February 2018 Polo Players' Edition

F E B R U A R Y 2 01 8

11th Argentine Open title for La Dolfina

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CONTENTS F E B R UA R Y 201 8

VO L . 21 ,

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

26 Famous by Brenda Lynn

6

Hall of Fame inductees announced

30 Polo masters by Ernesto Rodriguez

NO. 6

Association News

USPA Bulletin Club Spotlight

12 Instructors Forum

La Dolfina continues to dominate Argentine Open

by Tom Goodspeed

36 On the edge

14 Viewpoints

Horse trekking through Patagonia is a thrill

by Peter Rizzo

16 Equine Athlete 18 22 24 42

F E B R U A R Y 2 01 8

11th Argentine Open title for La Dolfina

OUR COVER Ellerstina’s Gonzalo Pieres puts the pressure on La Dolfina’s Pelon Stirling in the 124th Argentine Open final.

Photo by: Sergio Llamera

by Heather Smith Thomas Polo Scene News, notes, trends & quotes

Team USPA Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Polo in the Pampas

by Ernesto Rodriguez

44 Polo around the Globe 61 Marketplace 64 Calendar 46 Polo Report

Casablanca Dominates Grand Champions Fall Season

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OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN SIGNED COLUMNS ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PUBLISHERS OF THIS MAGAZINE.

2 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

THE

OFFICIAL MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE

UNITED STATES POLO ASSOCIATION

Editor & Publisher

GWEN D. RIZZO

Contributing Editors

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS, ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ, ALICE GIPPS, CHRIS ASHTON, TOM GOODSPEED

Editorial Board BOB PUETZ, TONY COPPOLA, TOM BIDDLE, DAWN WEBER, AMI SHINITZKY Art Director DAVID BEVERAGE Prepress PUBLISHERS PRESS Advertising & Editorial Offices USPA Member Subscription Inquiries (800) 232-8772 OR FAX (888) 341-7410 ldolan@uspolo.org

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VOL. 21, No.6 POLO Players’ Edition (ISSN #1096-2255) is published monthly by Rizzo Management Corp. 6008 Reynolds RD, Lake Worth, FL 33449 for U.S. Polo Association, 9011 Lake Worth RD, Lake Worth, FL 33467.

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USPA Umpires, LLC from 0 goal to 40 goal, we’ve gotcha covered!

For information regarding a professional umpire at your club, please contact: Charlie Muldoon (240) 731-2248 cmuldoon@uspolo.org Maggie Mitchell (941) 928-4600 mmitchell@uspolo.org For information regarding umpire certification, online testing, umpire clinics or rule reviews, please contact: Steve Lane (352) 454-6611 slane@uspolo.org

Helmet Testing The USPA Safety Committee remains focused on continuing to improve the safety of our players. I am particularly pleased by the mandate approved by the USPA Board of Governors at the 2017 USPA Board of Governors and Annual Member Meeting in which all players at USPA events will be required to wear a National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) polo standard certified helmet. This mandate will take effect June 1, 2019.

Contrary to other sports, including equestrian disciplines, we in the polo community have not required that protective helmets comply with any standard, leaving our players with little guidance when acquiring a helmet, as well as ignoring safety concerns including concussion, traumatic brain injury and even death.

There are several helmet standards based both in the U.S. and overseas. However, the NOCSAE polo helmet safety standard was generated with particular attention to polo, which includes testing simulated falls from the height of the head of a mounted player. The standard also includes a retention system so the helmet stays appropriately on the head of the player in the event of a fall. Additionally, the shell must be sturdy enough to support a face mask used for eye protection.

The standard takes into consideration several impacts to the same helmet. For a manufacturer to obtain a NOCSAE certification, the manufacturer also has to accept ongoing inspection of the production line, thereby ensuring the helmets continue to meet the standard.

The NOCSAE polo standard is a rigorous standard, which is what makes it assuredly safe. Currently, there is not a NOCSAE polo certified helmet on the market. The Casablanca C6 and the Falcon did however pass in the past, but are currently not on the market.

Through this mandate, the USPA expects to generate a market that will 6 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

incentivize manufacturers to bring a NOCSAE compliant polo helmet to market. The Hurlingham Polo Association is also mandating the use of a helmet that complies with the standards accepted by the British Horseracing Authority, beginning on January 1, 2018. A NOCSAE polo certified helmet will comply with these standards thereby increasing the market.

In addition, the USPA is offering two grants to manufacturers who bring a NOCSAE polo certified helmet to the market.

In the meantime, the USPA continues to test several helmets against the NOCSAE polo standard, as well as the ASTM 1163 standard.

To read a full report on the helmet testing results, please visit uspolo.org. —Dr. Thor Norregaard USPA Safety Committee Chair Rule Changes With the support of the Rules Committee and other USPA committees, the USPA Board of Governors has approved a number of changes to the USPA Outdoor Rules for 2018 (and two changes for 2019). These changes are designed to open up the game, make it safer and bring the outdoor rules more in line with the USPA’s international rules and the HPA, FIP and AAP rules. The most signif-

icant outdoor rules changes are summarized below, with corresponding international rule changes noted in parentheses: Rule 2.a (1): If a player is injured in a game and there are no eligible substitutes available, an eliminated player may be substituted to complete that game and any subsequent game for that team only.

Rules 4.a and 8.f: As of June 1, 2019, the protective helmet required for players and umpires must be NOCSAE-approved.

Rule 14.b: Except for the final period of regulation play, each period will terminate following the seven-minute horn or bell, when the ball goes out of play, a goal is scored, or the umpire’s whistle sounds.

In the final period, if the game is not tied at the end of seven minutes, the game will end on the seven-minute horn or bell. In the final regulation period and any subsequent overtime periods, if the game is tied play will continue until the second horn or bell, or until a goal is scored or awarded.

Rules 20.b, 22.a, and 36.e: For throwins, knock-ins and penalties, a player who is off-sides when play begins may not make a play until he is on-sides relative to a member of his own team who was prop-

erly positioned when play began. If all four players on the same team are offsides when play begins, no player on that team may make a play until play is interrupted and resumed. (This change also applies to International Rule 36.a.)

Rule 20.c: During the throw-in, the right of way will be established when the ball leaves the line-up. Until such time, players may play the ball from any direction or angle providing they do so without creating danger or a risk of danger to themselves, other players or horses. (This change also applies to International Rule 10.)

Rule 22.e (2): If the ball is hit across the side boards or side line either directly or off the hitter’s horse or a teammate or teammate’s horse, or after glancing off the side boards, a free hit will be awarded to the team that did not hit the ball out.

If the ball is hit across the side boards or side line after glancing off a member of the opposing team or his horse, a free hit will be awarded to the team that last hit the ball. (This change also applies to International Rule 9.c.)

Rule 24.i: When the ball is hit toward the boards and stops or is within approximately 6 inches of the boards, a player following the ball that is at an angle of approximately 90 degrees perpendicular to the boards, cannot turn without allowing the trailing player to clear or make a nearside play; unless the trailing player checks or reduces speed, the player with the ball may then turn the ball in either direction providing that he maintains speed and continues the play.

Rule 26: As of January 1, 2019, during the execution of a knock-in, Penalty 5.a or 5.b, or a free hit resulting from a ball hit out of bounds, an offensive player may not deliberately block a defensive player from marking the offensive player’s team-

mate who has a play on the ball (i.e., deliberately set a pick on a defending player). When an offensive player improperly blocks a defensive player, the umpires shall call a foul and award an appropriate penalty. Improper blocking may or may not constitute dangerous riding, and result in a yellow or red flag under Rule 33, depending on the degree of danger as determined in the discretion of the umpire. (As of January 1, 2019, this change also applies to International Rule 18.) (As of January 1, 2018, this change is available through the variance process to clubs and host tournament committees who want to use it in 2018 events provided that they use USPA professional umpires and provide feedback to the Rules Committee.)

Also, with the support of the Rules Committee, the Arena Rules Subcommittee, and the Arena Committee, the USPA Board of Governors has approved changes to the arena rules and arena optional tournament conditions for 2018. These changes are also designed to open up the arena game and make it more player- and spectator-friendly. The most significant changes are summarized below: •Optional tournament conditions have been adopted for alternative format arena polo (i.e., beach polo, snow polo, stadium polo, and other forms of arena polo played in non-standard arenas or facilities), making it possible for the

USPA to sanction alternative format polo events.

•Arena Rule 5.c has been revised to allow players on the same team to change horses in a shootout.

•Existing optional tournament conditions for Arena Rules 6, 9 & 10 have been revised to add an optional defended Penalty 3 from 15 yards for arena events with a lower handicap rating of 12 goals and above.

•An optional tournament condition for Arena Rule 15 has been adopted to align the definition of a high hook in the arena with the outdoor definition for arena events with a lower handicap rating of 12 goals and above.

•Tournament Condition VIII has been revised to allow for instant replay in arena and alternative format polo.

—Chris Green USPA Rules & Rules Interpretation Committee Chair

Published by the United States Polo Association Offices at 9011 Lake Worth Rd. Lake Worth, Florida 33467 (800) 232-USPA Chairman: Chip Campbell President: Tony Coppola Secretary: Stuart Armstrong Treasurer: Sam Ramirez Chief Executive Officer: Robert Puetz

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 7

Instructor in 2018? Start the process today by contacting Jess Downey at jdowney@uspolo.org.

Club Excellence Award Zone 3’s Nico Escobar handles the ball in the final of the NYTS Championships in September.

NYTS The 2018 National Youth Tournament Series will be soon underway! The NYTS program is designed to provide youth players the opportunity to compete against their peers at outdoor clubs across the country. All-Stars, recognized by a committee at each tournament, are then eligible to be selected to compete in the NYTS National Championship or East vs. West Invitational.

If you are interested in hosting a tournament or have any questions, please contact NYTS@uspolo.org.

Best Playing Pony.

Team USPA alumnus Dr. Stephanie Massey Colburn, initiated a partnership between Palm Beach Equine Clinic and Team USPA to provide equine health and wellness lectures as well as Q&A sessions to local members this winter.

CPI Training Want to become a USPA Certified Polo

Congratulations to Paul and Emmalyn Wheaton of the Detroit Polo Club on receiving the 2017 Polo Development LLC Club Excellence Award! This annual award was established to honor a club that has proven success after applying the concepts promoted, taught and suggested by USPA’s PD Club Development team. We were impressed how the Detroit Polo Club saw significant success in many areas of its club’s development throughout the polo season, including the addition of the Hartland Polo Classic. This annual signature event was a direct result of the club joining the Hartland Chamber of Commerce–using PDI funds–and cultivating a business relationship over time, which grew it into the multifaceted success it is today. Past award winners include David and Leslie Brooks of the Triangle Area Polo Club and Dan and Agnes Keating of the Newport Polo Club.

I/I The 2018 I/I tournament season is here! Check uspolo.org for a complete list of tournaments, and follow live scores on Facebook.com/iipolo. Good luck to all teams!

Team USPA Congratulations to Matt Coppola and Wesley Finlayson for winning the 2018 Herbie Pennell Cup at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Coppola was also awarded MVP and one of his horses won 8 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Charles Smith, Chrys Beal, Paul Wheaton, Emmalyn Wheaton, Kris Bowman and Justin Powers.

The PD team recognized the Wheatons with the 2017 Polo Development LLC. Excellence Award.

Empire Polo Club Indio, California

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mpire Polo Club, situated in the Coachella Valley in Indio, California, is the self-proclaimed “Disneyland” of polo in the United States. Boasting one of the most exquisite and elaborate grounds, the club aims to impress players and spectators alike with a polo experience like no other. Offering a competitive polo season (mid-December through March) with public Sunday matches and a seasonal polo school, the club operates year-round hosting numerous non-polo events, such as music festivals—including but not limited to the famous Coachella music festival.

Established in 1987, the club has steadily grown over nearly three decades to include 12 grass polo fields, an indoor polo arena with stadium, two exercise tracks, on-site stabling for 650-plus horses and the only fully-lit grass polo field in the United States for night polo. Equine

amenities aside, the club houses not one, but two restaurants—The Tack Room Tavern Restaurant & Bar and Polo Pizza Co.—as well as “The Date Shed” a former date packing facility turned nightclub and live music venue.

“I think the players are always excited to come back every season to see what we

have done over the summer. Most clubs when they are not playing polo are basically locked down and there is nothing going on. Here, we are constantly making improvements, so when the players come back each year there is always something new for them to see.

This year it’s our pizza kitchen. The players will have another place to eat at the club which is really fun—an outdoor bar with TV screens.” said Kevin Ittig, Empire Polo Club operations manager.

All of this combined with consistently picture-perfect weather are the factors that have made Empire Polo Club such a success. “We have three games a week, one practice and two tournament games.

I think we had one rain day last year and one rain day the year before—and we played on that rain day! We sanded beforehand, stomped divots, sanded after and it was a great day!” said Polo

The club’s impressive facilities and picture-perfect weather have helped make the club a success.

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JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE..COM

What sets the club apart are its money tournaments including the 4-goal Lion’s Cup and the 8-goal Champion’s Cup.

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE..COM

Manager Vicky Owens.

The 2018 Polo Season at Empire Polo Club officially began on December 31, with the first Sunday polo game of the season. Sunday polo regularly attracts 1,500-2,000 spectators on a regular weekend and up to 3,000 for a final. A wide variety of spectating options are available including VIP cabanas and

individual seating, tailgating and general admission bleachers–each with an equally fantastic view of the field.

Empire prides itself on its ability to create polo fans. “That’s where the next polo players are going to come from, the sidelines somewhere. You have to see the experience and really live the experience before you ever get on a horse. Polo can

A wide variety of spectating options are available to the thousands of spectators that regularly come to the matches.

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be a bit complicated if it’s not explained well, and when people don’t follow it they don’t come back--they just don’t get it,” said Ittig. A former professional player, Ittig serves as the resident announcer in addition to his duties as operations manager.

“Kevin gets everybody so involved. He explains what is going on during the

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE..COM

game and he’ll do a Polo 101 at halftime.

It’s a whole experience here, rather than just a social gathering,” added Tony Schieffer, director of sales. “Our spectators are loyal and they come back year after year and they bring friends, or they bring relatives when they come to town. So it is growing,” continued Ittig.

Not just a prime location for polo spectating, polo players travel to Empire from around the country including Texas, Colorado, Washington and Canada—in fact, most of its members are from out of state. Empire offers a 1-Goal League, 4Goal, 6- to 8-Goal, a women’s tournament, arena tournaments and a monthly “Friday Polo Under the Lights” event.

What sets the club apart are its prize money tournaments, the 4-goal Lion’s Cup and 8-goal Champion’s Cup. Teams pay an entry fee, which the club matches.

Unlike other money games, the only deciding factor is the final score. The victors garner 75 percent of the total pot while the runner-up collects the remaining 25 percent. A unique feature considering the majority of prize money tournaments are geared towards a mid- to high-goal level of polo.

Another feature unique to the club is their golf cart polo. “We invented it,” said Ittig in regards to golf cart polo. “Golf

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE..COM

The club has the only fully-lit grass polo field in the United States for night polo.

cart polo is followed by an exhibition match afterwards, it’s really unique for an event, something different!”

A professional player drives the cart, then invites guests to sit in the passenger seat and control the mallet. Safety is a priority, with seat belts, helmets, bumpers and a plate to make sure the guests cannot slide their foot over to the gas or break.

A great way for guests to connect with the players, and even get a feel of holding The club offers league polo from 1 to 8 goals, a women’s tournament, arena tournaments and polo under the lights.

a mallet, golf cart polo has become wildly popular at Empire Polo Club.

Club staff assert that playing in the desert is comparably less expensive to other California locations and more importantly its rival winter destination— Florida. Hay is grown locally, decreasing costs significantly. Buying hay on the East Coast (where it is shipped in regularly) can be costly and an expensive expenditure often overlooked by the unseasoned player.

“Most polo clubs when I was growing up were pretty rustic, there was a field and if you were lucky you got a bathroom,” explained Ittig. What Empire Polo Club founder Alexander Haagen III and Ittig had in mind was something more sophisticated and inclusive. “Polo isn’t just an individual event, it includes the entire family. Nowadays, it doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man, you want to bring your kids to the polo club.

We tried to build a polo club that was more family friendly and gives families more options. We never knew it was going to turn out like this, but it worked out great!”

Plans to expand continue with a recently acquired 93-acre pasture facility, which became available in June 2017, increasing capacity to an astounding 800 or 900 horses. Last year it also named the main tournament field in honor of Gen. George S. Patton. At the end of January 2017, a dedication ceremony unveiled a fieldside Patton bust at the USPA 4-goal Patton Cup final. A four-goal polo player, Gen. Patton would bring his troops to the desert for training as the climate mirrored that of Africa. Only a 30-minute drive from the Gen. George S. Patton Memorial Museum, this tribute is yet another way to improve the polo experience for both spectators and players integrating the rich history of the sport into modern day play.

“We always have the vision of getting bigger and better instead of just staying where we are. I think Mr. Haagen’s thoughts are always, how can I improve this, how can I make this better,” said Ittig. A commendable aspiration, the Empire Polo Club’s burgeoning 12-month event schedule is one to be admired and emulated at clubs across the country.

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POLO SKILL PYRAMID The foundation of your hitting and scoring is horsemanship

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s you can see from the polo pyramid (opposite page), the required foundation that lies underneath the ability to score goals and properly hit the ball are the ‘boring’ blocks of horsemanship, so I’ll start there. I say boring, but presented properly, drills to develop riding skill can be a lot of fun. You don’t have to subject yourself to the equestrian version of an abusive drill sergeant.

Level I—Horsemanship Through my career, I have always tried to ask students and players what they would like to work on in a particular lesson or clinic. Their answers are almost always some level of hitting. Then I begin a hitting drill of some type that immediate-

Fun Polo Horsemanship Drills 1. Starting at one end, put two lines about 10-12 feet apart down the center of the arena or half the length of an outdoor field. You can use paint, chalk or even cones or balls to mark the two lines.

Traveling straight down the middle between those two lines, take easy, full swings (without a ball), alternating from offside to nearside. Using good form, properly turn your shoulders and brush the surface with your mallet head when you swing through as if you were making contact with a ball. Start at a trot, then at an easy canter.

The object is to try to keep the horse straight while you are taking alternating offside and nearside forehanders. This exercise can also be good to work on staying straight while hitting backhanders.

Riders will quickly see they need to work on balancing and providing direction to the

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ly exposes the true underlying villain that is haunting their hitting form: their horsemanship is not at the comfort level to support their balance or the balance of their horse through their attempt to stroke and carry the ball.

I adjust the drills to incorporate needed elements of horsemanship, while all the while they think they are working on their shots (and, in fact, they are).

It is true sometimes I am forced to make the riders hang up their mallets and teach them the “brussel sprout” terms of the horse industry, such as diagonals, transitions, collection, extension, leads, lateral work, simple changes, flying changes and rollbacks. I know, your thinking, oh no, please no more.

Those terms and the ability to apply them effectively is what enables you to get

horse while taking shots.

2. Practice stopping and starting your horse down a straight line while dribbling the ball. This builds your ball-handling skills along with horsemanship.

