An equestrian dynasty

Opposite Charro worker Manuel Medina This page Ciénega Church, by Presa de la Duquesa lake, built in the 18th century by the Rincón Gallardo family

As the 18th-century Franciscan missionary, teacher and historian Friar Juan Agustín de Morf wrote, ‘In 1774, the Rincón Gallardo family owned 400 sites of cattle. With this, you could form a small kingdom.’ A notable part of this enormous wealth included the aristocratic family’s hacienda, Ciénega de Mata, located in the important state of Jalisco in west-central Mexico. Built at the beginning of the 17th century as an agricultural ranch, it also reared mules to work on the land and to sell, and raised horses to supply the Mexican army. Over a period of 20 years, between 1610 and 1630, the Rincón Gallardos sold 41 per cent of their mules and 61 per cent of the horses they bought to Mexico City – an indication of just how important the business was during that time. Much more recently, between 1930 and 1940, Ciénega de Mata became focused on its cattle and horse farming.

By the end of the 17th century, the Rincón Gallardo dynasty had become one of the most important and powerful forces during the period known as the ‘Virreinato’, when the Spanish Crown organised a set of institutions for the control of its territories in the New World; they owned land and were very important in the army and the government. In 1860, José María Rincón Gallardo, the second Marquis of Guadalupe, had 400,000 hectares of land and 13 haciendas to his name, all of which were later inherited by his 12 sons. Ciénega was the most important in this ‘small kingdom’.

Later, Ciénega was to survive two of the most important events in Mexican history – the Mexican Revolution, which started in 1910 and continued into the 1920s, and the agrarian reform of the 1930s, when president Lázaro Cárdenas seized millions of hectares of land from wealthy families and reallocated it to the poorer working classes.

Jaime Rincón Gallardo, who was my great grandfather, once said that Ciénega was the oldest hacienda in Mexico to remain in family hands since its foundation more than 400 years previously. In the frst half of the 20th century, Carlos Rincón Gallardo, the fourth Marquis of Guadalupe, Duke of Regla and the hacienda’s owner at that time, created what is now known worldwide as the art of la charrería, or the charreada, an event similar to rodeo and now considered Mexico’s national sport. Carlos became known as ‘The Father of the Charrería’ after writing El Libro del Charro Mexicano (or

Below A typical scene at the hacienda, depicted in a painting from 1918 by Ernesto Icaza Opposite, clockwise from top Ciénega Church; the author in 2010; the farm horses at pasture; and the hacienda

The Book of the Mexican Charro) – widely thought of as the Mexican horseman’s bible – in which he listed rules, techniques and advice for becoming a proper charro. Taking place regularly at the hacienda, many of these events were depicted in the paintings of the Mexican artist Ernesto Icaza (1886 –1935), who became renowned for his depictions of life on the ranch.

When he took over Ciénega, Carlos’s nephew Alfonso dedicated himself to preserving the charro tradition started by his uncle at the hacienda; he is now considered one of the most elegant and important charros in history.

In addition to championing the culture of the charro, Carlos Rincón Gallardo was one of the Mexican Jockey Club’s pioneer polo players, following its foundation in 1881. My great-grandfather Jaime and his brother Eduardo continued the tradition, becoming 5-goal players and winning one of the frst Mexican Opens ever played. In 1952, Jaime played the US Open in Beverly Hills, California, in a team that included the great 10-goal player Cecil Smith. In the 1960s, he started a horse-breeding business with a stallion named Nip Mah, an American thoroughbred, and a mare, La India, from the Duggan’s stud farm in Argentina.

Jaime had an ambition to start producing his own pony line, and his sons Sebastián (my grandfather) and Pablo were able to play polo with some very good horses. In the summers of 1961, 1962 and 1963 my great-uncle Pablo was invited to play several tournaments in Spain with Pedro Domecq and brothers Chino and Pato Gracida, and in England, where he played against Guards, among others. Jaime bought more mares to breed at Ciénega. In 1968, during the Olympic Games in Mexico City, the visiting HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and his Windsor Park team (Lord Patrick Beresford, Paul Withers and Tyrone Waterford) played polo using horses that were lent to them by Ciénega.

Ten years later, needing more ponies to play, Pablo decided he wanted to improve on the breeding programme and brought in another stallion called El Toro. The horse turned out to be an extraordinarily good choice, breeding with around 30 mares. During this period, Pablo started playing important tournaments with Ciénega horses, such as the Camacho Cup in 1974 and 1975, and alongside the Gracidas in 1976 and 1980 in San Antonio,

Clockwise from top left From left, Ruben Pato Gracida, Rob Walton and Pablo Rincón Gallardo compete in a match at Palm Beach in the 1980s; the author’s great-grandfather Jaime Rincón Gallardo Sr, left, and grandfather Sebastian Rincón Gallardo, in 1990; Mexico’s winning 1981 Camacho Cup team, featuring, from left, Carlos, Ruben and Memo Gracida with Pablo Rincón Gallardo

Texas. One of his most memorable victories was at the Mexican Open in 1977, where, playing with my grandfather, they won in extra time as part of a 20-goal team, against a 26-goal team that included the 10-goal Dorignac brothers. That year, Pablo was raised to 7-goals and my grandfather to a 4-goal status.

At the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, polo in Mexico was at its height, with numerous good players taking to the feld and more on their way through. Pablo continued to play around the world with horses bred at Ciénega, winning many famous tournaments. His most important victory was at the US Open in Retama in 1985 for Carter Ranch, playing with Preston Carter and Carlos and Memo Gracida. He won the Mexican Open again in consecutive years, 1985 and 1986, playing for Cartier, in a 22-goal-level tournament with Memo Gracida, Jaime Rincón Gallardo (my father) and Jorge Mijares, and was undefeated in both years. He also played for the Mexican team in the frst FIP World Cup in 1987 in Argentina, in which they fnished as runnersup to the host nation.

During most of the US Opens in which he played, Pablo used his favourite Ciénega-bred mares: La América, La Bosanova, La Mora Gitana, La Muñeca, La Cinta Negra and one particularly memorable horse, La Ambarina, which he later sold to Memo Gracida. The 10-goal player dominated many a chukka on what would turn out to be one of his best mares.

One of my uncle’s favourite ponies was a grey mare called La Muñeca. One year, during the US Open in Chicago, a groom from another team mistakenly took her to be his boss’s horse, and brought her to a game. When my uncle’s groom found La Muñeca had disappeared, the staff were frantic and a helicopter search was launched. It was called off when it was La Muñeca was dicovered playing a game of polo.

When Pablo was President of the Mexico Polo Federation, it was his ambition to bring the FIP World Cup to Mexico. After years of planning, Mexico was awarded host status, but unfortunately my great-uncle had died in May 2006, two years before the event was staged at Campo Marte in 2008.

I was 12 when he died and my father inherited Ciénega, together with the pony-breeding programme. Now, my grandfather, my father and I manage the whole operation between us. It’s something that gives us enormous joy.