-game basis, and otherwise care for the horses themselves.

Half Goal: In lower rated tournaments, the outcome of the game might be decided by half goals, which are generally not re ected on the scoreboard. Several years ago, the USPA addressed what it called “handicap compression” on the lower end of the handicap scale by establishing three “half goal” ratings. ese are a B.5 (minus one half) and A.5 (plus one half) and a 1.5 (one and a half). As a result, it will o en happen that one team will be rated half a goal less than the other team. In this case, if the scoreboard re ects a tie, the lower rated team will actually be the winner by a half goal. e half goal ratings only count in 8 goal polo and below.

Handicap: Every player is assigned a handicap from C (-2) to 10 goals. is handicap re ects the player’s theoretical worth to his team and has nothing whatever to do with how many goals he might score during a match. On each team, the four players’ handicaps are added together to arrive at a team handicap. Team handicaps are used to classify tournaments: in a 6-goal tournament, the teams have a maximum of six goals. If a 5-goal team plays against a 6-goal team, the 5-goal team will start the game with one goal on handicap.

Hook: A defensive play. A player may hook or strike at his opponent’s mallet when the opponent is in the act of hitting at the ball. He may not reach over, under or across his opponent’s horse: this is a cross hook and a foul. A high hook above the level of the player’s shoulder is also a foul. Sometimes a player commits a foul hook accidentally. An inadvertent foul hook merits a free hit from the spot.

Line of the Ball: e imaginary line that the ball creates from where a player hits it to where it is going. e line extends inde nitely across the eld. Many of the right-of-way rules in polo are based on the concept of the line of the ball. Generally, one tries not to cross the line of the ball, especially in front of someone who is on the line.

Knock-in: When the ball goes over the endline but not through the goal posts, the team defending that goal gets a free hit or knock-in from the point where the ball went out. Attacking players must stay 30 yards away from the hitter until the ball is in play.

Mallet: e polo stick. Mallet canes are made of malacca, a type of palm that grows in the Asian rainforest. e mallet head is typically made of tipa wood from Argentina or Brazil. Since polo is not croquet, players do not have to hit the ball with the pointed end of the mallet. Instead, they hit it with the side of the head, at the juncture of the head and the cane. e play never stops just because one of the players has broken or dropped a mallet.

Near Side: e le side of the horse. One normally handles the horse on his near side. A near side shot is one taken on the le side of the horse. All players carry their mallets in their right hands, so to execute a near side shot, they must lean across the horse. Near side shots are more di cult than o side (right side) shots.

Neck Shot: a shot made under the horse’s neck, causing the ball to travel at an angle in front of the horse. Players must lean forward and hit the ball well in front of them to execute a neck shot properly. Otherwise, the ball might bounce into the pony’s galloping legs.

Off Side: e right side of the horse. e most common shot in polo is an o side forehand.

Open: (a) A shot that travels at an angle away from the horse, either backwards or forwards. Also called a cut shot or an away shot. (b) A polo game that is played without consideration of handicaps – in other words, a lower handicapped team would not receive any goals to start with.

Penalty One: a dangerous foul that takes place near the goal, created when a defending player attempts to stop an attacker from scoring. In a Penalty One, the team fouled gets an automatic goal and then a penalty hit from mid eld.

Pick-up stick: A a stick with a special end that allows the umpire to pick up a polo ball from the ground.

Pony: Although they are full-sized, full-grown horses, polo mounts are called ponies. is term comes from the early modern history of polo when players did ride ponies. Today, the majority of polo horses in America are oroughbred horses,

some of which began their careers on the racetrack. Others were speci cally bred for the sport and may be oroughbreds or oroughbreds crossed with North or South American ranch stock.

Pony Goal: a goal that is scored by a pony kicking it in. Pony goals count just as much as goals scored by players. If your pony scores a goal, the trick, of course, is to make sure that he kicks it through the correct goal. No one likes to ride a pony that is scoring points for the opposition!

Ride-off: In a ride-o , a player encourages his horse to lean into his opponent’s horse in order to keep his opponent from hitting the ball. e rider may also make contact with his opponent, but only with his shoulder: Elbowing is a foul.

Safety: If a defending player hits the ball over his own endline, the umpires blow the whistle for a safety. e attacking team takes a foul shot 60 yards out, parallel to the point at which the ball went out of bounds.