3. Practice staying up in your hitting position while taking swings at a trot or canter for as long as you can. At the same time, practice specific movements (straight lines, circles, diagonals) while you maintain a steady pace with your horse.

Learning to ride while you hit is something most players are never able to do. Remember that your practice swings should be brushing the surface to insure you are getting down to the imaginary ball.

4. Practice circling your horse, maintaining a controlled speed while dribbling the ball going

to the ball before your opponent; get more out of every horse you ride; have a strong hitting platform; and win ride-offs.

Horsemanship is the foundation everything builds on. Imagine a hockey player who wants to work on his puck control and hitting without being able to skate. Often times a rider may sit a horse OK and even hit OK, but putting the two together is the challenge. I highly recommend taking equitation lessons to supplement my fun polo drills (see sidebar).

Level II—Horse Purchase horses that are able to make up for your mistakes at your present ability level. Beware of statements like ‘you will grow into the horse’ or ‘you are doing it all wrong.’ You may be doing it all wrong, but buy and play very tolerant horses until your

in one direction, then the other. You can even paint or line circles of various sizes to follow.

This exercise teaches you to reach further on the outside of the circle and reach less on the inside of the circle. For example, turning left with the ball on your offside will require you to reach further out to the ball. Turning right with the ball on your offside will require you to stand up away from the ball. Circles are a great way of teaching you the art of riding while hitting.

5. Ride your horse straight up to the arena wall or boards of an outdoor field and stop square without letting your horse turn left or right. Flick the ball towards goal from underneath your horse’s neck and then turn to follow your shot. This teaches you to honor the old line, while constructing a new line. Too many players let their horse turn before changing the line of the ball. This is also just a great exercise to develop good equitation.

Scoring Hitting

Hitting

Hitting

Defensive Skills

Defensive Skills

Play Anticipation

Play Anticipation

Strategy/Game Knowledge Attitude Horse Horsemanship

Horse

Attitude Horse

Attitude Horse

Horsemanship

riding ability increases to be able to ride a larger selection of horses.

My personal horse choice for the novice is almost the exact same horses as I would select for a polo school—solid ‘starter’ horses. If you are lucky, these horses may take you several stages into your level of play.

They will probably be a little older and not likely to pass a soundness exam with a 100 percent score, but may still be considered suitably sound for the intended use. There are many horses with soundness issues that are perfectly suited for either more limited use or lower levels of play. The more demand placed on horses increases the importance of their physical condition. The most important considerations for starter horses are experience, reliability and a tolerant nature.

Horse conformation is important and does play a role in the performance of a horse, but the two most important characteristics of horses are attitude and suitability. Your horses should be well-suited for your current riding level.

At the beginner level, horses should be tolerant of riders hanging on the reins more than they should and perform with little direction. It is not important for the horses to be fast, it is more important for the horses to be steady and forgiving.

At the medium level, horses should have better handling without jumping out from underneath you. They can have a little more speed, but handle is still the more important factor.

The higher levels require horses to have top speed and be highly responsive—basical-

Strategy/Game Knowledge

Attitude

Horse

Attitude

Horse Horse

Horsemanship

Attitude Horse

Attitude Horse

Horsemanship

ly a 900-pound cat that can accelerate to full throttle in just a few strides, can shut down very quickly and change directions before you even think turn. They can get you back to the ball when you commit play errors.

This is way too much horse for novice or intermediate players. In fact, these horses are only for players who are strong riders that ride daily. I have seen too many amateurs that were very experienced riders and players, but were still on too much horse for the amount of riding time they were able to put in.

Level III—Attitude Take a positive approach to self improvement. Identify your own weaknesses and work to improve them. Do you need to work on horsemanship? Strategy? Mallet skills?

What particular repeating play situation is routinely a challenge for you? Maybe it is your nearside, your ball placement, riding off or hooking a player on the nearside. Of the multitude of play situations, focus on just one or two pieces of the polo puzzle to work on.

Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by being too hard on yourself. This is such a common problem that I run into. Players tend to expect too much from themselves and can be very disappointed if they mess up on a play. I watch players hang or shake their heads and waste valuable seconds worrying about a missed play opportunity instead of immediately focusing on the next play situation. After the match, think about what went wrong and what you can do to improve on play errors prior to the next match.

Horse Horsemanship

It is also important to remain positive with your teammates during the match. I struggled with this personally and it is the one thing I would work harder on if I were given the opportunity to do it again. I now try to help younger players become stronger in this critical aspect of the game. The greatest challenge in any sport is the ability to turn up the dial of intensity without sacrificing performance and sportsmanship.

This single factor is the difference between good players and the true masters of the game. Once they dial up the intensity to get to a higher playing level, many players start to struggle with their performance and how they handle themselves. They may still perform well as to their actual play, but they may not do so well with how they interact with others.

Polo offers us all such wonderful opportunities to try to learn to be top performers and still maintain cool heads. Something that seems so obvious off the field of play is in fact one of the greatest challenges on the field of play. It is why arena polo was used in officer training many years ago. The intensity of polo was one of the most effective simulations of wartime behaviors without actually shooting someone. Military officials could see the true character of the individual exposed in the heat of a polo match.

Level IV—Strategy/ Game Knowledge Read the rule book, take the open-book test and sign up for an umpire clinic. (continued on page 62) POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 13

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WANTED: POLO PLAYERS Just about every polo club in the world is looking for new, eager members

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here is no doubt about it, becoming a polo player requires a great deal of time, money and courage to get by the expense and the fear to be able to enjoy hanging out with horses and to thrill at galloping around with other like-minded people in pursuit of a polo ball. Polo players come in three basic varieties, usually categorized as team sponsors, professionals and everyone else.

Team sponsors and professionals naturally form symbiotic relationships where supply and demand keep the number of professional players consistent and in direct proportion to the number of those individuals willing and able to pay to play better polo. The third variety of players is comprised of amateur players who like to practice a lot and have to pay the high costs of fielding a partial or complete team. Unlike team sponsors, who are also amateurs, non-team sponsoring amateurs are unwilling or unable to afford the pleasure of employing others to enhance their enjoyment of the sport.

Just about every polo club in the world is looking for new, eager amateurs who will evolve into longterm club members.

However, far too many clubs concentrate their efforts on finding and nurturing team sponsors rather than broadening the search for a few good men and women who desire to participate in the sport.

Why is this so? Is it because so many tournament rosters these days are filled with combinations of professionals and team sponsors? Hiring professionals has become the essential way to create teams for higher-handicapped polo tournaments.

Team sponsors hire better players to create the entire team or combine with another sponsor-and-pro duo. A truly indulgent 14 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Player clinics and lesson programs are a great way to introduce new people to the sport of polo. If a club doesn’t have a lesson program or quiet horses for beginners, it may be able to make arrangements with a professional player to give lessons and provide horses.

sponsor will hire three others that usually create a tough team to beat. But, what happens to the players who just want to pay their own expenses and desire to get on a team?

In some cases, non-team sponsoring, amateur players will work their way onto teams, especially if they are young, fearless, somewhat underrated and well mounted. Even some older players, fairly mounted and handicapped, can sometimes get on teams without paying, but more times than not, either the sponsor or a professional will ask them to chip in to pay at least a portion of the professional fee or at least, ante up for the event tournament entry fee. The run-of-the-mill club hacker is usually the last resort when teams are formed—sort of like being the last kid picked for a schoolyard, baseball game.

Competent club managers do their best to include all club members in various club tournaments; however, once the tournaments get up around the 8-goal level, sponsors and professionals dominate the

game on the field and will usually end up at the trophy table.

Most polo clubs tend to concentrate too much on finding free-spending sponsors rather than encouraging, in a general way, more amateur players. The expense threshold to get into polo really becomes difficult to accept when the initial expense comes at you all at once—horses, professional players, horse transportation, stabling, and on and on. It is important to begin a relationship with horses and polo that will sustain itself for years of enjoyment over the long haul. In the past 30 or 40 years, there has been a decline in the numbers of club members who just want to buy a few horses and play, just because they enjoy riding and competing. Learning to ride and play polo should take some time and initial effort so that polo can be more of a lifestyle than a throwaway pastime.

Raising and training children to play polo has been a proven way to get more, better players to join polo clubs. If willing parents have the wherewithal to provide

Senior club members willing to set aside an hour or two a week to mentor newer club members may help keep them interested.

mounts and learning and playing opportunities, then clubs will surely benefit from these aspiring, developing players. However, what about the walk-on players who are somewhat curious about the sport?

Signing up to learn to play at most polo clubs is a rather mysterious procedure.

Many potential players are scared off from beginning the sport because they did not learn how to ride and appreciate the power and grace of a polo horse. The only way to overcome the large start-up costs, huge time commitments and the fear of falling off and breaking bones and pride is to be able to get into a trusting relationship with a polo pony. Polo looks easy to learn and simple to play before realization dawns that playing this sport with a trusty mount may be hazardous to health and wealth.

Membership in the United States Polo Association is not always a good indicator of how well the sport is doing in terms of attracting new club members. Over the past few decades, the annual attrition rate is approximately 500 USPA members. Balancing this number is approximately 500 new members who join each year. The USPA currently has a number of programs to help clubs grow and sustain their memberships. Retention of current polo-playing members starts and ends at the polo club level. Without polo clubs providing infrastructure to learn and play the sport, there is no sport of polo.

Polo clubs can help themselves by making it easier for someone to get started. Hosting player and umpire training clinics, staffed by qualified instructors, can be an important first step. If providing club ponies for beginning players is out of the question for the polo club, then the polo club might consider hiring a polo professional who will provide easy ponies and teach the novice players the joy of horsemanship. If necessary, clubs can build one or two wooden horses.

Perhaps one or two senior club members could become new player mentors, setting aside an hour or two per week to provide basic instruction to anyone interested in playing or becoming a better player. Polo clubs lacking motivated player trainers, such as those who have a desire to instruct the novice players, are polo clubs destined to wither and evaporate from the polo scene.

Successful polo clubs usually have a detailed plan to locate and keep new members. Potential players require gentle soothing to ease them over the scary parts of gearing up and mounting up for the first time. Large groups of people rarely join any particular club. Most clubs experience annual membership increases of one or two individuals and few will turn out to be big team sponsors in the first year or two of playing (though that would be nice).

With a small initial group interested in learning to play polo, polo clubs should not waste the opportunity to do a good job on each and every new player candidate.

The sport needs players of all varieties, especially the club hacker types who pay their own way for an hour or two of fun with a horse and a mallet. Given the addictive nature of this sport, once you get hooked, are confident about the riding skills and are having fun, the sky (or the U.S. Open) is the limit.

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POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 15

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BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

SIDE EFFECTS Medications can cause dehydration, ulcers and bleeding in performance horses

D

ehydration can be a serious issue in any equine athlete, especially in hot weather.

Exertion produces body heat; the working muscles create heat that must be dissipated. The major way a horse’s body gets rid of heat is through sweating. The evaporation of sweat helps cool the body. Sweating takes fluid and electrolytes from the body, however, and excessive fluid loss creates dehydration—which can be detrimental in many ways. If the horse loses too much fluid he can no longer sweat and becomes seriously overheated. Fluid is lost from the body via sweat, urine, bleeding, etc.

Bill Casner of Flower Mound, Texas (former co-owner of WinStar Farm, in Versailles, Kentucky) has been working with horses all his life. Much of his career has been involved with racing—breeding and training top athletes. He feels strongly that much of the dehydration encountered in certain strenuous sports today is due to overuse of medications like Lasix and bute.

“I first started working on the track in 1963 when I was 15 years old and began a career training horses. This was the era before permitted medication. We used a lot of ice because Butazolidin was not a permitted drug. Everyone used it during training, however,” he says.

“There are always consequences when using medication. I don’t think very many people understood how toxic some of the side effects were for Butazolidin. First of all, it’s been well documented that with as little as two consecutive administrations the horse may start experiencing stomach ulceration. It is also a blood thinner and one of the primary causes of ‘bleeding’ in running horses,” says Casner.

“We had a ‘perfect storm’ in the 1970s when Butazolidin was the first permitted 16 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Scoping a horse using an endoscope often reveals bleeding in horses that have been overmedicated with bute. They are then often given Lasix, which can cause dehydration.

medication. The flexible endoscope came along in the 1980s. Initially those were very expensive and very few veterinarians had them—and the technology wasn’t very good yet. A few vets had these, however, and started seeing blood in some of these horses when using the endoscope to check the airways,” he says.

Then endoscopes became cheaper and more vets had them, and suddenly people were seeing more bleeding in racehorses.

“It led to a huge campaign for Lasix to be a permitted medication, to help reduce bleeding from the lungs when horses were running. Lasix gained favor and most race trainers have been using it. New York was the last state to authorize the use of Lasix—in 1995. Up until about 1996 the

majority of the Kentucky Derby winners ran without it and since then almost every horse in that race runs with it,” says Casner.

Today some of the other equine sports are also using Lasix.

“I was no different than any other trainer. I thought these meds were necessary and beneficial, and never really thought about the consequences of long-term use. It wasn’t until our horse Well Armed won the Dubai World Cup by 14 lengths without any medication that I realized horses didn’t need it.

After he won (a race in which medication was not permitted) I began to reflect back on my own training career when I ran horses without medication,” Casner says.

“We ran our horses about every two weeks and competed in about 18 races per

year. With the advent of medication the number of annual starts per horse was reduced dramatically because of the dehydration effect of Lasix (a diuretic—used medically to reduce excess fluid/edema in the body--which makes horses urinate more). It takes horses a minimum of three weeks to recover from the administration of Lasix and most trainers prefer to give a horse five weeks off before racing again,” he says.

If they don’t have that much time off, especially in hot weather with excessive dehydration, the horses don’t run very well because they are not totally recovered from the previous race. “That never happened when we were running these horses without meds. They held their form and ran well and recovered well,” he explains.

“After Well Armed won the World Cup without Lasix, I started to question whether medication was really in the best interest of

our horses. I started weighing horses, to try to figure out what was going on. We’d weigh them the morning before they ran, and then the morning after the race, to see what their weight loss was,” he says.

“We had one filly that lost 100 pounds!

It took her about six weeks to fully recover.

The dehydration, inability to dissipate body heat, etc. was probably hard on her,” Casner says.

“If medication was causing horses to lose that much weight, we needed to ask whether this was in the best interest of our horses. So we weighed them all, and discovered that these horses had lost a lot of weight by the morning after a race. We started running some of them without Lasix, but continued to use bute. My trainer at that time used a lot of bute in his barn. He’d use it before they worked, after they worked, before they raced and after they raced for a couple of days. So I asked him to back off

the bute and see what happened,” recalls Casner.

“We had been running some horses without Lasix but continued giving them bute, and we had some that bled. So in subsequent races we withheld bute as well as the Lasix. Every one of those horses ran their races very well, without these medications and did not bleed.”

Butazolidin is no longer used in human medicine because it is considered a precursor to leukemia. “When you look at the list of side effects bute can have, it’s huge. Every horseman knows that if you give a horse an injection of bute in the vein and you get a little bit outside the vein it is very irritating to the tissues. The neck will ‘blow up’ and the horse will have a blocked vein. Sometimes it takes a long time to get over that.

This in itself tells you that it is very caustic,” (continued on page 60)

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STEP AHEAD

Players get a head start with Linfoot Clinic in California

T

HE LINFOOT clinic at Eldorado Polo Club in Indio, California, in December had some of the strongest participation in years, with 20 attendees and a waiting list.

Players came from all over the U.S., Canada and Mexico to participate and get insight into the game and horses from Corky and Kathy Linfoot. Corky Linfoot is a renowned polo horse trainer, team coach, former 7-goal player and winner of the U.S. Open along with many other high-goal polo tournaments. His wife Kathy Linfoot is a well-known horse trainer, riding instructor and videographer. Together they have been giving this annual clinic in the California desert for many years.

Classroom instruction covered many topics including: winning the throw-in, knock-in strategy, choosing a horse, coaching philosophy, fouls and penalties, sports psychology, player positioning and game flow.

When the clinic participants were mounted, they rotated through several stations of education. Kathy worked on riding for polo and successfully executing every maneuver made on the field. Corky worked on hitting and swing mechanics. Erik Wright and Robin Sanchez worked on knock-ins and field positioning. The students rotated through each station daily and also played coached chukkers.

Former 7-goaler Corky Linfoot works with a student on hitting and swing mechanics. The students rotated through several stations during the clinic.

18 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Erik Wright works with participants during lunchtime classroom instruction. Topics included throw-ins, knock-in strategy, fouls and more.

Most of the participants listed positioning, tactics and strategy as their biggest take-aways from the clinic.

“It’s been a great clinic. I learned a lot about positioning and re-positioning,” raved Stephanie Davidson of Calgary, Canada.

Ana De Vennie, a young player from Mexico, said, “I found this clinic to be a great experience, because you learn from a great player that has a lot of ability to teach.”

Every participant received a DVD of the clinic afterwards.

“Kathy and I want to extend our appreciation to the Eldorado Polo Club, Graham Bray and Debbie Morrison for hosting this clinic and providing an excellent venue with the fields, Cantina and classroom locations. We would also like to thank Erik Wright, Elizabeth Holson, Robin Sanchez, who are all exceptional clinicians and instructors in their own right, for helping with the clinic; Rachel Faierman for helping with field-side organization and to the horse providers who leased to many of the participants. And finally, we really appreciate all of the participants who showed much interest and stamina during the two-plus days and filled the clinic to the point that not only did we have to bring in additional clinicians, but we also had to cap the number in order to maintain a high standard of instruction and learning potential,” said Corky after the clinic.

TO THE FINISH LINE

Club members race for empowerment of women

MEMBERS OF THE Triangle Area Polo

Triangle Area Polo Club’s Sheana Funkhouser, Leslie Brooks, Jordan Lee, Caroline Bodager, Pat Bodager and Tammy Havener. Jordan Lee placed second overall.

Club in Hurdle Mills, North Carolina kept busy this past fall with lots of polo as well as a triathalon and several 5k races in the area.

In October, several members joined together to participate in the Ramblin’ Rose Women’s Triathlon. Club member Jordan Lee went on to win second place over all. The event celebrates the empowerment of women and benefits the Girls on the Run of the Triangle.

Competitors swim 250 yards, bike nine miles and run two miles.

In addition, Leslie Brooks represented the club while competing in the U.S. Women’s Arena Handicap in Houston, Texas.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION

Weekend clinic focuses on penalty shots and tournament conditions

MIDLAND POLO CLUB in Midland, Texas, recently hosted

a clinic for its girls’ interscholastic team and youth players.

USPA Certified Polo Instructor Robin Sanchez traveled to Midland for a weekend of intensive instruction and coaching in the arena. Teammates Madi Lange, Avery Evans and April Galindo and coach Ashley Owen, participated in classroom and mounted sessions.

With the new tournament conditions being added to interscholastic polo, getting the details of those changes correct and penalty shot strategies were important subjects.

Horsemanship, swing and additional arena strategies filled out the clinic schedule.

