November 2021 Polo Players' Edition- Mountain View Polo

Mountain View Polo

Charles Town, West Virginia

Mountain View Polo Club is hidden away in a lush forest, on a ridge overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains.

©Laura Goddard

Hidden away in a lush forest with an arena positioned on a ridge overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is clear the spectacular natural landscape inspired the naming of Mountain View Polo Club. As the only USPA member club in West Virginia, Mountain View’s primary focus is creating and developing low-goal players with affordability in mind. Utilizing intercollegiate and interscholastic teaching methods, it helps players build a solid foundation in the arena.

Located just an hour outside of the nation’s capital of Washington D.C. in the Eastern corner of the state, Mountain View invites its members and students to escape bustling city life and enjoy polo in a safe and inclusive environment.

Founded in 2010 and officially joining the USPA in 2012, Mountain View Polo Club was built entirely from the ground up by Dr. Laura Goddard and Hugo Pasten.

The two established a new polo school and trained lesson horses with their experience from Capitol Polo Club (now known as Congressional Polo Club).

“We bought and trained all the lesson horses ourselves because we couldn’t afford to buy made polo ponies,” Goddard, an I/I alumna (1994-97), said. Learning to play at Cornell University while studying entomology, Goddard continued at the University of California, Davis, helping run and coach the existing polo club through six years of graduate school.

“After graduation, I still wanted to play, but I was a postdoc at the National Institutes of Health [Bethesda, Maryland], and the only way I could afford it was to teach in exchange to play,” Goddard said. “I set up a polo school with then Fifth Chukker Polo Club [which became Capitol Polo Club] and gained a lot of students in Poolesville, Maryland, over six years.”

Searching for a spacious and affordable farm to board her string, Goddard took advantage of a buyer’s market in 2010 and purchased a foreclosed property situated in a rural, residential area that would become her own Mountain View Polo Club. Featuring a house on the property built in the early 1800s, the club pays homage to the original farm’s name, Mountain View Farm, painted on the wall in the basement.

“It was a lot of work and renovations to make the farm usable, but it had two barns, and all the infrastructure was already there,” Goddard revealed. “I couldn’t see what was on the land because the grass was so overgrown, but I found out afterward there was an arena on top of the ridge which I just needed to extend. It has the best view on the property.” Having the flexibility of working from home full-time as a patent examiner, Goddard runs the polo school on nights and weekends around her schedule. At the same time, her fiancé Pasten manages the farm and keeps the horses fit.

Interscholastic participants are all smiles during a summer tournament.

©Laura Goddard

“A lot of my students from Maryland followed me out here,” Goddard said. “They’re commuting in from D.C. and Maryland to continue playing with our club.”

Mountain View’s targeted mission is to introduce and generate new polo players, with a strong emphasis on teaching and producing technically correct riders.

“We teach students to play polo from the very beginning, and we coach our practices,” Goddard explained. “We are able to create teaching moments through umpiring and calling fouls.”

Drawing upon the skills-focused structure she was given while learning to play through the I/I program, Goddard has transferred these elements into her lesson program.

“I/I players are typically cleaner players because they know the rules and they are great at team plays,” Goddard commented. “I think the overall quality of polo that comes out of the I/I program is better so I’m trying to pass that on to the public.”

Intentionally trying to make the game of polo accessible to everyone, Goddard’s affordable prices have allowed the club to attract new players from a variety of backgrounds.

“When you’re out in the arena it doesn’t matter where you came from or what you do during the day; everybody’s equal when they get on the horse,” Goddard emphasized. “We have everything from secretaries to screenwriters.”

Starting off in private lessons, new students are taught the foundational skills of riding and hitting the ball, gaining proficiency before graduating to C Flight where they play slow, heavily-coached games.

“We really pride ourselves on teaching the skills and enforcing the rules,” Goddard said.

With an emphasis on safety and fun, Goddard and Pasten make sure each player is safe before allowing them to move on to faster flights.

“Our focus is really to enjoy the game and play safely,” Goddard said. “Also, everyone is very kind and courteous and plays with great sportsmanship, which we encourage. There’s a genuine camaraderie, and we have a really great string of safe lesson horses that make it enjoyable for everyone to keep coming back.”

Mountain View Polo Club hosts the USPA Karen Carra Memorial women’s tournament annually.

©Laura Goddard

In addition to running all aspects of the club, Goddard and Pasten also train and sell Quarter Horse polo ponies as demand for horses has increased.

Featuring weekly practices and skill-specific clinics, Mountain View’s schedule runs from April through November, highlighted by two annual USPA tournaments: the 2- to 4-goal Karen Carra Memorial women’s arena tournament in September and 0- to 2- goal Paigahs Seahorse Cup in October. Aside from flight practices held Thursdays and weekends, Mountain View members also have the opportunity to travel for inter-club mixer tournaments at nearby clubs such as Seneca and Congressional Polo Clubs, both in Poolesville, Maryland.

“We go to Seneca quite often and play A-, B- and C-Flight tournaments so any of our students can compete against different people no matter what level,” Goddard said.

Maintaining a steady stream of players with 25 current members, Mountain View was among the clubs that benefited from an influx of new students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“2020 was one of our best years ever for lessons because everyone was looking for an activity to do outdoors, and our business really exploded,” Goddard explained. “At first we contemplated shutting down because we were limited on group activities, but I’m really glad the USPA stepped up to help with the USPA COVID-19 Relief Package.”

Laura Goddard and Windy, the Carra Memorial Best Playing Pony.

©Laura Goddard

Integral to Mountain View Polo Club’s philosophy on instruction, two types of clinics are held throughout the season for beginners and more advanced students.

“In the beginner clinic, students learn the rules and how to hit the ball, then we scrimmage at a walk,” Goddard explained. “In the Polo Pro clinics, we do drills and focus on improving one area at a time. So, for example, in the Effective Riding for Polo clinic, we just worked on stopping, how to use your seat to ride, rollbacks, and how to ride off an opponent.”

Focusing on one specific skill at a time, such as the Offside Swing clinic held at the end of June, the Polo Pro clinics allow players to hone and perfect skills individually. Another essential component is slow-motion video recordings of students, allowing them to watch themselves and receive feedback.

“I take videos of everybody so they can see how they look when riding and hitting,” she said. “At the end we do an analysis of every video and watch it on a big-screen TV.”

Goddard often draws from helpful activities she participated in during Cornell practices by integrating drill team warm-ups into her riding clinics.

The club hosts A, B and C flights, offering something for everyone regardless of skill level.

©MountainViewPoloClub

Mountain View Polo Club’s effective methods and supportive atmosphere have successfully grown its polo community over the last decade, leading it to expand. Plans are for it to become both an arena and outdoor club in 2022.

“We’re putting in a field as we speak,” Goddard announced. “The Polo Development Initiative paid for us to clear the field last year, and they are helping us renovate our arena this winter with all new boards.”

Starting a polo club from nothing, Goddard and Pasten’s hard work has paid off as they get to share the sport they love.

“Everything here was built by Hugo and I, so it’s really special for us to have this club because we really worked for it,” Goddard remarked.

Nestled high in the mountains just above the Shenandoah River, Mountain View Polo Club beckons players of any age or stage to come to experience the exhilaration of polo.