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128 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE P O L O

Showtime for Polo Ponies!

By Danika Rice T

uesday March 29, 2011 will mark the return of the American Polo Horse Association’s annual National Polo Pony Show at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, West Palm Beach, Florida. In their second annual event, APHA president and founder Sunny Hale hopes to provide a meeting place for the entire polo horse industry to showcase their polo ponies and breeding stock. Participants have the distinct advantage to expose their talented horses to players, owners, spectators, breeders and trainers from all over the world, that come to Wellington each year for the annual polo season.

The Groom’s Competition

In addition to several halter and performance classes, the polo pony show also includes an opportunity to recognize the great grooms of polo through the very entertaining and exciting Groom’s Competition. Teams of grooms compete against each other in timed heats, tacking and stripping horses similar to a game situation that mimics the same importance of a great NASCAR pit crew on race day. Entries open as of January 1, 2011. At press time judges were being confrmed, but an early peek at the list includes retired 8 goal American player, trainer and horseman Dale Smicklas. Dale’s professional polo career spanned over twenty years in the U.S. and England and his partial list of accomplishments include multiple polo tournament victories in 8- 26 and 30 goal World Cup competition; training and selling polo ponies to 10-goal professionals, patrons and organizations all over the world as well as a list of Best Playing awards for ponies he played throughout his career.

The American Polo Horse Association

The American Polo Horse Association was founded in 2006. The APHA includes a registry and website (www. americanpolohorse.com.) The registry is open to all horses being used for polo in the United States, of any breed or descent whether their parentage is known or unknown. Each horse that is registered receives a fve picture online profle and certifcate of registration. At the APHA’s website, viewers can search polo pony profles, pedigrees, photos, Best Playing Pony records, brands, stallion profles and search the Polo Pony Library. Sunny states, “I created the American Polo Horse Association out of my pure passion and love of the horses we spend so much of our lives with. The Association provides an opportunity for people with the same passion to follow, learn about and support the work it takes to give these horses the recognition they deserve.”

When asked what factors she considers most in looking for quality polo ponies, Sunny says, “For me the most important thing is an immediate connection I either feel or don’t, because although almost all horses can be trained for polo by one person or another, it is usually your belief in the horse that produces the opportunity to develop the horse’s potential. I usually give a huge amount of consideration to the eye, shoulder and overall confrmation as it pertains to soundness and balance. Good confrmation is a huge head start in the process, but not necessarily an absolute factor in a great horse. Some great horses are the most puzzling picture to look at, breaking every rule in commonly accepted confrmation standards, but what they have is the desire to learn and the heart of an over achiever.”

Setting Standards

Sunny gave consideration of both those factors when creating the list of classes for the polo pony show concept. She