The other highlight was the coached scrimmages. “We were so fortunate to have some very experienced arena players on hand at Midland Polo Club to scrimmage against the girls team,” said Robin Sanchez. “Jared Sheldon was an amazing help to the girls and I learned a few tricks from him too. It’s so beneficial to have an arena player of that caliber giving advice to young players.” In addition to Sheldon, Megan Flynn, Isabella Wolf, Brady Williams and Mitch Horne filled out the opposing team in two days of scrimmage chukkers.

On Saturday, while the varsity girls participated in the outdoor polo pro-pool games, Robin worked with Midland’s up-and-coming youth players that are getting their start in the beginner polo school run by Molly Musselman.

Robin Sanchez, right, instructs students from Midland’s beginner polo school.

“This group is getting a good foundation on riding and safety with Molly,” said Sanchez. “I decided to work with them on backshots and basic game flow.” The kids all had a good time and wished their session could have lasted longer.

Owen said, “I’d like to thank Robin Sanchez for coming to Midland to put on a clinic for the Midland Polo Club. She helped the advanced group of Midland interscholastic team with their riding and hitting skills and team strategy. [She also helped] the beginner group of polo school students with their horsemanship and polo skills. As the coach, she gave me some drills and strategies and I feel she helped the girls work as a team. We enjoyed having Robin and appreciated her instruction.”

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 19

CLASS TRIP

New Zealand students tour California and Hawaii

OVER

THEIR SCHOOL BREAK, students from Christ’s College polo team in New Zealand traveled to America to play against several U.S. clubs. The team consisted of Rohan Tennekoon, Jack Tracy, Freddie Cameron and Charlie Dyer.

The team had been chosen from the polo club at school and was accompanied by its manager, Ms. Ellis-Martin.

After arriving in Los Angeles, the team had an day off to visit Universal Studios in some great California weather. The following day, the team made its way to Lakeside Polo Club outside San Diego. It was the first chance the visiting students had to play in six months and they did very well in the arena, besting the home team. After the match, the club showed it some American hospitality with a barbecue and pinata.

The following day, the team drove north to the Santa Barbara Polo Club where it was hosted by members of the club in their extravagant guest house. “We got to see the other side of polo in Santa Barbara, surrounded by multi-millionaires and billionaires,” said Tracy. “Our hosts arranged for us to have a surfing lesson the morning of our first game against them.”

After spending some time carving up the waves, they headed to Pat Nesbitt’s beautiful home overlooking his own polo field.

The guests faced some significant competition and lost, however, the students were happy for the opportunity to play on some amazing horses in an idyllic location. The teams met again the next day, but this time on Santa Barbara’s main field. The New Zealanders played much better and only narrowly fell to the home team. On their way back to Los Angeles, they went shopping before boarding a plane to Maui, Hawaii.

The team was hosted by the Maui Polo Club. Before its game, the students had some time for rest and relaxation at the incredible beaches. Later, they played a team that they admit they should have beaten, but regrettably, they had a very off day, with

Jack Tracy, Charlie Dyer, Rohan Tennekoon and Freddie Cameron enjoyed their visit to California and Hawaii.

trouble connecting on passes and finishing goals. That night, the club had a huge dinner for everyone involved as a final send-off.

The next day, the students left the island paradise and flew home.

The New Zealanders are grateful to Danny Scheraga from the Polo Training Foundation who organized this trip and traveled with the team to all its games. Four years ago Danny brought a team out to Christchurch in New Zealand and together the organizers are hoping to make this a regular trip with Christ’s College coming over to the USA every second year and USA brining a team to New Zealand every other year. Youth interested in playing in New Zealand should contact the Polo Training foundation. Christ’s College will be back in 2019 with four new players.

“This is the second time I have taken a tour to California I would like to highlight the hospitality of all the clubs and horse lenders who made this a trip of a lifetime for the boys.

They have made friends and seen your beautiful country and enjoyed your generous hospitality,” said Ellis-Martin.

After visiting Universal Studios, the students played an arena match at the Lakeside Polo Club.

20 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

SPORTING TRIBUTE

Family of James Stimmel honors his memory with polo

Players, all descendants of Jimmy except for one, walked the field while his ashes were sprinkled before competing in a match.

T

HE MIDLAND POLO CLUB in Midland, Texas celebrated the life of James R. Stimmel on Nov. 21 with a luncheon and polo match for family and close friends.

Mr. Edwin H. Magruder and Ms. Elaine Magruder hosted a luncheon at Elaine’s wonderful home at Morning Star Farm overlooking the polo club. It was a slightly cold, blustery day with tumble weeds rolling. Following a delicious lunch, Harley Stimmel read Jimmy’s obituary (see page 59) and told a humorous story of Jimmy’s tactful handling of an embarrassing situation and how he turned it into a pleasant one.

Several people spoke regarding their experiences with him, and for the first time in decades, three of his interscholastic polo team members he coached in the 1970s were together: Les Dorn, Ryan Reddell and Harley Stimmel. Missing was Chongo Galindo who had passed away several years ago. The four were a great team and a highlight in Jimmy’s life. The team won the interscholastic finals two years in a row. Jimmy’s grandson, Joel Dyer rode in front of the house and presented the riderless horse with his boots. It was a beautiful tribute.

Following this, many of the guests moved to the polo field where Jimmy had spent so much of his time. His daughters Martina Dyer and Hillary Shanklin, riding horses provided by Amy and Avery Evans, lined up at the east end of the BTA polo field to ride across and sprinkle Jimmy’s ashes. They were followed by two teams of six players each, dressed in blue or white polo jerseys. On the front of

the jerseys was the MPC insignia and the back read Stimmel Memorial 2017. Six people on foot followed behind, all in formation. It was so touching, unrehearsed but beautiful.

Finally, guest moved to the adjacent Holt Arena for the polo game, played in a round-robin format. The White team’s Tucker Shanklin, Joe Mac Stimmel, Russell Stimmel, Jake Stimmel, Marigrace Dyer and Joel Dyer took the trophies. The Blue team, losing by one point, was Reagan Dyer, Harley Stimmel, Carolyn Stimmel, Tap Shanklin, Steven Stimmel and Barry Gates.

All players were Jimmy’s descendants with Jimmy’s grandson Joel Dyer presented the riderless horse with Jimmy’s boots turned back. the exception of Barry, whose grandfather, Hig Higgins, was a great friend, competitor and polo enthusiast of Jimmy’s. Jimmy and Hig Higgins played polo together for years. At the end of the game Carolyn Stimmel provided fun awards. Joe Mac’s horse was Best Playing Pony and Tucker Shanklin was MVP. It was an amazing tribute to Jimmy’s life and love of polo to see his family all having such a terrific time playing polo. We are so grateful to the MPC for letting this day transpire and for supporting us in every way, including great horses to mount several players. Another highlight was viewing the Walt Disney movie “Stormy” the night after Thanksgiving. Jimmy played in the movie’s polo scenes along with Bob Skene, his mentor and friend. u

PARKER’S POLO MINUTE

BY PARKER SCOTT

Turn for a teammate’s backshot before the ball is hit. As you play faster polo, if you wait until after the hit, you will be out of the play.

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POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 21

Career investment Argentina offers players a chance to learn from the best The United States Polo Association established Team USPA in 2009 to grow and sustain the sport of polo by identifying talented young American players and providing opportunities to grow their abilities.

By Todd Thurston

Matt Coppola

Argentina is the place to be in the fall for up-and-coming professionals.

From September until the end of December, the best players in the world gather to play the Triple Crown of Polo.

For the most elite players, the ultimate dream is to win the last leg of the Triple Crown, the Argentine Open. With such a high level of play happening during this season, it is the ideal time for Team USPA members to try to find a way to go train in Argentina. This fall over 10 Team USPA members did just that.

Making the trip down to Argentina comes at a cost but for these young players that investment is well worth it.

Felipe Viana returned from playing in the FIP tournament in Australia and went straight to La Irenita, one of the Argentine Open team organizations, to practice with some of the top players 22 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

there, including Matias and Pablo Mac Donough. Due to time constraints, he only was able to stay three weeks. He was able to represent Team USPA well in a 14-goal tournament, the Polo One Open. His sentiments were clear: he believes Argentina is the place to be that time of year. With more time and organization that will allow him to be better mounted, Felipe knows it will continue to be an important training ground for years to come. Even if it was only for a limited time this year, Felipe is committed to improving his game playing and learning from the best.

Matt Coppola finished a successful season in Houston and went down to play and work with top 10-goaler Hilario Ulloa for five weeks. Having one-on-one time with a top player proved to be valuable for Matt. Hilario was preparing for the Argentine Open with his best horses in full highperformance training mode. Matt was able to see behind the scenes the organization required for the Open.

Spectators only see the product of this organization and hard work when Ulloa plays in the matches. The dedication and time spent to help get, not only Hilario prepared but most importantly, his horses prepared was something that Matt found most useful. Matt looks to build upon this experience as he prepares for an eventful winter season in Florida.

Like Matt, Remy Muller went south after his season in Houston to spend time with the Obregon family at the La Cañada Polo Club and play practice for

Remy Muller

several weeks. One of the most important aspects of his experience was the guidance of his mentor Santi Trotz.

Remy has played with Trotz several times in California. Facundo Obregon, the older brother of Team USPA member Geronimo Obregon, also assisted Remy throughout his trip.

Facundo has been a staple on high-goal teams during the Wellington season and is dedicating time and resources to organizing himself more in Argentina.

From going to Facundo’s games to seeing how he tried new horses to buy, Remy was able to see how players establish themselves and operate in Argentina.

“I want to be more organized for my next trip,” Remy said. “It showed me how I need to continue to play as much polo as possible and ride every day to

reach my career goals.”

Jared Zenni was fortunate enough to spend the entire high-goal season in Argentina. Jared, a student at the University of Miami, had been planning this trip for some time as he took summer classes in anticipation that he would miss the fall semester.

Spending time playing and training in Argentina is a crucial time is Jared’s year. With the help of his contacts and friends in Argentina he played three of the top tournaments outside of the Triple Crown—the Metro Alto (21-24 goals), La Municipalidad de Pilar (24-29 goals), and La Camara Diputados (24-29 goals). Jared is humbled to have played in such top tournaments, but is hungry to push himself out of his comfort zone.

“The game is played at a whole another speed in these type of tournaments, and playing at that speed helps you grow as a player,” Jared said.

Just like the other Team USPA players, Jared has learned finding the right

Jared Zenni

mentor is important and he developed a close relationship with Agustin Merlos.

Under Merlos’ guidance, Jared learned the habits and playing style that has separated Merlos as one of the top players. Jared is a student of the game who is pushing to find the next level of his craft. The drive and hunger are there. Jared looks to build on the experience and lessons he learned this

fall as he suits up for the 20-goal Villa de Lago team this winter in Wellington, Florida.

In his auto-documentary, ‘Muse’, Kobe Bryant explained why he skipped college to go to the NBA:“I want to learn how to become the best basketball player in the world. If I’m going to learn that, I gotta learn from the best. ... My place to study is from the best.”

The players who went to Argentina this past year have shown a commitment to invest in themselves and improve their play. It is a commitment to network and organize themselves to play and work with the best in their sport, just as Bryant alluded to.

It is encouraging to see Team USPA members willing to take the next step and invest in opportunities to go to Argentina. Other Team USPA players that traveled to Argentina were Tomy Alberdi, Geronimo Obregon, Costi Caset, Cody Ellis, Marissa Wells, Julia Smith and Rob Jornayvaz.

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College recruits New university teams get off to a great start

BY AMY FRASER

A

s the I/I tournament season begins, many new interscholastic and intercollegiate polo teams have been welcomed into the program. I caught up with officials of two of our newest USPA intercollegiate clubs: the University of North Texas and UC Santa Barbara.

Coach Vaughn Miller from the University of North Texas and Leesan Kwok, student president who started the club at UC Santa Barbara, gave me a little insight on getting started and plans for the season. Catch these teams competing this year!

University of North Texas Denton, Texas Home club: Prestonwood Polo Club Coach: Vaughn Miller

I/I: Whose idea was it to start a club at UNT? Vaughn Miller: Starting a UNT polo club was my son Vaughn Miller Jr.’s idea. He wanted to play polo in college close to home and the UNT campus is only 20 minutes from Prestonwood Polo Club. Vaughn loves I/I polo and had always dreamed of playing in the “big leagues” at the collegiate level.

Vaughn founded the Highland Park Equestrian Club in High School so he already knew the basics of starting a club.

I/I: Prestonwood Polo is already home to your interscholastic team and the Texas Christina University collegiate team. Why take on another team?

VM: UNT is an excellent school with a great reputation and has over 39,000 students with a strong alumni network so it’s a nice addition to our club. We’ve 24 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

become a very successful youth-oriented polo club with “family-style” fun polo. All our college and high school kids enjoy playing against and with each other so it’s a natural fit.

I/I: How did you get UNT excited about starting a polo team?

VM: We reached out to the UNT Equestrian Team rec sports club last spring to come take a free lesson. It took a while to get the lesson scheduled but once they did they were hooked immediately. See the first lesson (below) and the smiles on their faces!

From there we worked with several of the UNT equestrian team members to form the polo rec sports club. It was a lengthy process working through the school’s requirements but we were persistent and got it done just in time for the 2018 season.

I/I: You had a tremendous success in your first clinic, and a lot of follow-up interest. How many students are already involved in the club?

VM: We have 10 students so far and we think we’ll get to over 20 in the

next few years.

UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California Home club: Polo Training Center Santa Barbara Coach: Jeff Scheraga President: Leesan Kwok

I/I: What prompted you to start a polo club at UC Santa Barbara?

Leesan Kwok: The polo club is somewhat of an accident. I was restarting the equestrian team (it was on a two-year hiatus due to resource and trainer complications) over spring and summer and received 60-plus inquiries. One of those inquiries was from a UCSB student, Oki, who was taking polo lessons with Jeffrey Scheraga at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club. Instead of recruiting Oki to be on the equestrian team, I asked if he could put me in touch with his coach to start a UCSB polo club.

My mission is to get as many people on horseback as possible, regardless of discipline. I sent Jeff an email about

Coach Vaughn Miller gave a free introduction-to-polo clinic to the University of North Texas Equestrian team in the spring to spark interest in the students starting a polo team.

UC Santa Barbara student president Leesan Kwok

starting a polo club at UCSB, and it was history since then.

I/I: How did you get started in polo?

LK: Jeff and Naima [Scheraga] invited me to a Polo Training Center fundraiser during the summer of 2017. Coincidentally, Jeff was hosting a polo clinic that weekend, so I signed up for it. My original intention was to start the team and hand it off to someone to manage, but when I took my first swing with a mallet on a horse, I was hooked. Jeff is an amazing coach. He knows when and how to challenge me and doesn’t hold back when it comes to constructive criticism. He puts a special emphasis on the player’s mindset, which I think gives us a competitive advantage as a team. He genuinely wants his students to do well and maximize their potential.

I/I: Can you tell us something unique about UCSB you want prospective students to know about?

LK: UCSB is a little slice of heaven. We have a beach on campus, state-of-the-art research facilities, world-class professors, and a vibrant student body. We particularly excel in sociology, linguistics, engineering, chemical sciences, and physics. Our school hosts the leading Hyperloop Pod team in California and has six Nobel laureates on the faculty. Our diverse student body of 24,000 students (undergraduate and graduate) means there is a place for everyone.

I/I: What advice do you have for other

new teams who are trying to get started?

LK: Start recruiting early. You won’t have a team if you don’t have people. One of the biggest challenges for me was balancing the marketing and recruitment with releasing and confirming information like lesson schedules, costs, commitment, etc. People will ask for that information, and those things are important, but the first step really is to get the word out about your new team and get people interested.

Start an email list and participate in oncampus recruitment events. Second of all, establish a good relationship with your coaches and be transparent about communications. When I started the equestrian and polo teams, I was studying abroad in France. But in the age of digital communication, distance is no barrier to communication. I established relationships with the equestrian team coach and the polo team coach through Facetime calls and emails.

I/I: Anything else you would like to add?

LK: The Polo Club at UCSB is lucky to have generous supporters and sponsors.

Our operation would not be possible without the Polo Training Center Santa Barbara, a nonprofit foundation, and its director, Mr. Rhys Williams. They have provided scholarships for every one of our team members, making it possible for us to participate in the Santa Barbara Polo Academy’s I/I program. KEP Italia Superior Helmets supplied the team with polo visor helmets and is an important part of the club’s effort to introduce safety-rated helmets to the polo community. Riding Warehouse provided saddle pads for our horses and prizes for our fundraisers. The Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club and its staff, Melanja Jones and David Sigmund, have been infinitely supportive about starting this intercollegiate polo team.

Because of all the support we get, college students from different backgrounds and experiences are able to be united by the sport of polo.

If you are interested in starting a new team at your college or university, contact I/I Program Director Amy Fraser to learn how to get started!

On a cool, rainy afternoon in England, Texas Polo’s Vinnie Meyer and 10-goaler Facundo Pieres celebrate Facundo’s third British Gold Cup victory, all while riding in Texas Polo Luxe Edition saddles

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POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 25

Famous Hall of Fame inductees announced

By Brenda Lynn

T

SNOOPY PRODUCTIONS

he board of directors of the National Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame recently announced the additions for this year’s Polo Hall of Fame to be inducted in a ceremony on Feb. 16.

Established in 1990, the Polo Hall of Fame honors the heroes of the sport, each year inducting icons of the past and eligible living heroes into the ranks of the sport’s greats. Since its inception, 86 people have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, while 29 have been honored as Iglehart Award winners. Another 37 horses have been honored as part of the Horses to Remember.

Hall of Fame Ruben Gracida The award for Hall of Fame is being given to Ruben Gracida in recognition of his outstanding playing record that includes winning the U.S. Open four times and its MVP in 1983, the ’83 International Gold Cup, the Pacific Coast Open three times, the Avilo Camacho Cup in 1981 and 1988, back-to-back Coronation Cups in 1985 and ’86 along with numerous other national and international tournament victories.

Museum Vice President Tony Coppola recalled, “Ruben came to the states as a very young player and made the U.S. his home. Starting out at 3 goals, he rapidly rose through the ranks to 8 goals. He worked hard and racked up a long list of impressive wins on his way up the ladder and made a name for himself as a tough competitor and an influential figure on the American polo scene.”

26 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Ruben Gracida

WELLINGTON THE MAGAZINE/BILL BARBOSA

Sunny Hale

that was adopted for use by the USPA; started the Women’s Championship Tournament to give greater opportunities to polo-playing women and helped revive the United States Women’s Open.

She was a seven-time winner of the Polo Excellence Awards for Woman Polo Player of the Year. An exhibit in tribute to Sunny has been ongoing at the Museum of Polo.

Museum Executive Director George DuPont said, “What she accomplished in giving back to the sport in her life is nothing short of amazing. Because of her talent, courage and constant efforts to share her knowledge with others, Sunny was regarded the world over as the most influential woman in polo of our time.”

Iglehart Award

and horsemanship as a mentor and inspiration to aspiring polo players, both male and female, young and old.

