78 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2011
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
P
O
L
O
By Danika Rice
Writing this may be the hardest and most gratifying
thing I ever do. While my heart aches with loss, I am
overwhelmed with the compulsion to tell the story of
a woman who played a million chukkers of polo in her
lifetime, without ever swinging a mallet.
Audrey Klein was my great-grandmother, and perhaps
the most amazing cheerleader you ever could have
asked for. In a family of polo players and self proclaimed
horse crazy kids and grandkids, she was completely out
of her element. She thought the horses were beautiful,
but they made her unbelievably nervous. Although
she’d occasionally ridden in her younger years, as time
progressed and the obsession grew within her family,
she found her niche not in the saddle, but rather on the
fence of the arena, cheering as loud as she could at every
gymkhana, polo tournament, horse show and rodeo that
her grandchildren and great-grandchildren entered. Her
daughter Carolyn met her future husband Russ Sheldon
in Michigan, while he delivered newspapers from his
Shetland Pony on the cobblestone streets of Port Huron.
A Horse Crazy Family
Audrey always said that should have been the frst red
fag of what her life had in store. That seemingly innocent
beginning would prove to be the catalyst of a horse crazy
family that would root itself in sunny southern California
and forge three generations of polo players. The Sheldon
clan has had much success and publicity over the years
for polo as a “family affair,” which was graciously embraced
by Audrey as the blessing that kept her family so close
together.
Although Russ had found polo in Michigan through polo
Hall of Famer and friend Merle Jenkins, it was when the
family, including Audrey and her late husband Bill, moved
to California that things really got moving in an irreversible
avalanche of horses and polo that would cascade from her
son-in-law to her youngest great-grandson. To anyone
who knew her, she was a constant balance of support, from
making food for players and spectators during tournaments
at the Poway Valley Riders Association, to also acting as a
yearly sponsor for the club’s activities without ever riding a
horse herself on the property.
Always a Cheerleader
She cheered as loud as her family would allow at any
and all games she attended, and with an avid diligence
that began when my mother was in high school, she pulled
out her “lucky green man” for each game played. Now, to
anyone who knew her, the “lucky green man” was a token
that was not to be taken lightly. The pocket sized troll held
her streak of luck, and rubbing his head allowed her to
share it with everyone important to her, even when she
couldn’t physically be there herself. From USPAGovernor-
at-Large elections for Russ, to 20 goal tournaments in
Florida and California for great-grandsons Shane and
Jared, the “little green man” sat faithfully on her nightstand,
head rubbed until a phone report later in the day told her
how the games had turned out. She listened with patience
as whoever called gave a chukker by chukker highlight reel
of all the important events of a game. Whichever horse played the
best for you that day, well that one was her favorite. When her
family won tournaments playing together, that was the best. When
family played against each other, she rooted for both teams. She
was a constant source of support, diplomacy and love in a sport
that had no interest to her beyond the fact that it was important to
the people most important to her.
A Final Journey
This past winter at 87 years of age, Audrey made the trip to
Wellington, Florida to see what all the excitement was about
concerning high-goal polo that she had heard so much about. The
weekend she came out, I was playing in the WCT Arena Women’s
Tournament at El Sur Polo Club. She and “the little green man”
sat alongside the arena in her wheelchair, cheering and coaching
between chukkers as she embraced every moment of me playing
the sport that seemed to anchor our family. It was windy, so she
put earmuffs on. It was late, so she drank some coke to not feel
so tired. There was nothing to dissuade her from supporting my
passion. She told my teammates how proud she was of them; she
told my horse Strawberry what a great horse she was for trying so
hard for me. I told her then that I wished she knew what it felt like
to me to play this game, and that was when she told me “there’s
not a chukker I haven’t played with you. I listen to everything you
tell me, and I imagine it’s me. I always play with my family”
This past September, we unexpectedly lost my great-
grandmother at a hospital in Michigan. It is diffcult to explain the
void of not calling to tell her about my games or that Jared will
soon be playing in Texas alongside Shane. I write this not about
a great polo player, but rather about the most important of polo
supporters
. She is a shining example of the reason why so many
of us continue to have our horses, to play again and again in spite
of challenges. She is among the many who selfessly sit on the
sidelines as a coach, mentor and friend to our crazy passions. So
to the horse show moms, polo coaches, cheerleaders and selfess
sacrifcers….THANK YOU will never be enough.
Audrey Klein and great-granddaughter Danika Rice at the last
polo game she attended, the 2011 WCT Arena Tournament at El
Sur Polo Club in Wellington, FL
Always Playing With My Family