Shoot-Out: If the game is tied at the end of the game and the players do not want to play a sudden death chukker, or have already played one, the winner can be determined by a shoot-out. In this case, each player on each team takes a turn hitting a 40-yard foul shot. When all four players on each team have hit, the team that has scored the most goals is declared the winner by one goal. If the teams are tied, then the players hit again in turn until one team comes out ahead.

Stick and Ball: practicing polo by cantering around, hitting the ball.

Sideboards: Low boards that help keep the ball from going out of bounds. Although play stops if the ball goes over the boards, horses jump them regularly and keep on playing.

Sudden Death: If the score is tied at the end of regulation play, the game goes to sudden death overtime. e overtime chukker is timed just like a regular chukker, and ends either if a team scores, or at the seven-and-a-half minute mark. It is possible for a game to go to double, or triple overtime. O en, however, if there is no winner a er a full overtime chukker, the outcome of the game is determined by a shoot-out.

Tack-time: A time out that is called because one of the players has a piece of broken equipment. Unless the player with the broken equipment is in imminent danger, tack-time is only called a er the play has stopped for some other reason, such as

a foul or a goal. e player with broken equipment is allowed to leave the eld to repair or replace the broken item. He is not allowed to change horses at this time. If a player wants to change his horse in the middle of the chukker, he does this on his own time. e timer is not stopped so that a player can change his horse.

Tail shot: A back shot executed at an angle behind the horse, under the tail. When a player calls to a teammate to “tail-it!” he is asking for a tail shot. e opposite of a tail shot is a cut, or an open shot

Technical: A penalty exacted against displays of poor sportsmanship. If an umpire awards a foul and the player or team that fouled argues, the penalty might be “moved up” on a technical. Umpires ask a player who earns two technicals in a chukker, or three in a game, to leave the eld.

Third Man: Also the referee. e third man sits on the sidelines and watches the play carefully. It is his duty to settle disputes between umpires by giving his opinion as to whether or not a foul was committed.

Throw-In: e way a ball is put into play in a neutral situation, such as at the beginning of the game or a er a goal. e umpire lines the two teams up facing him, and then bowls the ball between them.

USPA: e United States Polo Association is the governing body of equestrian sport. Established in 1890, the USPA is the second oldest sports governing body in the U.S. ( e United States Tennis Association, founded in 1881, is the oldest.) e USPA formulates and updates the rules, establishes the handicaps works to promote and improve the sport. It is possible to join the association as a full member, a junior member or a student member. If you are a polo fan, you can even join as an associate member.

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A Horse to Remember

Ragamuffin, Owned and Played by Northrup R Knox

By Pam Gleason

Of all the horses Northrup R. Knox rode in his high goal polo career, Ragamu n was his favorite. Extremely fast, handy, tough and sound, “Mu n” gained international acclaim when Knox brought her to play in the Copa de Las Americas in Argentina in 1966. In 1968, she played in the U. S. Open, where she won the Hartman award as the best playing pony in the tournament. en she solidi ed her standing as a world class champion when Knox brought her back to Argentina in 1969. ere, she played in the Copa de Las Americas and in the Argentine Open. e American team made it to the Open nals, where Ragamu n was so impressive, she was deemed the best playing pony, taking home the Lady Susan Townley Cup. She was the rst horse ever to win both the Townley and the Hartman trophies.

Ragamu n was bred by John T. Oxley at his Greenhill Farm in Oklahoma which was, at the time, one of the largest and most prestigious polo breeding operations in the country. She was the daughter of Oxley’s famous playing stallion Woodie D, a registered oroughbred who also became a registered Quarter Horse stallion before that registry was closed. Northrup Knox obtained her before his rst trip to Argentina in 1966, and she quickly rose to be one of his top international horses, playing with him in Aiken before departing for prestigious tournaments around the country and the world.

Along with her sister Ravenelle and her stablemates Rotallen and Roulette, Ragamu n was one of Knox’s famous “Four R” ponies. A er her playing career was done, she joined Rotallen in Argentina to be a broodmare for the great Argentine 10-goaler Juan Carlos Harriott. She was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 2002, joining many of her close connections. Her fellow Hall of Famers include her owner, Northrup Knox, her breeder John T Oxley, her sire Woodie D and her close stablemate and friend Rotallen.