She wrote a series of polo help books, created an on-line clinic and traveled the world lecturing and giving polo clinics and seminars. In addition, she founded the American Polo Horse Association to establish polo ponies as a breed and preserve their information for posterity; created the Women’s handicap system

Jimmy Newman Jimmy Newman got the nod as this year’s honoree for the Iglehart Award for outstanding lifetime contributions to the sport. With 54 years of polo under his belt, Jimmy is well known in polo and worked his way through the sport training and selling countless polo ponies who went on to play medium- and high-goal polo, including the U.S. Open.

Having attained a 3-goal outdoor handicap and 4 indoor, Jimmy won the 1985 U.S. Open Handicap, also known as the 26-goal C.V. Whitney.

During his career he served as manager and organized tournaments for several of the biggest and best polo clubs in the world, including Retama, Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet club and International Polo Club Palm Beach. He has managed 27 U.S. Open championships.

Jimmy also has served the sport in service to the USPA as the Southwest Circuit Governor and as a Governor at Large, and for many years was a member of the Tournament, High Goal and Handicap committees and continues to serve on the Team USPA board.

Roy Lawson Barry Posthumous Iglehart Inductee Roy Lawson Barry began playing polo in

ALEX PHOTOGRAPHY

Sunny Hale Sunset “Sunny” Hale will be honored posthumously for her remarkable record on the playing field and her contributions in giving back to polo. She reached a 5 goal handicap in this maledominated sport and made history when she became the first woman to win the U.S. Open Championship.

Breaking down barriers for women, she was hired as a professional to play on teams alongside the world’s greatest male players for over 20 seasons. Not content to rest on her laurels, she worked to promote the sport, its horses

Jimmy Newman

Texas while in his 20s and made his profession and reputation in buying, training and selling horses. Through his natural ability, Roy quickly attained a 7 goal rating (in 1948). He went on to win the Monty Waterbury Cup in 1951, was a finalist in the U.S. Open.

He played in clubs across the United

Roy Lawson Barry

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 27

Lovely Sage

Ruifino

States, in many cases managing the clubs as well as his sponsors’ strings of polo ponies. In 1954, at the young age of 45, Roy suffered a stroke while playing in the Monty Waterbury tournament on Long Island. He was advised to quit playing the game he loved, as well as working with horses, but just three years later, he returned to club polo and enjoyed many years of doing what he loved.

He taught his son, Roy Matthews Barry, the game well; his son went on to become a 9-Goaler who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995.

Horses to Remember Lovely Sage In the Horses to Remember category, two equine heroes of the sport will be honored. The Thoroughbred mare, Lovely Sage was as beautiful as her name would imply and her attributes did not 28 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

stop at that. She possessed a rare combination of speed, dexterity and wonderful disposition.

As a mount for Hall of Fame Dr. William “Billy” Linfoot and owned by Ruddy Tongg, she made her mark as the first winner of the Willis Hartman Award for Best Playing Pony of the U.S. Open when it was established in 1965. At that time, it was given to the best playing horse of the entire tournament, not just the final.

Ruifino In the mid-through-late 1930s, the gray mare Ruifino played with distinction, most closely associated as a mount for the great Tommy Hitchcock.

She was owned at the time by J. H. “Jock” Whitney and played by Hitchcock in the Open and Waterbury Cup matches. Her talent was so superb that she was declared the winner of the coveted Prince Friarstown Challenge Cup for Best Playing Mare suitable to produce polo ponies. In later years, she was called upon to play under other notable Hall of Fame players in the most important matches of the era.

We invite you to join us in welcoming these inspirational figures to the Hall of Fame as we celebrate their accomplishments and contributions to the sport of polo.

The Awards Gala and Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, February 16 at the Museum of Polo in Lake Worth, Florida. If you would like to join in the celebration to welcome these legendary individuals to the Polo Hall of Fame, you may purchase seats for the dinner up to a week in advance.

Reservations are $250 each (tax deductible portion $125).

The Hall of Fame awards dinner is the most important fundraising event for the museum each year, so we hope you will help support your museum, a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization.

Contact Brenda Lynn at the Museum of Polo by phone: (561) 969-3210 or (561) 969-7015; or e-mail: polomuseum@att.net for further details, information or to make your reservations.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 29

Polo masters

La Dolfina continues to dominate Argentine Open

By Ernesto Rodriguez • Photos by Sergio Llamera

L

a Dolfina’s Juan Martin Nero shot through the golden goal in overtime to give the team its fifth consecutive Argentine Open victory over Ellerstina.

Number 10 represents polo’s magnificence. When a player reaches 10 goals, it is clear he has entered the story books. The 2017 Argentine Open in Palermo could be considered a 10, not only because for the first time since 1968 there were that many teams competing but because the emotional show that was offered in the 20 qualifying matches and the final deserved that maximum rating.

Or maybe more ...

The most important event on the planet began its renewed 124th edition on Saturday, Nov. 14. U.S. Polo Assn. was the official apparel sponsor for the Open 30 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

and outfitted the umpires with shirts and pants. It also had an on-site retail store at Palermo and signage on the field.

In the first round, on Palermo’s Field 2, La Irenita San Germán Seguros defeated La Esquina Los Machitos Navarro Correas by 14-11, with six winning goals off the mallet of Juan Ruiz Guiñazú. The match was the debut of Pascual Sainz de Vicuña, No. 1 of the losers who became the first Spanish player in the Open. “I have been called by sports’ newspapers Marca and As from my country, which ... only has space for Real Madrid, Barcelona and the Spanish

national football team. I’m thrilled to be considered an athlete,” he said.

Mariano Aguerre, who returned to play the Open after three seasons, had in his squad a local debutant (Rodrigo Rueda) and another foreigner: the Brazilian Rodrigo Ribeiro de Andrade, participating for the seventh time.

Action then moved to the Cathedral, where members of the Argentine National team that won the FIP World Championships in Sydney paraded around the field before the second match for Group A, in which La Aguada Las Monjitas had Alfredo Bigatti premiering

in place of Eduardo Novillo Astrada, injured before the Triple Crown began.

Bigatti, playing No. 2, was vital to defeat La Albertina Abu Dhabi 13-10 despite the team having one less handicap goal.

The next day, action in Group B began on Field 2 with a tribute to brothers Eduardo and Alberto Heguy, who were starting their 31st Open together with Julián de Lusarreta, who was making his debut. To continue the celebration, Chapaleufú Cardón won 3-0 in the initial chukker against Cría Yatay Colony. But the brilliance of Joaquin Pittaluga (10 goals in the afternoon) appeared to turn the score and with a second overwhelming half (12-3), the Laprida’s team scored a resounding 18-8 victory.

On Field 1, Alegría Land Rover made it clear that the final in Hurlingham was no accident and beat La Dolfina Polo Ranch, where Uruguayan Alejo Taranco made his debut in the Open, 17-12, with 10 goals coming from Guillermo Caset.

The second round was celebrated the following weekend, with the introduction of the top two candidates. On Saturday, for Group A on Field No. 2, defending champion La Dolfina Sancor Seguros had no trouble against La Esquina Los Machitos Navarro Correas to overcome it 24-6 with an unexpected best scorer in Juan Martín Nero with nine.

In the second game, La Aguada Las Monjitas maintained the winning step against La Irenita San Germán Seguros, scoring a 12-7 win with five tallies from Miguel Novillo Astrada. On Sunday, Ellerstina Johor appeared, also on Field 2, with a 21-7 win over Chapaleufú Cardón with 10 goals by Polito Pieres.

Later, on Field 1, Alegría Land Rover added its second victory, this time against Cría Yatay Colony by 14-11, with Sapo Caset’s half dozen conversions.

The third round raised some controversy because it was played on weekdays during working hours, so Palermo did not attract the standard public (a minimum of 10,000 people on a weekend). However, those who came enjoyed remarkable games.

For Group A, La Aguada Las Monjitas accumulated its third victory after defeating La Esquina Los Machitos Navarro Correas 11-8 and secured a place

With six titles, Uruguayan Pelon Stirling now holds the most Argentine Open wins by a foreigner.

U.S. Polo Assn. served as the official apparel sponsor of the Argentine Open and had an on-site retail store at Palermo.

in the virtual semifinal. Then, La Dolfina Sancor Seguros rolled over La Albertina Abu Dhabi 22-6.

The next day, for Group B, the first match was played on a stage more similar to Cowdray, England than Palermo. When the game between Alegría Land Rover

and Chapaleufú Cardón got underway, an intense downpour broke out that, at times, obscured the players from spectators in the stands. But the excellent Tifton turf on Field 2 resisted the rainstorm and the eight chukkers were completed without problems, closing 1810 in favor of Alegría, captained by Fred Mannix. In the second match, with the clouds dissipating, Ellerstina Johor suffered against La Dolfina Polo Ranch on Field No 1 despite the nine goal handicap difference. They played as equals before Ellerstina won 12-11.

The fourth round was held the next weekend. On Saturday, Nov. 18 Adolfo Cambiaso entered into the history books as having played 100 games in Palermo.

La Dolfina Sancor Seguros’ frontman, who wore a shirt with 100 on his back instead of the traditional No. 1, lived the extravagance of playing seven clones of Cuartetera and the original 16-year-old POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 31

A boisterous crowd erupted when Juan Martin Nero scored the game-winning goal in the final.

mare in the eight-chukker 21-4 victory over La Irenita San Germán Seguros.

“To have been able to celebrate this day, using the 100, was [fantastic]. It was something very nice,” acknowledged the crack from Cañuelas, best scorer of the afternoon with eight goals.

Later, La Albertina Abu Dhabi achieved its first win after beating La Esquina Los Machitos Navarro Correas 17-8. On Sunday, Nov. 19, La Dolfina Polo Ranch achieved its first success in the tournament after beating Chapaleufú Cardón 10-8. Next, Ellerstina Johor showed its great horse capacity and after winning the first half of the match against Cría Yatay Colony 6-4, took advantage in the second half by a wide 82 to shape the 14-6 final score.

The finalists were defined the weekend of Nov. 25-26. In the clash of Group A’s undefeated teams, La Dolfina Sancor Seguros was absolutely dominant to get an unusual 14-1 final against La Aguada Las Monjitas, a superiority unthinkable before the first throw-in. Thus, the 32 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Juan Martin Nero, Pablo Mac Donough, Pelon Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso gave La Dolfina its 11th Argentine Open title, edging Ellerstina in overtime.

At his fourth-round Open game, Adolfo Cambiaso celebrated 100 games played in Palermo.

defending champion completed an initial phase in which it shined, not only for its attacking ability (81 goals in four games) but it also exhibited an incredible defensive strategy (allowed only 17 goals) to advance to its 17th Palermo final in 18 years (only lacking in 2004).

In addition, La Albertina Abu Dhabi beat La Irenita San Germán Seguros by a clear 20-11 to confirm its place in the next Triple Crown.

The definition of Group B had more suspense. Sunday started with the 11-10 victory of La Dolfina Polo Ranch over Cría Yatay Colony in an extra chukker, with a golden goal by Diego Cavanagh.

The win allows the team to maintain a place in the Triple Crown next season.

Then, in the Cathedral, Alegría Land Rover was on the verge of knocking out Ellerstina Johor in a repeat of the Hurlingham final. Alegría recovered from a poor first half (7-4 for Ellerstina) and managed to equal 11-11 at the end of the sixth chukker. In the seventh, the teams matched each other with two goals per

side, and in the decisive eighth chukker, Mannix deflected a Caset penalty into the goal. But, the team was unable to maintain control of the ball and the Pieres men were unforgiving. Facundo converted a penalty to knot the score and Polito finished it off with a great run to goal that gave the team its 11th ticket to the grand final in the last 13 years.

The most anticipated match of the year was held on Saturday, Dec. 2. And while in Argentina there are no official bets, there were not too many among the 15,000 spectators who chose the Pieres as winners since twice in the preliminaries they had been a goal away from disaster while La Dolfina advanced to the definition at an overwhelming pace.

But the members of La Zeta (Ellerstina) decided to make fun of the doubters and played a strong initial chukker to silence the critics, finishing the first chukker with a 3-1 advantage, thanks to Polito’s efforts. And in the next period they stayed in front, although the light was reduced to one goal (4-3).

Just after the third period, Cambiaso appeared and changed the trend for his team to end the chukker with a 5-4 advantage. The match went back and forth and when the fifth period closed, the teams were equalized 8-8.

Guided by Pablo Mac Donough, La Dolfina achieved a 5-2 run in the following 13 minutes and entered the last chukker three goals ahead. It seemed the issue had been settled, but Ellerstina reacted and with one goal coming from Polito, and Facu sinking two penalties—the last less than half a minute from the conclusive bell—sent the match to an extra chukker, as happened between these old rivals in 2005, 2007 and 2009 (victories of La Dolfina), 2008 and 2010 (triumphs of Ellerstina).

La Zeta had the first chance, but Polito Pieres’ long shot went wide. In reply, there was no forgiveness: Cambiaso stopped the gallop at mid-field and paused to find a hole to hit through, when, like a ghost, the least expected attacker appeared: No. 4 Juan Martin POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 33

Tango dancers and traditional guachos entertained the final crowd of 15,000.

Adolfo Cambiaso was named the best mounted player of the Open and his clone, Dolfina B09 Cuartetera, won three awards, including best horse of the final, as well as awards from the polo horse breeders’ association and the Argentine Rural Society.

34 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

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Nero. The Back did not hesitate in front of the posts and scored the golden goal that allowed La Dolfina to nearly double the number of wins in the duel with Ellerstina (27-14). It also gave the team its 11th victory for the most desired trophy on the planet (fifth consecutive).

Cambiaso, who celebrated three other times as a member of Ellerstina in the 90s, won four individual prizes: he was distinguished with the Equine Promotion Cup given to the best mounted player of the Open; he received the Lady Susan Townley Cup for the best horse of the final for his clone Dolfina B09 Cuartetera, a mare that was also recognized by the Argentine Association of Polo Horse Breeders and by the Argentine Rural Society.

For his part, Nero was chosen as the best player in the final, for which he received the Gonzalo Heguy Trophy, and the best mounted of the decisive match, for which he was honored with the Gonzalo Tanoira Award.

“I think we were deserved champions, but we could not deliver all our game. It’s worthwhile for them that they did not let up for a minute,” Nero explained.

The Fair Play award for the most disciplined player in the tournament went to Pablo Mac Donough. The remaining member of La Dolfina, David Stirling, got a virtual prize as he achieved his sixth victory in Palermo and surpassed Carlos Gracida as the foreigner who has been crowned the most times in the Open.

For the runners-up there were two consolations: Pablo Pieres, author of 38 goals in the competition, was awarded with the Javier Novillo Astrada Trophy to the championship best scorer, while the Fair Play trophy of the final awarded by the players’ association was left in the hands of Gonzalito Pieres.

“We really wanted to take the Open. If I could have taken the ball I stole in overtime maybe we would be talking about something else, but luck again failed us,” said Ellerstina’s No. 3.

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On the edge

Horse trekking through Patagonia is a thrill Words and photos by Alice Gipps

H

orse safari guide for 15 years in Kenya, Jakob Von Plessen, a true adrenaline seeker, now shares his adventurous life with guests on the southern end of South America.

Trekking on horseback through the Andes with Jakob Von Plessen was far from tame. In Kenya, Von Plessen was well known for having little fear riding within yards of the African wildlife including lions. He makes his Patagonia tours equally as exciting.

Setting up Jakotango Riding Adventure tours in Bariloche, Von Plessen teamed up with local gaucho Felipe Chandia who knows the mountains like the back of his hand.

Together the duo guide tours along the routes previously only ever taken by the most knowledgeable locals in the area.

Having caught the plane to San Martin de Los Andes, on arrival the bags were loaded into pick-up trucks and everyone was introduced before setting off to the Lanin National Park in the East Andes. The destination was the Filo Hua Hum Lake, which looked serene and tranquil on arrival, however just around the corner of the mountain, the wind and waves gave the powerboat a bumpy ride.

Reaching the other side, albeit rather bedraggled, Daisy Soames and gauchos Mariano and Alberto waited to greet everyone with their mounts before setting off on the short ride to base camp. The abundance of wild flowers, butterflies and riding through the crystal clear water in the Filo Hua Hum river with the incredible mountains towering either side of the valley was truly inspiring and the trip had hardly started.

36 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

The tents at basecamp were equipped with many creature comforts, including hot running water and wifi, and there was a cozy, quaint rustic lodge to meet for breakfast and dinner. The first day was spent getting to know the horses, relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Those who dared followed Jakob into the refreshingly icy cold river for a swim.

It was the following day that took the whole experience to the next level. The ‘Pass of Tears’ is aptly named for good reason. Having packed saddle bags with the minimum overnight essentials, strapped everything onto the horses and mounted up, the ride set off on the ultimate adventure. After a short distance, Chandia, who was leading the way, branched off from the river valley towards the foot of the mountains.

Starting to climb and climb, the ride zigzagged one behind the other in single file up a steep narrow path through the trees and scrub, every so often stopping to let the horses catch their breath.

Half way up everyone dismounted on the perfect view point and took out their hip flasks to salute Don Domingo, the gaucho who had previously farmed the land over which we were following the trails. Everyone took the time to admire the view of the whole valley beneath.

Once again the huge variety of wildlife and flowers was impressive as the ride reached higher ground through the forest. As we emerged from the trees, really magnificent scenery started to appear, as well as the realization that the

track was not going to get any bigger than about a couple of feet wide at the most with sheer drops beneath. At this point, it was a blessing to be on such sensible surefooted horses that knew the route and picked their way carefully along the path.

It was also about now it would be very unlucky to realize you suffer from vertigo.

Riding for a couple of hours more, we stopped briefly at the occasional wide spots with rocky protrusions to take in the view, where Von Plessen and Soames had no qualms about standing right on the edge to pose for a picture, while everyone else stayed a safe distance from the massive drop below. We mounted up again, literally riding along the top ridge

of the mountains at around 6500-feet high. If it was not for the fact that Chandia, Von Plessen and Soames were leading the way, it would not even cross your mind to ride a horse along these trails. In fact, it would appear completely inaccessible and the thought would not cross any sane person’s mind, but the feeling of freedom and adventure was

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 37

Jakob and a guest take the horses for a swim in the icy waters.

incredible. Up at this height the landscape was completely different—very rugged with only a few hardy plants, some huge rocks, but mostly shale which created stunning orange, yellow and grey patterns with uneasy footing. Lunch was brought on the pack horse and laid out in an ideal shady spot under a huge rock.

The horses were tied to the surrounding bushes where they could also rest in the shade for a couple of hours while everyone took advantage of an afternoon siesta.

Well fed, everyone mounted up and the journey continued. Once back to the narrow paths and more overwhelming views, vast drops lay ahead and then the path seemed to disappear completely. A huge, very steep rocky wall was all that could be seen, proceeded by a narrow ridge-like run up with the mountain disappearing on either side. First

Jakob teamed up with local gaucho Felipe Chandia, who knows the mountains like the back of his hand.

38 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

The top ridge of the mountains, about 6,500-feet up, revealed rugged terrain with only a few hardy plants.

Chef Cristobel served up fresh, traditional Argentine fare cooked over an open fire.

thoughts were ‘not in a million years’, then the realization hit that yes, indeed all the horses and riders were expected to head up there. There was no alternative.

