I N T E R C O L L E G I AT E I N T E R S C H O L A S T I C
An I/I Legacy Player, parent and coach Anne Branscum By Ali Davidage
Anne traveled to England in 1984 to compete in the firstever women’s exchange program.
Everybody has a story about how they got introduced to the sport of polo. Especially interesting are those who don’t come from a polo family, and the journey they took to get into the sport. Anne Branscum, née Broeder, coach of the St. Louis interscholastic team and Cornell intercollegiate polo alum, is no exception. Anne is working to rebuild polo in St. Louis while running a busy vet practice and raising her teenage polo-playing daughter Winifred. When you think of St. Louis polo, the first name that comes to mind is probably Dolph or Steve
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Orthwein. A polo family through and through, the Orthweins have brought many people into the sport, including Anne. As a teenager, Anne started working the Orthwein’s polo ponies during the week. As she grew more comfortable with the small nuances of polo, she started short working the horses and traveling with Steve Orthwein Sr. when he was 6 goals, one of the highest-rated amateur players. While Anne never picked up a polo mallet during her time grooming, the summer before her senior year, Danny Scheraga, then coach of the Cornell intercollegiate team, was picking up donation horses from Dolph and saw an opportunity. Danny encouraged Anne, with the Orthweins quickly hopping on board, to apply to Cornell and pursue playing intercollegiate polo. Anne took the jump and later that year was trying out for the Cornell polo team. With Danny and the Orthweins behind her, she joined the team and showed her natural athletic ability and horse sense. By her second year, she was a starter on a national championship team. The next two years, Anne led her to team to national titles, becoming one of the elite players in I/I history. Danny explained, “Anne was a heck of a player in college. I was traveling across the country with a trailer and stopped in St. Louis. I met Anne the summer before her senior year and started to recruit her to Cornell. Four years later, she had won three national championships and eventually was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame for her contributions on the polo team. That team is one of two in Cornell history that had three national championship seasons.” After graduating, Anne took a break from polo to focus on vet school and start a family. As her daughter, Winnie, grew up, it wasn’t long before she started showing an interest in the sport. Anne happily dove right back in. She describes the turning point as the weekend she and Winnie traveled to Northwest Arkansas to compete in a women’s arena event (vs. Oklahoma State) and the first USPA middle school tournament. Both were successful and they took home the wins.