We dismounted and tied the reins out of the way for the horses to take themselves up. Chandia set off first, incredibly staying on board his little dun Criollo mare, leading the pack horse behind him. At the top, he blocked the path and Von Plessen sent the loose horses on the perilous climb in twos and threes. Once all the horses reached the top safely, everyone tentatively followed, mostly on hands and knees, focusing on the ground in front, trying not to look down.

With a tremendous sense of relief to have reached the top and be reunited with the horses, the riders remounted with care on the side of the mountain.

After more heart-stopping riding, everyone was filled with pure awe at the sight of terrain covering the incredible volcanic landscape through the secret passages in the mountains. Finally it was time to relax and head down towards the POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 39

The local horses are sensible and sure-footed, needed for navigating the sometimes treacherous terrain.

trees, where the chef, Cristobel greeted everyone with a very welcome camp fire and a tasty traditional Argentine guiso (stew) cooking on top, while Mariano had set up the tents. They had ridden up a far less tricky track from base camp, the return route for the following day. The sheepskins from the saddles doubled up as comfy cushions on the logs around the fire where supper and lots of red wine went down; a treat as everyone relived the feats of completing the day’s ride.

The following day, the trek set off down the mountain, through the vast forest until reaching the valley floor and crossing the river where Von Plessen took his horse for a cooling swim. All the horses were untacked and allowed to graze and rest while everyone enjoyed asado for lunch before heading back to basecamp along the valley.

Another day at basecamp to relax was perfect. There was time to go fishing and take a short evening ride to check the horses as the last two nights would be spent on the move, out in the wild once more, heading up over the mountains on 40 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Chandia’s estancia displays a collection of rawhide, sheepskins, antlers and horns.

the opposite side of basecamp towards Bariloche.

More beautiful landscape lay ahead, very different to what had been seen so far. Heading up and down the steep mountains seemed less daunting after having completed the ‘Pass of Tears.’ An idyllic lunch and siesta spot, gazing out over the landscape with the horses grazing in front of us, was very pleasant before heading to another fly camp for the night. The journey had been so much

fun so far. The last ride towards Chandia’s homestead was no less exciting. Only accessible by horse or boat, it was spectacular. Blankets of pretty pink wild rose hips lined the route to the very traditional gaucho farm. The huge collection of rawhide, sheepskins and an array of antlers and horns added to the unique atmosphere of a real working estancia in the mountains. After washing off the horses in the river and turning them out to roll and relax in the paddocks, we relaxed as the sun set, waiting for delicious whole home-reared lamb roasting on a cross over the fire.

Von Plessen’s passion for horses, nature and adrenaline is an awe-inspiring combination, which ensured the rides were full of wonderful experiences, thrills and memories. It was certainly an epic, unforgettable journey, and a true insight to a genuine gaucho way of life in a magical part of Argentina. Best described as extreme trekking, it was easily one of the most exhilarating experiences possible on horseback and the horses didn’t even get out of a walk.

The horses rest while the guests enjoy a meal and a siesta.

Von Plessen’s passion for horses, nature and adrenaline ensures an unforgettable journey in this magical part of the world.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 41

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BY ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ

DOUBLE TROUBLE La Dolfina beats Ellerstina in inaugural Argentine Women’s Open final PHOTOS BY SERGIO LLAMERA

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ince the news was released at the end of August, the world of Argentine polo was revolutionized with the promise of Argentine Polo Association president Eduardo Novillo Astrada to institute a women’s polo subcommittee and as a historical milestone, the realization of the first Women’s Argentine Open.

Astrada asked Verónica Guerrero to lead the subcommitte and the rest of the plan for the Women’s Open got underway.

The best players on the planet came to the call of the AAP. The local representatives were joined by leading American, British, French and German polo players.

The 24 entries made up six teams rated between 23-30 goals. For those competing, the question of honor and the certainty of playing a tournament that would be in the books was not lost. The first throw-in was launched on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at the headquarters of the Alfredo Lalor complex the AAP owns in Pilar with an almost all-American match. Seven of the players, with the exception of the French Caroline Anier, arrived from the USA: Santa María de Lobos (Dawn Jones, Erica Gandomcar, Tiffany Busch, Clarissa Echezarreta) scored an 8-4 victory against La Varzea Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Julia Smith, Caroline Anier, Annabel McNaught-Davis).

Next came La Dolfina Brava (Mía Cambiaso, Milagros Fernández Araujo, Nina Clarkin, Candelaria Fernández Araujo) against La Dolfina Cría Fax (Camila Rossi, Marianela Castagnola, Emma Tomlinson, Eva Brühl) to get a comfortable 14-3 with six goals coming by Nina Clarkin, the best on the planet. And 42 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

La Dolfina Brava’s Milagros Fernández Araujo, Mia Cambiaso, Candelaria Fernández Araujo and Nina Clarkin won the Argentine Women’s Open.

in the last turn, Ellerstina (Clara Cassino, Hazel Jackson-Gaona, Lía Salvo, Sarah Wiseman), the quartet with the highest rating at 30 goals, had to fight hard to break the resistance of La Dolfina Brava II (Mía Novillo Astrada, María Bellande, Tamara Fox, Paola Martínez) before scoring a 7-4 victory.

Two days later, the second date was held on the same stage. And there were two big victories: Ellerstina scored a wide 14-3 against La Dolfina Cría Fax, with half a dozen goals from Lía Salvo, while La Dolfina Brava drew even more differences against La Varzea Goose Creek, achieving a 16-2 success with the unstoppable Clarkin scoring seven times.

The third clash of the day was the most emotional match of the tournament for the times that the score’s control changed. Santa María de Lobos closed the first two chukkas with a 2-1 advantage against La Dolfina Brava II, but three penalties by Tamara Fox turned the numbers to reach the half-time 4-2. The

All-American quarter drew in the fourth and went ahead in the fifth 5-4. In the last quarter, La Dolfina Brava II managed to equalize at 6-6 while a goal by Paola Martínez, 26 seconds before the last bell, put La Dolfina Brava II in the winning spot.

The third day, Sunday, Nov. 26 in Pilar, defined the semifinalists.

Ellerstina, with remarkable teamwork from Clara Cassino and Lía Salvo (they scored all but one of their team’s goals) thrashed La Varzea Goose Creek 16-2.

The clash between La Dolfina Brava and La Dolfina Brava II was extremely even, so much so that they were equalized 5-5 after the fourth of six chukkers. But in the last 14 minutes, Clarkin’s efficiency appeared with the three Argentine teenagers (Mía Cambiaso and sisters Milagros and Candelaria Fernández Araujo) helping her to seal the triumph by 11-6. The third match, which put the winner among the top four, was for Santa María de Lobos, who dominated La

La Dolfina’s MVP Candelaria Fernández Araujo necks a ball past Ellerstina’s Sarah Wiseman in the final of the Argentine Women’s Open played on Palermo’s Field 2 before the men’s Open.

Dolfina Cría Fax from the beginning to score an 8-4 win. The America team, led

by Dawn Jones (wife of Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones), jubilantly celebrated the hard-fought victory.

The semifinals were played in the complex of eight fields located 35 miles north of Buenos Aires. In the first turn, on Field 3, unbeaten Ellerstina scored its third big win by trouncing Santa María de Lobos by a wide 13-2.

For the defeated quartet there were tears of happiness, grateful for having gone so far in the first Argentine Open and remembering their spiritual guide.

“Sunny Hale was present with us in every run, in every hit. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be here,” said Erica Gandomcar while a tear rolled down her cheek.

Then, on Field 6, the two La Dolfina Brava teams faced each other again. And, as had happened two days before, La Dolfina Brava II fell but with a greater margin. Instead of being level after the first four periods, this time La Dolfina Brava held a 10-1 lead, led by five goals off the mallet of Mia Cambiaso, daughter of the world’s top player, Adolfo Cambiaso. In the closing chukkas, La Dolfina Brava II reacted and completed a run of 4-1 to make the final numbers narrower, 11-5.

The final was played on Saturday, Dec. 2, on Palermo’s Field 2. It was the curtain-raiser for the definition of the 124th Argentine Open, coincidentally

with teams of the same names that would later define the Open trophy. And it was a show that filled the expectations of the more than 5,000 spectators who jampacked the stands.

The match clearly had two parts. One lasted the first five chukkers in which La Dolfina Brava managed the pace of the game, with the three young local players and the expertise of the British Clarkin,

Nina Clarkin can’t hold back her excitement after winning the Argentine Women’s Open.

to take a 6-3 advantage that would have been much wider had they not wasted several opportunities to convert.

With the clock as its main rival, Ellerstina came out in the last episode to play with despair. And in those seven minutes, guided by Lía Salvo, they changed the course of the game by scoring three consecutive goals to equalize at 6-6 and send the match to the extra chukker in a stadium that exploded with emotion.

The extra time was dominated by La Dolfina Brava. The Fernandez Araujo sisters could not convert the golden goal but Nina Clarkin did not hesitate when given a chance with a free hit from the 30-yard line 3:54 into the chukker. The goal from the best women player in the world sealed the victory for her team and generated a standing ovation for the eight warriors.

“It is a dream come true. Playing this tournament and winning it accompanied by these talented girls is one of the great victories of my life. This afternoon, this frame and this triumph will be one of the most important memories of my life,” said the 10-goaler.

In the other tent, Lía Salvo was proud of what her team had done. “I’m not so sad, beyond defeat. I loved playing with friends, with an amazing organization behind us that gave us everything. I enjoyed it very much. It is a pride to arrive in Palermo and see the people who hurried to come early to see what women’s polo was about. There are many who were surprised to see how we can play in depth. Maybe they start to see more women’s polo,” said Salvo, who turned 30 the previous day and was the best scorer of the tournament with 23 tallies.

Candelaria Fernández Araujo was distinguished as Most Value Player of the final thanks to her excellent defensive work (she kept her goal unbeaten for more than 15 minutes), while the AACCP prize for the best horse in the final went to Dolfina C03 Lapa, owned by Adolfo Cambiaso and played by Nina Clarkin.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 43

Beaches, social life, celebrity guests and polo make Costa Careyes a special place to visit during the holidays, or any time of the season, which runs from November to mid April. This beautiful private community located on the Pacific Ocean hosts players from Germany, Spain, England, Columbia, Holiday polo lights up Costa Careyes Brazil, Peru, Portugal, PHOTOS COURTESY COSTA CAREYES Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and USA. Founded in 1990, the club includes two regulation polo fields, stabling for 150 horses and 60 polo ponies available for guests. During the season, temperatures average between 7276 degrees. The club, managed by Susan Stovall, holds several tournaments throughout its season including mixed polo, ladies and junior events. The season is highlighted by the Copa de L’amistad, the Copa Agua Alta and the Masters Cup. It also offers polo and riding lessons and hosts private events.

When not on the field, guests can enjoy a variety of water sports from paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkeling,

DESTINATION: MEXICO

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scuba diving, fishing, surfing and boating. Those looking for more relaxed activities can go birdwatching with the areas over 270 species, and whale and dolphin watching. The club is also known for its relaxing beach horseback rides, as well as other activities including tennis, biking, golf and spa services.

This year’s Holiday Cup attracted four teams each playing three five-chukker matches to determine the finalists for the

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

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Team Magness’ Guillermo Li, Sarah Magness, Daniel Arellano and Joe Henderson won the Holiday Cup.

Barossa USA/Hong Kong:

Jef Graham Joe Stuart Phillippe de Caraman Will Falk

Agua Alta/Quinto Sol:

Alberico Ardissone Manuel Matos Luis Perez Diego Gonzalez

Mangorace:

Gary Magness Cable Magness Nico Milan Hernan Tasso

Team Magness:

Sarah Magness Joe Henderson Guillermo Li Daniel Arellano

Championship played on Dec. 31.

After a week of preliminary matches, the 7-goal Team Magness and 6-goal Agua Alta/Quinto Sol settled at the top, while Mangorace and Barossa USA/Hong Kong settled for the consolation match.

In the consolation, Hernan Tasso ran the show for Mangorace, putting through seven of the team’s 10 goals for the victory. For Barossa USA/Hong Kong, Joe Stuart led the way with four goals.

The championship match began with Team Magness’ Guillermo Li knocking through two quick goals, making it look like the match was going to be a runaway.

Agua Alta slowly fought its way back, and by the halftime Agua Alta was within a goal and a half, 6-4½. The teams continued to battle in the last two chukkers with Agua Alta outscoring Team Magness 2-1, but it wasn’t enough and Team Magness took the narrow 7-6½ victory.

Li led Team Magness with five goals while Agua Alta/Quinto Sol was lead by three goals each from Alberico Ardissone and Luis Perez.

This month, the club will hold its Chinese New Year tournament and next month, a two-week polo festival will be held followed by the 19th Agua Alta Cup. For More information go to carayes.com.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 45

POLO REPORT DISPATCHES FROM THE WORLD OF POLO FLORIDA

ARI DELIN/CHUKKER TV

CASABLANCA DOMINATES GRAND CHAMPIONS FALL SEASON

Casablanca’s Grant Ganzi tries to push the ball out of Audi’s Guille Aguero’s reach in the final of the North American Cup. Casablanca went on to win the title and the National 20-goal title.

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he Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida, completed its season with the highest-rated action of its fall series: three 20-goal events.

Former 10-goaler Mike Azzaro led the winning team in all three events.

Casablanca also won a pair of mediumgoal titles.

First up was the USPA North American Cup with four teams rounding out the rosters. The final came down to Casablanca and Audi, which

46 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

turned out to be one of the most physically-contested and closest finals of the fall season.

Audi started out with a 2-goal handicap but Julio Arellano and Grant Ganzi found the goal to level the score in the first four minutes. Brandon Phillips scored for Audi, but Arellano answered, tying up the game at the end of the chukker. Back-to-back goals from Bollini gave Casablanca a 5-3 lead but Audi came right back in a rainy second

chukker, slowing the game and taking Casablanca out of its rhythm. Another goal by Phillips brought Audi within one, 5-4.

The lead changed hands nine times as the physicality and intensity increased along with missed scoring opportunities, both from the field and the penalty line, by both teams.

Azzaro quickly recovered from a fifth-chukker tumble when his horse stumbled at the 2:28 mark. He broke a

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P O L O

Casablanca’s Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Mike Azzaro and MVP Jeff Blake took the National 20-Goal title.

9-9 tie early in the sixth chukker on a nice run to goal after a steal. Arellano scored an insurance goal with a Penalty 3 with 3:03 left. Casablanca held on for the win.

Azzaro was named MVP and Antojo, Aguero’s 12-year-old gelding, was Best Playing Pony.

In the subsidiary Just for the Love Of It Cup, Goose Creek defeated Flexjet 6-3.

Casablanca was the favorite going into the National 20 Goal and it didn’t disappoint. Like a well-oil machine, it powered through to the final, meeting up with Flexjet.

The game was close in the first half, tied 2-2 after the opening chukker.

Casablanca outscored Flexjet 3-1 in the second chukker to take a 5-3 lead, which held for a scoreless and defensive third chukker.

Flexjet trailed by only one after Dorignac’s Penalty 2 conversion before Casablanca reeled off six goals in the fourth and fifth chukkers to pull away for an 11-4 lead going into the final chukker.

Grant Ganzi was high scorer with six goals. Jeff Blake was MVP and three horses earned Best Playing Pony honors for the tournament. The USPA Best Playing Pony went to Pitkin, a 4-year-old bay mare played by Dorignac. The American Polo Horse Association Game Best Playing Pony went to Carnival, a 12year-old chestnut gelding played by Ganzi and groomed by Horacio Godoy.

USA’s Mike Azzaro, MVP Julio Arellano, Grant Ganzi and Carlitos Gracida won the International Cup over Brazil.

The APHA Tournament Best Playing Pony went to Paulina, an 8-year-old chestnut mare played by Dorignac in the final and Alejandro Novillo Astrada in the semifinal. She is groomed by Jonathan Castillo. Godoy and Castillo each were awarded $250 by the APHA. Three of the four Casablanca players from the North American Cup—Ganzi, Azzaro and Arellano—joined up with Carlitos Gracida to represent the USA in the International Cup against Brazil’s Flavio Castilho, Gustavo Toledo, Guilherme Lins and Calao Mello.

It was the U.S. team’s sixth consecutive victory in the international game and closest margin of victory in a regulation game. Since 2012, the U.S. has defeated England, Chile, Mexico, South Africa and Uruguay. Brazil was playing together for the first time in its U.S. debut.

The game was action-packed from the opening chukker. After a 3-3 first chukker, the U.S. took control, outscoring Brazil, 2-0 in the second chukker. After a scoreless third chukker, the U.S. led 5-3 at the half and 8-5 in the fourth and never relinquished its lead going into the fifth and final chukker.

The U.S. added another goal for a 9-5 lead early in the final chukker before Brazil tried to rally but fell short.

Arellano, who has been on three winning lineups in the cup, won his third consecutive MVP Award. Two Santa Rita Polo Farm-owned horses

were named American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Ponies for Brazil and the U.S.--Poker Face, a 9-yearold mare ridden by Lins, and Girl Power, a 7-year-old mare ridden by Ganzi. The horses’ grooms, Horacio Godoy and Augustin Mauhum were each awarded $250 by the APHA. In the opening game, the Future Legends (Will Jacobs, Santos Bollini, Juancito Bollini, Mariano Gracida) won the Carlos Gracida Legends of Polo Memorial with a 6-5 victory over Team Legends (Charlie Armstrong, Stewart Armstrong, Marc Ganzi, Juan Bollini).

Juancito Bollini scored the winning goal with 37 seconds left in the game.

Mariano Gracida, 24, was named MVP. His older brother Carlitos Gracida, 26, threw in the first ball of the game.

In between the high-goal events, medium-goal action finished up with Patagones winning the inaugural Daylight Savings Cup and Dutta Corp. capturing the Polo Gear Challenge Cup. Benjamin Avendano was MVP in both events.

In the Daylight Savings Cup final, Patagones held off Newport 8-6 to win the title. Patagones (Gilles Blain, 0, Benjamin Avendano, 1, Pablo Dorignac, 5, Jesse Bray, 5) and Newport (Gene Goldstein, 1, Lucas Arellano, 1, Jeff Blake, 6, Carlitos Gracida, 4) seemed evenly-matched from the opening chukker even though Patagones jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two chukkers.

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Patagones’ Jesse Bray, Pablo Dorignac, Benjamin Avendano and Gilles Blain, Annie Blain and Newport’s Carlitos Gracida, Gene Goldstein, Jeff Blake and Lucas Arellano

Newport had its share of scoring opportunities early in the game but could not take advantage of them.

Patagones led 4-1 at the half after a 1-1 third chukker.

The teams played evenly, 2-2 and 0-0, in the fourth and fifth chukkers before Newport outscored Patagones, 3-2, sparked by Goldstein’s two sixth-chukker goals. Trailing 7-3 in the sixth chukker, Newport scored three unanswered goals to trail 7-6 with 1:02 left before Dorignac scored an insurance goal as time ran out.

In the Polo Gear Challenge Cup final, Dutta Corp (Carlitos Gracida, 4, Kris Kampsen, 6, Carlucho Arellano, 5, Tim Dutta, 0) outscored Sebucan (Pablo Pulido, 2, Benjamin Avendano, 1, Pablo Dorignac, 5, Guille Aguero, 5), 3-0, in the fifth and sixth chukkers to win, 8-6.

After both teams opened the first chukker with missed scoring attempts, Sebucan pulled ahead for a 3-0 lead with goals from Dorignac (Penalty 4), Aguero and Avendano.

Dutta Corp, making its fall debut, regained its composure and started to slowly claw its way back in the second chukker. Arellano scored on back-toback Penalty 4 and 6 conversions to trail by one, 3-2. Avendano’s Penalty 3 goal gave Sebucan a 4-2 lead to end the second chukker.

In a defensive third chukker, Dutta Corp shut out Sebucan 1-0 on a Gracida tally to trail 4-3 at halftime. Avendano

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scored back-to-back goals in the fourth chukker for a 6-3 advantage. Kampsen countered with his own back-to-back goals for Dutta Corp to trail 6-5 going into the fifth chukker.

The final two chukkers were all Dutta Corp, shutting down Sebucan’s potent offense while scoring three goals.

Gracida scored to tie the game at 6-6.

Dutta Corp took the lead, 7-6, for the first time in the game on Kampsen’s goal. Kampsen added an insurance goal late in the game.

Earlier in the day, in the Just For The Thrill Of It subsidiary game at Santa Rita Polo Farm’s Buenos Aires Field, Santa Clara (Lucas Escobar, Lucas Arellano, Jeff Blake, Luis Escobar) bested Casablanca (Santos Bollini, Jason Crowder, Grant Ganzi, Jesse Bray) by a wide 10-4.

In Friday’s semifinals, Dutta Corp advanced with an impressive 8-3 victory over Santa Clara and Sebucan edged Casablanca, 8-7.

-—Sharon Robb contributed to this report NORTH AMERICAN CUP Casablanca—Grant Ganzi (2), Mike Azzaro (6), Julio Arellano (8), Juancito Bollini (3); Audi—Marc Ganzi (2), Carlucho Arellano (5), Brandon Phillips (5), Sugar Erskine (6); Flexjet—Melissa Ganzi (A), Jason Crowder (6), Tincho Merlos (9), Juan Bollini (5); Goose Creek—Maureen Brennan (1), Kris

Dutta Corp.’s Carlitos Gracida, Carlucho Arellano, Timmy Dutta and Kris Kampsen Kampsen (6), Mariano Gonzalez (7), Luis Escobar (5).

NATIONAL 20 GOAL Casablanca—Mike Azzaro (6), Jeff Blake (5), Grant Ganzi (2), Juancito Bollini (3); Audi—Marc Ganzi (2), Carlucho Arellano (5), Kris Kampsen (6), Guille Aguero (6); Brazil—Gustavo Toledo (5), Guilherme Lins (5), Flavio Castilho (5), Luis Figueira de Mello (4); Flexjet—Melissa Ganzi (A), Juan Bollini (5), Jason Crowder (6), Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8); Newport— Gene Goldstein (1), Lucas Arellano (1), Julio Arellano (8), Sugar Erskine (6); Santa Clara—Mariano Gracida (4), Luis Escobar (5), Wes Finlayson (4), Carlitos Gracida (4).

SCHOOL BENEFITS FROM POLO UNDER THE OAKS Regent Polo and Florida Cancer Specialists played a six-chukker charity match before a large crowd at Ten Oaks Polo fields in Monticello, Florida, to raise money for the Maclay School on Nov. 5. Billed as Polo Under the Oaks, it was a battle of polo families as members of the Becks and Campbells played against each other supported by experienced riders from North Florida and as far away as Atlanta, Georgia.

Riding for Regent Polo were Mike Beck in the No. 1 slot, Victoria Campbell and Jennie Phipps taking

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Winship Rees and Kim von Stade keep pace in Polo Under the Oaks.

Pippa Campbell shoots at goal in Polo Under the Oaks.

Horseware’s Barry Finnegan, Tom McGuinness, Hugo Lloret and Segundo Merlos won the Holiday Family Cup.

Segundo Merlos’ Guri Mario was named Best Playing Pony in the Holiday Cup.

turns as No. 2, Winship Rees of Atlanta at No. 3, and 3-goal professional Francisco Llosa at Back.

Opposing this experienced crew were equally skilled players representing Florida Cancer Specialists. Kelly Beck was No. 1. Pippa Campbell, 15, and her brother Ian, 14, both rising polo stars in the Campbell polo family, shared turns as No. 2.

Jillian Beck, 15, daughter of Mike and Kelly, an impressive young player as well, rode alternate chukkers with Kim von Stade, owner/manager of the Red Hills Polo Club, wearing the No. 3 shirt. Professional Stuart Campbell (Pippa and Ian’s father), rounded out the team at No. 4.

As you can imagine from this lineup, the teams were evenly matched.

Regent often took the lead but only by one goal. Each time Regent crept ahead, Florida Cancer Specialists answered with a goal of its own. The game see-sawed this way until the close

of the sixth chukker. Regent was leading as the clock wound down, and it looked like it would take the honors, but then Kelly Beck galloped free to the goal mouth and tapped home the tying goal. The whistle blew on an 8-8 tie, which was left to stand.

The umpires were former 5-goaler Craig Ramsby and pro umpire Jason Cashin. Announcer for the game was polo player David Manual.

Kim von Stade’s Snippet, an OTTB, was voted Best Pony.

HORSEWARE WINS HOLIDAY FAMILY CUP

Horseware Ireland (Barry Finnegan, Tom McGuinness, Hugo Lloret, Segundo Merlos) won the Holiday Family Cup, defeating Patagones (Benjamin Avendano, Santiago Avendano, Joaquin Avendano, Lorenzo Merloti) in the final at Port Mayaca Polo Club in Okeechobee,

Florida, in late December.

Starting with a handicap, Patagones held on to a narrow lead at the half.

Two goals by Hugo Lloret put Horseware ahead, but Joaquin Avendano ended the chukker with a field goal to keep the margin at a half goal going into the final chukker. Lloret was again able to convert two penalties to push Horseware ahead. Two great field goals by MVP Benjamin Avendano narrowed the lead to a half goal, but the horn sounded before the ball could be thrown in, with the victory going to Horseware. Final score 6-5½.

Best Playing Pony honors went to Segundo Merlos’ Guri Mario and MVP went to Benjamin Avendano. To get to the final, Horseware defeated Amista/GString 8½-5 while Patagones defeated Santa Clara 6-4.

In the consolation New Years Eve Cup, SeaBreeze defeated PMPC 5½-4.

Six teams filled the rosters of the tournament.

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Tiburon’s Patrick Uretz, Rob Stenzel, Don Stemaly and Collen Clark won the USPA Presidents Cup at Willow Bend.

SOUTHWESTERN

TIBURON LEADS

PRESIDENTS CUP Four teams participated in the Regional Presidents Cup at Willow Bend Polo Club in Little Elm, Texas, Sept. 29 through Oct. 1. In the end, Tiburon took the title.

The teams were well-matched with all the games closely contested, including the preliminary games, one of which went into overtime.

Mayer Ranch (Clark Mayer, Brendon Stenzel, Hector Galindo, Jake Klentner) and Palo Pinto (Allen Custard, Pipa Turrabriates, Robert Payne, Benjamin Panelo) played for the consolation match with each team trading the lead.

As the sixth chukker began, Palo Pinto was up by three goals, but Mayer Ranch would not be deterred, scoring three goals in the last chukkers. Palo Pinto answered with two goals to maintain the lead, resulting in a 12-10 victory over Mayer Ranch.

The final match between Tiburon (who defeated Palo Pinto by a score of 10-8 in the preliminary match) and Mokarow Farms (who had come off an overtime win against Mayer Ranch) proved to be a nail-biter until the last 30 seconds. Mokarow Farms (Kevin Mokarow, Robert Payne Jr., Joaquin Panelo, John Muse) came out charging

50 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Lucchese’s Agustin Molinas, Martin Estrada, John Muse and Jake Klentner took the USPA Oktoberfest tournament.

and were up by three goals at the half.

Tiburon (Don Stemaly, Patrick Uretz, Rob Stenzel, Collen Clark) saved its best ponies for the second half, resulting in five unanswered goals in the fourth and fifth chukkers, making it an 8-6 game at the start of the sixth.

Mokarow Farms, like Mayer Ranch earlier in the day, refused to concede without a fight and quickly scored three goals versus Tiburon’s one goal and tied up the game with 90 seconds left in regulation time.

At the bowl-in Mokarow Farms took control of the ball, but Patrick Uretz’s defensive maneuvers got Tiburon the ball back. He quickly passed to Rob Stenzel who took it all the way down the field. Mokarow Farms was successful in preventing Stenzel from shooting on goal, but Don Stemaly of Tiburon was following closely and tapped the ball through the uprights shortly after the 30-second horn sounded to break the tie and take the win 10-9 over Mokarow Farms.

The season concluded with the 10goal USPA Oktoberfest tournament Oct. 19-29. Lucchese emerged the winner after 10 days of intense playoff matches.

In the first week of games, two dominate teams emerged. Lucchese Boots, anchored by Agustin Molinas, came out strong with a 11-6 victory over Tiburon and Mayer Ranch handily defeated Mokarow Farms with a score

of 11-4. In Round 2, Lucchese and Mayer took a full six chukkers for a winner to be declared as the scores were even or within one goal after each chukker. As the teams went into the six chukker tied with 8 apiece, Rob Payne’s second goal of the chukker put Mayer Ranch on top as the final horn sounded.

Neither Mokarow nor Tiburon wanted to be left out of the running for the Silver trophies and battled it out in Round 2 as well with Tiburon narrowly defeating Mokarow Farms 10-8.

As final weekend approached temperatures dropped 40 degrees overnight making the Friday game conditions a chilly 43 degrees, with blowing winds and sleet. Tiburon and Mayer Ranch took to the fields with Tiburon defeating Mayer Ranch 8-5.

The second match of Round 3 had Lucchese continuing its domination, besting Mokarow 10-5. In spite of Mayer Ranch’s early tournament victories, Tiburon’s three-goal win against Mayer Ranch in Round 3 gave it the net goals to advance to the final.

The final was set with a rematch of Week 1 action between Tiburon and Lucchese. The teams were well matched and it was once again a highlycontested game as the teams traded goals in the early chukkers. A late push

by Lucchese in chukkers 5 and 6 gave it a two-goal edge as the game concluded, with a 12-10 final score.

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KAYLEE WROE

KAYLEE WROE

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Listo Polo/Taco Bell’s John Tasdemir, Grace Burgert, Ignacio Saenz and Luis Echezarreta won the Governors Cup qualifier.

KAYLEE WROE

KAYLEE WROE

Horsegate’s Lance Stefanakis, Ariel Mancebo, Anson Moore and Shane Rice took the Autumn Classic.

Spec Oil’s Emma Tooth, Nick Dunbar, Bryan Middleton and Kristy Outhier won the Penny Cup.

HORSEGATE ACES AUTUMN CLASSIC

Horsegate stopped Listo Polo/Taco Bell 7-4 in the final of the 4-goal Autumn Classic at the Houston Polo Club in Houston, Texas, Sept. 16.

Horsegate (Lance Stefanakis, Ariel Mancebo, Anson Moore, Shane Rice) came out swinging in the first chukker with goals by Ariel Mancebo and Shane Rice, while Listo Polo (Grace Burgert, L. Cassidy/John Tasdemir, Martin Munoz, Ignacio Saenz) was stopped in its tracks. Rice sunk a Penalty 3 early in the second, but Ignacio Saenz struck back, connecting twice to get Listo Polo on the board. In between his shots, Anson Moore split the uprights for Horsegate to give it a 4-2 lead at the half.

Listo Polo/Taco Bell’s Ignacio Saenz, Martin Munoz, Grace Burgert and John Tasdemir took the SW Circuit Governors Cup .

Moore and Tasdemir traded open goal penalty conversions and Rice sunk another goal to put Horsegate up by three. Mancebo increased the lead to four in the fourth, but Saenz got in one last goal before the horn sounded, giving Horsegate the trophies.

Listo Polo/Taco Bell (Grace Burgert, John Tasdemir, Ignacio Saenz, Luis Echezarreta) rebounded a few weeks later when it topped BCI/Shanghai 5-3 (Cara Kennedy, Audrey Persano, Neil Osburg, Chad Bowman) in the final of the 4-goal Governors Cup Qualifier.

Chad Bowman struck first for BCI, added to a half-goal handicap but Saenz answered back with a pair of goals. Bowman added another in the second, while Listo was silent, giving BCI the half-goal advantage, 2½-2.

Saenz split the uprights in the third,

but BCI went silent. Saenz added his last goal in the fourth, but Osburg found the mark to get within a half goal. Tasdemir ended BCI’s hopes when he tallied late in the chukker.

Spec Oil/Dunbar Capital (Nick Dunbar, Emma Tooth, Kristy Outhier, Bryan Middleton) found its stride against Cat Spring/The Plank Cos. (Kendall Plank, R. Stainback, Billy Mudra, C. Payan) for the Penny Cup. Payan got the scoring going, added to a half-goal handicap, but Middleton matched Payan’s goal. Spec Oil caught fire in the second, with Dunbar and Middleton combining for five goals while Plank scored a lone goal for Cat Spring. Down by three-and-a-half goals at the half, Mudra scored early in the third but the team couldn’t gain any more ground. Payan and Middleton

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R E P O R T

KAYLEE WROE

MARTHA BAGLEY

P O L O

Horsegate’s Ariel Mancebo, Anson Moore, Shane Rice and Nick Stefanakis won the Houston Classic.

traded goals in the fourth, but Spec Oil had the 7-4½ win.

Listo Polo/Taco Bell (Grace Burgert, John Tasdemir, Ignacio Saenz, Martin Munoz) won its third title when it shut out Central Texas Polo Assn. (Marlon Pimiento, Gustavo Galvan, Javier Insua, Ariel Rodriguez) 7-0 in the SW Circuit Governors Cup final. Tasdemir sunk a Penalty 2 in the first chukker. Saenz scored two goals in the second and third while Saenz and Munoz added goals in the fourth for the win.

On Nov. 5, Horsegate (Nick Stefanakis, Anson Moore, Ariel Mancebo, Shane Rice) won its second victory, this time over Spec Oil/Dunbar Capital (Emma Tooth, Nick Dunbar, Kristy Outhier, Bryan Middleton) in the 4-goal Houston Classic.

The teams got off to a slow start, with neither team able to reach the goal in the first chukker. Emma Tooth ended the drought with a goal in the second.

Anson Moore responded to keep it level at the half. Spec Oil struggled to find the goal in the second half, while Rice added goals in the third and fourth to ensure Horsegate the win, 3-1.

ARMY CAPTURES

ROOSEVELT TROPHY The Texas Military Polo Club’s 5th Annual USPA Teddy Roosevelt tournament was hosted by the Central Texas Polo Association at its Heart of

52 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Army’s Glen Voorhees, Loreto Natividad, Liz Cunningham and Kyle Brown won the Teddy Roosevelt Tournament in Texas.

Texas Polo Club on Nov. 17-18. With six teams competing over two days, two round robins were played to determine the finalists.

The first round robin of the day started with Marine Corps (Steve Gilchrist, Sgt. Chris Jones, Wyatt Myr, Andrew Richardson) facing the Coast Guard (Leigh Fulkerson, Taimur Zeb, Daniel Fernandez, John Greening). In the first chukker Gilchrist quickly scored a goal from the field, followed by Myr converting a Penalty 3 to end the chukker with the Marines leading 2-0.

The next chukker was dominated by Jones scoring three goals from the field with Fernandez putting Coast Guard on the board, ending the round with Marines leading 5-1.

The next round had Army 2 (Kelly Coldiron, Greg Summers, Karsten Idsal, Ethan Galis) facing Coast Guard. In a defensive first chukker neither team was able to score. Starting the second and final chukker Coldiron and Summers each scored a goal from the field while Fernandez converted a Penalty 3, ending the match 2-1 in favor of Army 2.

Marines returned to the field for the final two chukkers and like the previous two it was a low-scoring defensive 14 minutes with Jones scoring the only goal of the chukker and adding another to start the final chukker. Idsal scored for Army ending the match 2-1 for the Marines, giving it a pass to the final.

In the next round robin, first out of port was Navy (Reuben Brooks, Karl Hilberg, Cody Woodfin, Steven Armour) vs Air Force (Lara Semmelmann, Fabian Vela, Javier Maldonado, Ariel Rodriguez). Woodfin scored a goal from the field followed by a Penalty 3 conversion. Both teams were silenced in the second chukker ending 2-0 in favor of Navy.

Air Force and Army (Liz Cunningham, Kyle Brown, Loreto Natividad, Glen Voorhees) took the stage next. In a closely fought match each team scored one goal apiece with Rodriguez converting a Penalty 3 and Natividad scoring from the field. Loreto scored back-to-back goals matched by Rodriguez and Maldonado, however, Loreto got the last word to end the game 4-3 in favor of Army.

The final round of the day had Navy vs. Army. Loreto started the scoring with two from the field however Woodfin and Armour answered to end the chukker tied at 2-2. Loreto scored the only goal in the final chukker to give Army a narrow 3-2 win.

The first consolation match was Navy vs. Army 2. Navy began with a half-goal handicap. Summers put Army 2 on the board, but Woodfin’s Penalty 3 put Navy out front. Armour scored the only goal in the next chukker giving Navy the 2½-1 advantage. The third chukker had the teams swapping goals.

Coldiron scored but Armour answered

MARTHA BAGLEY

P O L O

with a Penalty 2 conversion. Woodfin scored, but Summers answered with a pair to cut Navy’s advantage to a halfgoal as the final chukker started. Navy increased its lead with goals by Hilberg, Armour (Penalty 2) and Woodfin.

Summers began to rally his team with his fourth goal but it was not enough and Navy won 7½-5.

The second consolation match had Air Force facing Coast Guard. Subbing in for John Greening was his daughter Grayson Greening. Air Force’s Maldonado opened the scoring with a goal and a penalty conversion. This was matched in the second chukker when Zeb scored, ending the half with Air Force leading by one. The third chukker had Vela trading goals with Fernandez. In the fourth, Greening broke away for a long run to goal to tie the match. Rodriguez broke the tie to give Air Force the win.

In the final between Marine Corps and Army, Natividad converted two Penalty 2s, a Penalty 3 and one from the field to put Army ahead. Myr and Natividad traded penalty conversions in the second with Army leading 5-1 at the half. Jones started the scoring in the third. Natividad responded with a pair of goals. Myr and Natividad traded goals in the fouth, leaving Army the 10-5 winner.

Loreto Natividad was named MVP and his Missile was Best Playing Pony.

Myr took the sportsmanship award.

scoring while Central Texas was scoreless. Sylvia traded goals with Galis in the second. Philipp scored on a breakaway from the subsequent bowlin. Sweeney followed Philipp and Sylvia to goal and knocked the final goal in.

On Day 2, Texas Military and Kanthaka carried over the previous day’s score, with Texas Military leading 3-1. After several near misses. Sylvia Kampshoff scored on a pass from Philipp to end the chukker. Sylvia knotted the score in the second but

MARTHA BAGLEY

Kanthaka’s Philipp Kampshoff, MVP Erica Sweeney, Sylvia Kampshoff and John Greening won the Centennial Cup.

In other action, the Central Texas Polo Association hosted the Centennial Cup at its ATX Polo Club on Dec. 1-2.

Three teams played three games over two days in a modified roundrobin format. In the first match

R E P O R T

Karl Hilberg stops Ethan Galis mid-swing in the Centennial Cup in Texas.

between Kanthaka (Erica Sweeney, Sylvia Kampshoff, Phillip Kampshoff, John Greening) and Texas Military (Lauren Platt, Taylor Morris, Javier Maldonado). Morris and Maldonado traded goals before Sylvia scored to close out the chukker. Maldonado increased the lead to 3-1 in favor of Texas Military.

Next, Texas Military took on Central Texas (Frank Miranda, Sulemia Alkusari, Luis Herrara, Ethan Galis).

Hilberg and Maldonado scored a goal each before Galis answered. Morris added two more to give Texas Military the 4-1 win. The third round had Kanthaka facing Central Texas. Sylvia and Philipp Kampshoff led off the

Hilberg answered out of the bowl-in.

Greening blocked a Maldonado back shot and knocked it in for the point.

Sylvia gave Kanthaka the win.

Central Texas’ Herrera opened the scoring in the second match before Morris and Hilberg responded for Texas Military. Platt increased Texas Military’s lead with a trio of goals.

Maldonado struck the final blow to end with Texas Military ahead 6-1.

In the last round, Kanthaka shut out Central Texas. Sylvia scored back-toback goals and Philipp added one to close out the chukker 3-0 in favor of Kanthaka. Sylvia and Sweeney increased the lead with a pair each in the second for the 7-0 win.

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P O L O

R E P O R T

Orange’s Natalie Hernandez, Carson Tucker and Bella Hamon won the season ending Turkey Cup.

SOUTHEASTERN

ORANGE IS THE NEW

TURKEY LEG CUP WINNER The Triangle Area Polo Club of Hurdle Mills, North Carolina, finished with the most prestigious tournament of the fall season: The Turkey Leg Cup. Four teams battled for the beautiful handmade turkey trophies.

Each team played a fiveminute chukker against each of the other three teams.

Every chukker was close with the deciding chukker coming down to the girls in orange vs. the black shirts. Bella Hamon scored first for Orange.

Tammy Havener made a nice run to tie the game. Black’s Meredith Harrell got the lead on a put back and Natalia Hernandez made a great nearside run and scored for Orange, ending the game tied at 2. In the shootout, Meredith scored for Black but Bella and Carson both scored for Orange, giving them the much coveted Turkey Cup Trophies.

The season fittingly got started with the Autumn Solstice Cup Sept. 23.

Hillsborough’s Maeren Honacher, Jordan Lee and Randolph Hooks took on Raleigh.

Hillsborough’s combination of Honacher and Lee

54 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Hillsborough’s Maeren Honacher, Jordan Lee and Randolph Hooks won the Autumn Cup at Triangle Polo Club.

proved to be too much. Jordan Lee scored six goals in the win.

The following Saturday was the 5th Annual Tobacco Road Showdown—the polo version. UNC won the inaugural event in 2013 but Duke won the last three years. Every match had been close, including last year’s thrilling onepoint game and the inaugural ending

The Ghouls’ Chelsy Miller, David Brooks and Jordan Lee won Flight A of the Halloween Jack-’O-Lanterns.

in a shootout.

Tammy Havener got Duke off to a good start scoring twice. Randolph Hooks made a Penalty 2 for UNC just before the end of the first to get the light blue on the board.

In the second chukker, Duke’s bionic man Chris Wolf and super vet Dr. Chelsy Miller sandwiched goals around a lone goal by UNC’s Jordan Lee. Randolph Hooks started the second

half with another goal to bring UNC to within one at 4-3. UNC looked like it had completely changed the momentum but narrowly missed a penalty shot to tie. Duke’s Havener and Pat Bodager seized the opportunity and reeled off five unanswered goals to give Duke what appeared to be a comfortable 9-3 lead going into the final chukker. At the start of the fourth and final chukker UNC’s Lee scored to give the Tar Heels hope but the Blue Devils went on another run scoring four straight to pull away with a 13-4 victory. MVP Duke’s Tammy Havener said after the victory, “It was much like one of my experiments-when it went good it was really good. My horses, Doc and Blondi, were flawless.”

UNC’s Lee said, “We just couldn’t get the ball between the post today and when Duke was hot we couldn’t get a stop.”

The last silver series match was held Saturday, Oct. 7 with the 5th Annual Harvest Cup. It was a rematch between Hillsborough and Raleigh. Again Jordan Lee and Maeren Honacher were too tough to tame. Lee scored five and Honacher four to give Hillsborough the Harvest Cup win.

On Oct 22, Triangle Club members battled for the Halloween Jack-’OLanterns. Flight A was a round robin

P O L O

Duke’s Chris Wolf, Chelsy Miller, Pat Bodager, Tammy Havener and Brayden Foster won the polo version of the Tobacco Showdown.

R E P O R T

Draculas’ Chase Dixon, Brayden Foster and Matt Hansen won Flight B of the Halloween Jack-’O-Lanterns.

the way with back-and-forth action. After one chukker The Paigahs team got its name the Draculas engraved on the perpetual Paigahs were up 2-1 on Cup, a 1-goal arena tournament held goals by at Mountain View Polo Club in Charles Brayden and Town, West Virginia on Oct. 1. The Chase around a event is sponsored by Paigahs lone goal by Equestrian Gear.

Amy. In the Three teams competed in the event second, Pat played in a round robin format. Paigahs pulled the Kevin Yungk, Shamsiya Shervani, Robert Gehringer and Hugo included Shamsiya Shervani (splitting Winches even Pasten (with Best Playing Pony Bacardi) won the Paigahs Cup. with Robert Gehringer), Kevin Yungk but Matt and Hugo Pasten; while Seneca Polo between the Goblins, Ghouls and answered with a goal and the Draculas fielded a team of Claudia Tobler, Robyn Witches. bested the Winches for the Flight B Nietert (splitting with Kerry Roche), The Witches and Ghouls both Jack-’O-Lanterns. defeated the Goblins to meet in an epic chukker for all the candy. The Ghouls’ Chelsy Miller scored first but Leslie Brooks tied it up for the Witches.

Jordan Lee then scored on a nifty neck shot just outside the 25 for a twopointer to put the Ghouls up 3-1. With the clock winding down and the sweets on the line, the Witches’ Tammy Havener scored but the ball was just inside the 25 and the Ghouls took the Jack-’O-Lanterns 3-2. Being really cool Ghouls, they shared their candy with everyone.

In Flight B, the battle for all of humanity was between the Draculas’ Matt Dixon, Brayden Foster and Chase Paigahs’ Hugo Pasten reaches for the ball as Old Farm Vet’s Akemi Tinder closes in.

Hansen vs. the Winches Meredith Pasten is riding another 2016 Retired Racehorse Project graduate, Paulie’s Pick, an OTTB gelding owned and shown by Laura Goddard at last year’s makeover in Kentucky.

Harrell, Pat and Amy. It was close all

PAIGAHS SUCCEEDS

LEA JIH-VIEIRA

IN WEST VIRGINIA

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 55

KATIE ROTH

R E P O R T

KATIE ROTH

P O L O

Woodlawn’s Phil Staples, Ruben Coscia, Malia Bryan, Josh Daniels and Omar Cepeda won the Presidents Cup.

and Wayne Briere; and Old Farm Vet had Khris Baxter, Akemi Tinder and Derek Wilson.

Paigahs had no trouble with Seneca Polo in Round 1, winning 8-2. Old Farm Vet edged Seneca Polo 3-1 in Round 2 and Paigahs secured the win with a 7-5 defeat of Old Farm Vet. Seneca Polo’s Wayne Briere was MVP, doing a patient job of directing his ladies team in the game. Hugo Pasten’s Bacardi, an off-the-track Thoroughbred (Jockey Club name Accardi) was named Best Playing Pony.

Bacardi also won the 2016 Retired Racehorse Project junior polo division at the Thoroughbred Makeover shown

by Mountain View interscholastic player Lea Jih-Vieira.

WOODLAWN/VA BEACH TAKES PRESIDENTS CUP

Woodlawn/Virginia Beach narrowly defeated Crestview Genetics 10-9 in overtime in the final of the Presidents Cup held at New Bridge Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina, on Nov. 4.

Woodlawn included Josh Daniels, Omar Cepeda, Ruben Coscia, Phillip Staples and Malia Bryan, while Crestview was led by Aiden Meeker, Alan Meeker, Hugo Lloret and Pedro Manion. Daniels put Woodlawn on the board to counter a one-goal handicap given to Crestview. Lloret responded but Coscia sunk a safety, then scored from

56 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Maggie Boyle presents the Bronze Cup to Foxdale Equine’s Hugh Worsham, Denny Santana, Alan Martinez and Eddy Martinez.

the field to put Woodlawn ahead 3-2.

Neither team could reach the goal in the second, but Coscia slammed in three goals including a Penalty 4 in the third to take a 6-2 lead into the half.

Lloret traded goals with Coscia in the fourth. Coscia added another goal in the fifth, but Llorett responded with two and Alan Meeker sunk one to cut the deficit to two, 8-6. Coscia added another goal in the sixth, but Llorett turned on the after burners and scored a hat trick to level the score and force overtime. Just over a minute into the overtime period, Coscia shot to goal to secure the victory. Coscia was highscorer with nine goals, which earned him MVP honors. Lloret’s Tramposa was Best Playing Pony.

In 12-goal action, Foxdale Equine (Hugh Worsham, Denny Santana, Alan Martinez, Eddy Martinez) squeezed by Skaneateles (Cesar Jimenez, Mariano Caset, Costi Caset, Marty Cregg) 10-9 in overtime to take the USPA Bronze Cup. Alan Martinez scored the golden goal on a Penalty 4.

Dennys Santana was MVP and Costi Caset’s Chicarron was Best Playing Pony.

Z POLO PREVAILS IN USPA PLAYERS CUP

Z Polo edged Trapeze Polo 7-6 in overtime to take the USPA Players Cup held at the Aiken Polo Club in Aiken,

South Carolina, on Nov. 5.

Five teams filled the rosters for the 4-goal tournament. After several weeks of playoff games, Z Polo (Chris Zhang, Alan Hale, Matthew Fonseca, Jesus Ontiveros) met Trapeze Polo (Dennis Freeland, Luis Carrion, Dennys Santana, Hope Arellano) in the final.

Hale put Z Polo on the board, but Santana had the answer. Fonseca and Ontiveros added goals to end the first with Z Polo up 3-1. Trapeze couldn’t reach the goal in the second, while Fonseca added a Penalty 4 conversion and a field goal to take a 5-1 lead at the half. Fonseca and Santana traded goals in the third to end the chukker with Z ahead 6-2. Costly mistakes by Z Polo in the fourth gave Trapeze a Penalty 2, which Santana easily sunk, and a Penalty 1. Santana also added a pair of field goals to tie the match and force overtime.

Z Polo grabbed the win when Fonseca split the uprights in overtime.

Santana was named MVP and Ontiveros’ 4th chukker horse was named Best Playing Pony.

In the 6-goal USPA Masters Cup final played at Wagener Polo Club on Oct. 7, Woodlawn (Lucas Arellano, Chilo Cordova, Omar Cepeda and Hope Arellano (splitting with Phillip Staples) defeated Derry Heir (Colleen Donahey, Johnny Alvarez, Justin Pimsner, Eddy Martinez) 9-5. The first chukker ended in a 2-2 tie after Donahey and Alvarez

P O L O

Z Polo’s Matthew Fonseca, Jesus Ontiveros, Chris Zhang and Alan Hale won the USPA Players Cup in Aiken.

LBL Polo’s Eddy Martinez, Justin Pimsner, Alejandro Alvarez and Allison Patricelli took the USPA Constitution Cup.

matched Cordova and Cepeda’s goals.

But Derry Heir was silenced in the second while Cordova scored twice and Lucas Arellano once to take a 5-2 lead.

Martinez scored early in the third, but Woodlawn pounded in four goals (one from each player) to jump ahead 9-3.

Martinez easily sunk two open-goal penalties in the fourth, but it was too little, too late as Woodlawn took the win and the trophies. Cordova was named MVP and Alvarez’s Sparrow was Best Playing Pony.

Later in the month, LBL (Allison Patricelli, Alejandro Alvarez, Justin Pimsner, Eddy Martinez) edged Blackberg Ranch (Derek Berg, Wesley Bryan, Horacio Onetto, Malia Bryan) 54 in the 6-goal USPA Constitution Cup. Onetto put Blackberg ahead 2-0 after the first seven minutes. Martinez shot back in the second with a pair of

R E P O R T

Woodlawn’s Omar Cepeda, Chilo Cordova, Lucas Arellano and Hope Arellano won the Masters Cup at Aiken Polo Club.

MVP Roxy Keyfauver (forefront) turns for a pass from Jess Cole (far left) with Laura Coflin, Sunny Diller and Danielle Travis.

Penalty 2 conversions, while stopping Blackberg from reaching the goal.

Onetto traded penalty conversions with Martinez in the third and Alvarez made a run to goal to put LBL Polo up 5-4.

The last chukker was a defensive battle, with neither team allowing the other to reach the goal. Time expired with LBL Polo holding on to the 5-4 advantage.

Eddy Martinez was named MVP and Onetto’s McQueen was named Best Playing Pony.

H AWA I I A N I S L A N D S

HORSES R US SECURES WOMEN’S CHALLENGE

The Horses R Us team crushed Hawaiian Hurricanes 7-1½ in the USPA Women’s Challenge, also played

as the 6- to 10-goal Boots & Bikinis WTC qualifier, at the Maui Polo Club in Maui, Hawaii, Nov. 5.

The hundreds in the crowd were made up of polo players, polo enthusiasts and horse lovers from as far away as Rhode Island and Europe on hand for the matches. The polo action saw players of all ages, the youngest just 8 years old. The event served as a fundraiser, with a silent auction helping to raise $6,000 for the Maui Food Bank.

In addition to the action on the field, spectators enjoyed bluegrass music.

Sponsors included Jennifer BrittinFulton, Stephen Fulton and Erin Brittin and their companies Employers Options and Horses R Us. Horses R Us’ Jess Cole, Laura Coflin, Roxy Keyfauver and Danielle Travis controlled the Hawaiian Hurricanes’ Sunny Diller, Alana Benz,

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 57

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE.COM

R E P O R T

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE.COM

P O L O

Pheasant Hollow’s Deb Vermoch, Eileen Duffy, Carlos Galindo and Tim Rudy won two of four 4-goal events at Empire Polo Club.

Jenna Davis and Lily Bolton from start to finish. Hurricanes began with a halfgoal handicap, but Cole wasted no time in scoring to put Horses R Us on top early in the first chukker. Benz responded to end the first with Hurricanes on top 1½-1, but the lead was short lived. Cole hammered in a pair of goals in the second and third chukkers to go into the last chukker with a comfortable 5-1½ lead.

Keyfauver took control in the fourth splitting the uprights twice while Hurricanes continued to be silenced.

Keyfauver earned MVP honors, while Rose, ridden by Lily Bolton and owned

by Kaulike Rice, was Best Playing Pony.

The event also had a 0- to 4-goal division, which saw Employers Options edge Gold and Black 1-0. The winning team was made up of Mary Hutto, Lynwyn Baldwin, Elizabeth Vary and Rebekah Melzer. Gold and Black’s Kaina Holland was MVP, while Kelly, played by Lynwyn Baldwin and owned

by Bob Nooney, was Best Playing Pony.

CALIFORNIA

PHEASANT HOLLOW TOPS

EMPIRE 4-GOAL TOURNEYS

Pheasant Hollow (Deb Vermoch, Eileen Duffy, Carlos Galindo and Tim Rudy) won the 4-goal Desert Challenge at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California,

58 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Hanalei Bay’s Krista Bonaguidi, Alvaro Tadeo, Ashton Wolf and Ron Bonaguidi won the Jackelope Cup.

downing both Hanalei Bay (Krista Bonaguidi, Ron Bonaguidi, Ashton Wolf and Alvaro Tadeo) and Seattle (Cameron Smith, Suki Piper, Victor Soto and Goyo Mariscal) for a second straight day, as it won the first tournament of the season.

The event was played in a roundrobin over two days. The team with the highest two-day total won the title.

Pheasant Hollow finished with 18 total goals, followed by Hanalei Bay with 13 and Seattle with six.

The following weekend, Pheasant Hollow and Hanalei Bay joined Granite Bay (Cameron Smith, Eric Hammon, Victor Soto, Manny Rodriguez) in another two-day round robin for the Coyote Classic.

Hanalei Bay chalked up a two-day total of 8-2 against Granite Bay, while Pheasant Hollow got the best of Granite Bay 6-5. The final round on the second day determined the winner. After initially trailing 2-0, Pheasant Hollow outscored Hanalei Bay 4-3 for the title.

The same three teams moved on to the Jackelope Cup round robin. Hanalei Bay had been close in the first two tournaments only to see Pheasant Hollow take top honors in both. It made some strategy changes, turning less and hitting more backshots, according to Ashton Wolf. Granite Bay had Alonso Andrade taking Manny Rodriguez’s place and the team was matching up well with the other teams.

After tying with Granite Bay on the

first day 3-3, Hanalei Bay came out on top with a two-day total of 6-5. Granite Bay kept pace with Pheasant Hollow, finishing both days knotted at 3-3.

Hanalei Bay was on a roll in the last round and amassed three tallies before Pheasant Hollow was able to score.

Hanalei added another before the game ended for the 4-1 (two-day total of 8-4) win and the trophies.

Next up was the Holiday Cup. Building on its dominance of both Ocean Air/Backshot Ranch (Dave Carlson, Shannon Mendez, Ashton Wolf and Alonso Andrade) and Granite Bay (Julie Fernandez, Caroline Anier, Eric Hammon and Goyo Mariscal) in Friday’s round-robin competition, a new Pheasant Hollow line-up (Debra Vermoch, Cameron Smith, Tim Rudy and Suki Piper) finished the cup with a 7-3 win over Granite Bay and a 9-6 victory over Ocean Air/Backshot Ranch.

The final two periods of the tournament saw Ocean Air/Backshot Ranch and Granite Bay play to a 2-2 tie, giving runner-up honors to Ocean Air/Backshot Ranch on the strength of a two day total of 5-2.

—Alex Webbe contributed to this report

ARMY WINS NIMITZ CUP

Lakeside Polo Club, founded by Rear Adm. Eugene R. Hering MC USN in

R E P O R T

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE.COM

P O L O

Pheasant Hollow’s Debra Vermoch, Cameron Smith, Tim Rudy and Suki Piper won the Holiday Cup

1956, of Lakeside, California, was proud to host the Adm. Chester A. Nimitz Military Arena Polo Tournament Dec. 9-10 in its newly completed arena.

Four teams made up of retired military players or dependents of fathers who had served in one of the four branches of the military, battled it out for two days under the threat of hot, dry Santa Ana winds and Red Alert Fire Danger in San Diego County. We were fortunate the westerly marine breezes prevailed and the Santa Ana conditions did not develop in our valley.

Following the hymns of the military services and the National Anthem, spectators saw the first match of the day as the Air Force team of Nicole de Berg (daughter, USAF), Rik Crane (grandson, USA) and Barbara Bowers (daughter USAF) win 8-6 over the Navy team of Ethan Bankhead (grandson, USN), Abby Purdy (daughter, USN) and Frankie Questel (Cavalry, Dom.Rep).

In the second match, the Army team of Jeff Trout (son, USA) Kimberly Foy (daughter, USA) and Brenda Phillips (daughter, USA) won 9-6 over the Marine team of Lt. Col. Dean Daggett (USMC), Kip Hering (USA) and Natasha de Berg (granddaughter, USAF) who split chukkers with Laura Lilly (granddaughter, USMC).

Following play on the first day the teams gathered at the Pepper Tree Cantina to enjoy a catered lunch, some

Back Row: Kimberly Foy, Laura Kingsley, Brenda Phillips, Jeff Trout, Kip Hering, Natasha de Berg, Barbara Bowers, Nicole de Berg and Rik Crane; Front Row: Ethan Bankhead, Abby Purdy and Frankie Questel participated in the Nimitz Cup.

polo Christmas cheer and camaraderie.

On the second day, the Santa Ana winds held off and the consolation and final matches were played under pleasant conditions. In the consolation, the Navy team beat the Marines 8-6 while the final had the Army, in camouflage team jerseys, beat the Airforce 11–9 to take the Admiral Chester A. Nimitz trophy.

Kimberly “the Stealth Bomber” Foy, was named MVP for her quietly efficient but deadly accurate play. Rik Crane’s quarter horse Cinnamon was awarded the Best Playing Pony blanket.

USPA certified umpire Kimo Huddleston and ranch owner Nicole Bankhead umpired all four matches over the two-day tournament and kept play fast but safe. It was a very successful polo event and Lakeside Polo Club looks forward to hosting many military tournaments in the future.

OBITUARY

JAMES R. STIMMEL

James Russell ‘Jimmy’ Stimmel was born in Los Angeles, California, March 26, 1925 and went to be with the Lord March 1, 2017. He was the son of Howard Russell Stimmel and Mildred Wheat Stimmel. He attended Brentwood Town and Country Day School in Santa Monica, California,

and graduated from UCLA. He grew up at the Uplifter’s Polo Club in west Santa Monica where his lifetime interest and involvement in polo began. He groomed for Jim O’Donnell and would ride the horses to the Will Rogers Polo Club for games with Will and his friends.

In June 1943, he joined the United States Navy and served until May 1946, seeing action in the South Pacific and on Iwo Jima. After returning home he attended UCLA, belonged to the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and majored in Foreign Trade. Upon graduation, he worked at the Beverly Hills Polo club, eventually becoming manager. When the club sold for development, he went to work as a secretary for Carlton Beal, a polo player and independent oilman in Los Angeles. In 1953, he married Marcie McElhinney and they lived their first year in Chatsworth, California. A (continued on page 61)

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 59

(continued from page 17) says Casner.

A study at the University of Kentucky at the Gluck Center showed that administering Butazolidin results in suppression of inflammatory factors for about the first 24 hours. “After that, there’s a big rebound and a spike in the pro-inflammatory cytokines. No state allows bute to be administered to racehorses less than 24 hours before a race, and most of the time it’s 36 hours. So when those horses are going into a race after they’ve been given bute the day before, the bute is no longer producing any anti-inflammatory effects, but still has a negative effect on clotting and platelets (just like any NSAID) for 72 hours. If you take aspirin and cut yourself, you bleed excessively. No surgeon will perform surgery on a person who has had aspirin within the preceding week,” he explains. One of the side effects is bleeding and bruising.

“After looking into this, we ran a horse without Lasix but still on bute. It ran a good race, but the horse bled a little. I fully expected my trainer would want to run the horse on Lasix for the next race, but he didn’t. Instead, he ran that horse without Lasix and without bute. He ran a good race and scoped clean as a pin!”

A veterinarian in the late 1990s was the first to alert Casner to the negative effects of bute. “At that time I had a good stakes filly named Victory at Sea, but she would bleed through Lasix. I asked the veterinarian if there was anything we could do for her. He said, ‘Ah hell, just don’t give her any bute next time and see what happens.’ The next time we ran her, she won—and not a drop of blood.”

Then Casner did an experiment with a stable pony. “We weighed the pony, then gave him 1 cc of Lasix, tied him in the barn and caught all of his manure and weighed it. He had urinated off about 25 pounds of body weight when we weighed him four hours later. The next morning we weighed him again and he had returned to his normal weight. I wanted to know if the dosage of Lasix we were giving our horses was the 60 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

optimum therapeutic amount. It seemed to me that Lasix was being greatly overdosed in our horses,” Casner says.

“There was never any clinical establishment for proper dose; it was all done at the veterinarian’s discretion. The common practice, if horses bleed through 3 cc of Lasix, is to give them 5 cc. If they bleed through 5 cc, you give 10. What people don’t understand is that if you give a horse 10 cc of Lasix he is still only going to urinate off 25 pounds of fluid because that’s all he has. It’s like squeezing the lemon; after a certain point there is nothing left.

The horse is just really dehydrated. And the dehydration from the higher doses will continue longer—and be a lot harder on those horses,” says Casner.

“In running horses we sometimes experience what we call heat stroke, but in reality it’s nothing more than the negative effects of dehydration and loss of the horse’s ability to cool itself. When you think about it, this is so counterproductive to dehydrate a horse just before subjecting him to a high level of athletic performance. It just doesn’t make sense. But the use of Lasix has become entrenched in the pre-race protocol for trainers. This current generation of trainers truly believes that horses cannot run without it—that they would all bleed buckets of blood without Lasix,” he says.

“We have reduced the bleeding in our own horses down to about 3 percent. It is rare now for us to have a horse bleed. We do this by managing them without bute and without Lasix and our win percentages have improved. We also try to manage the respiratory environment these horses live in,” Casner explains. He tries to keep the stall as clean and dust-free as possible.

“Most trainers (and many barrel horse riders) truly believe that their horses cannot win a race or perform to their optimum if they don’t use medication.” They think they are helping the horses, but are doing exactly the opposite.

Casner has run horses for six years now without bute or Lasix. “We’ve found that if you run horses without bute and Lasix they do better and feel better. They are eating

well the night after a race, and kicking and bucking the next morning. By contrast the horses you medicate are generally dull and a lot of them won’t clean up their feed that night. They don’t feel good and it takes several days for all that medication to get out of their system, before they start to feel good again,” he says.

“Our horses recover quickly. When we started running them without medication they’d be five or six pounds lighter the following morning, compared to being 35 to 50 pounds lighter when they were on medication. The most a horse might lose now, after a race, is 10 pounds, and the morning after that he’s right back to where he was.

It’s amazing how quickly horses are able to recover when you don’t medicate them,” he says.

“Barrel racers and some other sports trainers are now giving their horses bute and Lasix. Banamine, another NSAID, will do the same thing, and many people use both. These horses are more apt to bleed— so then they give them Lasix. If they bleed through that, they increase the dosage.”

Equine athletes like polo ponies have a tremendous amount of heart and willingness to run. They can be a little stiff and still give a great performance. “When you back them into a roping box or load them into a starting gate, or get ready for a barrel run, or a polo match, they forget that little bit of stiffness and are feeling no pain at all. Their natural endorphins from excitement and adrenalin overpower a little discomfort, and those horses are running big. I’m not talking about lame horses. If they are so lame they need to have medication, they shouldn’t be running or competing,” says Casner.

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and that’s what’s happened over the past 25 years. Use of these medications has become so instilled into the culture of equine competition that people cannot believe that horses can do their best without it,” he says.

Horses ran races for decades without it, however, and performed well, at a higher level than they are now. “I look at the races run by Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed,

MARKETPLACE (continued from page 59) Alydar, etc. We had more Triple Crown winners back then. American Pharoah is the first for a long time, and he was just such an exceptional horse that he was able to deal with everything. Metabolically he was just a superior athlete,” says Casner.

Dehydration is generally not a problem as long as horses have a chance to drink and make up the loss. Endurance riders and ranchers who use horses for long hard days out in the heat know they need to let those horses to drink every chance they get. If horses can stay hydrated, they are ready to go again the next day. Many ranch horses and endurance horses don’t get days off.

The big problem comes when we use horses hard in the heat, they sweat a lot, and we skew things with medications. “A physiologist told me that a person can ‘jug’ a horse with electrolytes after a race in an effort to restore calcium, potassium, etc. that has been flushed out of the cells. You can restore the extra-cellular levels this way, but it takes 30 days to restore intracellular potassium after it is severely depleted,” he says.

“Every time we give Lasix we flush a lot of calcium from the body cells and the only way it can be restored quickly (for the horse to continue to have proper muscle contractions, cardiac function and nerve transmission) is by pulling it from the bones,” explains Casner. The body has this wonderful mechanism to shift calcium from the bones to wherever it is needed. Lactating cows and broodmares do this to produce milk—when dietary sources of calcium are inadequate. The body can rely on calcium stores within the bones for immediate use, but it takes quite a while to restore it.

“I feel that many soundness problems in our horses are human-caused by our practices of over-medicating and causing them to flush too much calcium from the body.

Our horses that are running without these medications stay a lot sounder, they don’t bleed, and they don’t dehydrate as readily,” he says.

We tend to hinder our horses more than help them when we use medications like NSAIDs and Lasix, and often contribute to u serious dehydration.

year later, when BTA Oil Company moved to Midland, Texas, Jimmy and Marcie followed. In the oil fields of west Texas, Jimmy built a successful career working for BTA, eventually becoming production superintendent.

Jimmy had many interests and responsibilities in the Midland community. He served as president of the board at Trinity School and as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church. He was also an active member of the YMCA where he enjoyed playing handball and racquetball and running with his friends during the lunch hour. Polo, however, was his true love and he remained active in and around the sport his entire life.

He reached a handicap of 6 goals and played in many tournaments around the United States. In 1951, Jimmy, along with Cecil Smith, Robert Skene and Frank Fletcher, won the Pacific Coast Open played in Santa Barbara, California. He was among the founding members of the Midland Polo Club and served as manager for many years. Most days he could be found at the club stick and balling or tending to the BTA horses. Another passion was fly-fishing with his buddies at Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico.

After more than 40 years in the oil business, Jimmy retired from BTA and he and Marcie moved to the Pinto Ranch in Menifree, California. Jimmy is survived by Marcie, his wife of 64 years; his three children Harley (Carolyn), Martina (Jody) Dyer and Hillary (Jake) Shanklin; and nine grandchildren: Steven, Jake, Russell and Joe Mac Stimmel; Joel, Reagan and Marigrace Dyer; and Tucker and Tap Shanklin.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Polo Training Foundation, 70 Clinton Street, Tully, N.Y. 13159 or Rancho Community Church (Missions Program) 3103 Rancho Community Way, Temecula, CA 92592.

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(continued from page 13) Work with an instructor or local pro and get supporting lessons and chalkboard work for very important subjects, such as throw-ins, foul shots, corner play, passing, rotation and field flow. Even if you don’t plan on putting in a lot of time yourself, knowing what the more experienced players are doing can really help you improve your game.

Level V—Play Anticipation Field Awareness gives you the necessary information to anticipate plays and make better play decisions. Knowing the positioning of all of the players (and umpires) and the movement of the ball at all times gives you the information to decide what your next move is. I once heard someone say that polo is like playing chess while being thrown out of an airplane. This is one of the best analogies I have heard in my half century with this game.

Field awareness will help keep you safer, allow you better play decisions and attract less whistles.

The field layout of the six (or eight) players is in constant motion. How alert are you to this movement on the entire field? Rege Ludwig compares play situations in polo, which are in constant change, like a kaleidoscope where the crystal patterns change completely with each turn of the tube. In polo, the field positioning of players changes with each second of the clock. It is a great analogy.

Experienced players know the field layout well before they hit the ball. After you swing at the ball, look around you. Unfortunately, a common mistake is to slow down or turn if you miss the ball or even back a ball. Always continue forward past the ball and look before changing speed or direction. As you get better, you may have better field awareness and will know before you ever get to the ball what your options are.

Just remember, the layout you saw a few seconds ago, may be completely changed in another few seconds.

Level VI—Defensive Skills Identify your closest opponent quickly, ride to them and place yourself in an advan62 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

tage position. This will get you to more shots as opposed to being ridden off or hooked. If you are already at the ball with an opponent and you failed to go to him first, your next best play is to try to bump him so he is not able to hit the ball.

On the boards in the arena or in the corners of the outdoor field, when the play slows, get to the offside of the opponent.

When the same play is at speed, place yourself between the goal you are protecting and the attacking player.

When you are in front of a teammate or lateral when your teammate is slowing up before the shot, you are in excellent position for moving in front for the pass. When you are lateral or trailing and your teammate is at full speed, you would do better to fall in behind and follow. Take care to check traffic from all directions when moving laterally into any play.

Hooking effectively is a mandatory skill.

Getting your mallet to the ball first is the most effective hook. Your next best play is to first hook and then steal the ball. At the very least stop your opponent from any play on the ball.

Level VII—Hitting Work on developing angles in every direction from all of your basic shot positions. You can only stick and ball at a gallop for a matter of minutes, but you can stick and ball at a walk for hours. Walking is also a great way to get the feel of different angles without endangering your horse. You can increase the pace on more difficult angles once you are comfortable at the slower speeds.

Hitting cages are a great place to develop better hand-eye coordination without risking the horse. Use arena balls or tennis balls that will bounce up easier and allow you to practice hitting balls out of the air. If you accidently hit “Splinter” (suitable name for any wooden horse), there is no damage done. And I bet you thought hitting cages were just for beginners?

On the field, place the ball to the advantage of either yourself or a teammate, and avoid turnovers by not hitting to the opponents’ advantage. Powerful hits are helpful for passing to an open teammate and shooting at goal from a distance.

Level VIII—Scoring It doesn’t really matter how thrilling a shot is, if it goes across the chalk, it counts for one point. Arena polo is now offering some enticement by allowing two points for shots outside the 25-yard line, similar to the three-point shot in basketball. The hope is the two-point option will encourage players to hit from further out and discourage some of the more tedious corner play.

Outdoor polo has traditionally had players shooting from further out. Outdoors is faster, there are no end walls and the outdoor goal is more than twice the width.

Whichever game you play, try to turn towards the goal whenever possible after shooting on goal. Too many players do not follow the play to goal and miss opportunities to finish it. Granted, you must respect the right of way of players following behind you before turning.

Put more focus on the follow through of your mallet head so its angle faces the goalmouth at the end of your swing. Accuracy and placement is so much important than launching it over the long haul.

A lot of players get nervous as they get closer to goal. Your mind can be the most effective opponent. The best way to deal with the nervousness of shots on goal is by practicing. Whatever shot you may have choked on, go out with a bucket of balls and keep practicing that same shot until you prove to yourself the play is now a part of your powerful arsenal.

You may be more confident with an approach shot then taking out your putter, but in golf, no one is chasing you up onto the green to hook you before that final putt.

A well-rounded player can hit from further out as well as dribble the ball through. The play situations and defensive positioning will dictate which is your better play. Outdoor shots have no height limitation whereas arena is 15-feet or less. That means you have to power down some and shorten the follow-through.

Tom Goodspeed is a renowned polo instructor, coach and horse trainer. He achieved a 5-goal handicap outdoors and 9 in the arena. He can be reached at polotom@usapolo.com.

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COACHING POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 63

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JA N UA RY 2 4 - F E B RUA RY 4 USPA Constitution Cup (6) Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, FL JA N UA RY 2 4 - F E B RUA RY 18 Ylvisaker Cup (20) International, Wellington, FL F E B RUA RY 1 - 2 4 February 4 Goal Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, FL F E B RUA RY 1 - 2 5 Halo Polo Trophy (6) Top Pony 8-Goal Series Grand Champions, Wellington, FL

The 12-goal Seiber Memorial will be played at Grand Champions February 2-24.

F E B RUA RY 2 - 4 4 Goal Tournament Hobe Sound, Hobe Sound, FL

F E B RUA RY 3 - 2 5 Gold Coast Classic (4-6, 6-10) Palm City, Boynton Beach, FL

F E B R U A R Y 16 - 1 8 4 Goal Tournament Hobe Sound, Hobe Sound, FL

F E B R U A R Y 2 - 11 USPA Regional Presidents Cup (8) Empire, Indio, CA

F E B RUA RY 4 - 2 5 Sawgrass (8) Port Mayaca, Okeechobee, FL

F E B R U A R Y 16 - 2 5 USPA Gen. Patton Jr. Tournament (8) Empire, Indio, CA

F E B RUA RY 2 - 2 3 Live Oak Challenge (12) Port Mayaca, Okeechobee, FL

F E B RUA RY 7 - 18 R.A. Uihlein Jr. Memorial (8-10) Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, FL

F E B R U A R Y 17 - 1 8 One Goal Tournament Empire, Indio, CA

F E B RUA RY 2 - 2 4 Seiber Memorial Trophy (12) Grand Champions, Wellington, FL

F E B R U A R Y 9 - 11 6 Goal Tournament Hobe Sound, Hobe Sound, FL

F E B R U A R Y 17 - 2 5 USPA Gen. Patton Jr. Tournament (4) Empire, Indio, CA

F E B RUA RY 3 - 4 One Goal Tournament Empire, Indio, CA

F E B RUA RY 9 - 2 5 Wayne Brown Memorial (6) Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, FL

F E B R U A R Y 3 - 11 USPA Carlton & Keleen Beal Cup (4, 8) Eldorado, Indio, CA

F E B R U A R Y 1 0 - 11 One Goal Tournament Empire, Indio, CA

USPA Constitution Cup (4, 8) Eldorado, Indio, CA F E B R U A R Y 21 - M A R C H 4 C.V. Whitney Cup (26) International, Wellington, FL F E B R U A R Y 21 - M A R C H 17 Sterling Cup & Subsidiary (16-20) Grand Champions, Wellington, FL

USPA Circuit Players Cup (4) Empire, Indio, CA

F E B RUA RY 2 2 - 2 4 Tabebuia Cup (WCT 12-14) Port Mayaca, Okeechobee, FL F E B RUA RY 2 2 - M A RC H 10 Iglehart Cup (20) International, Wellington, FL F E B RUA RY 2 3 - 2 5 One Goal Tournament Empire, Indio, CA

The WCT Tabebuia Cup will be played at Port Mayaca February 22-24

64 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

6 Goal Tournament Hobe Sound, Hobe Sound, FL F E B R U A R Y 2 8 - M A R C H 11 Schroeder Manatee Ranch (8-10) Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, FL

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