108 SIDELINES APRIL 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Continued on page 110
e
Polo
Arena Polo
Scores Big Hit At Great Meadow
By Lauren R. Giannini
Remember the polo scene in Pretty Woman? Sure you do:
gorgeous horses and handsome riders galloping hell-for-leather,
feld-side tailgate parties of beautiful people – vivid and exciting.
This 2,000-year-old game, actually the frst recorded team sport in
human history, has come a long way from its roots in Persia and
central Asia.
In the mid-19th century, British troops stationed in India fell
madly in love with the game – read “The Maltese Cat” by Rudyard
Kipling, an outstanding short story written from the ponies’ point
of view. The Brits embraced polo as their own and took it to
England and expanded it further into the western hemisphere.
In 1886 Great Britain defeated the United States in the frst ever
Westchester Cup.
By 1910 polo had taken off in the United States. Games were
contested outside on huge grass expanses (300 yards by 160
yards), bigger than nine football felds. It was expensive to feld
teams of four players who changed horses every chukker (seven
minute period of play). Polo enthusiasts took the game indoors,
which allowed play to continue year-round and in inclement
weather. In 1955 the Indoor Polo Association (established 1915)
merged with the US Polo Association (USPA), signaling an
important new era for the growth of the game.
Arena Polo has brought in lots of newcomers from all walks
of life and all age levels. Polo schools provide lessons and
experienced ponies, which are actually horses up to about 16
hands, and league play fourishes, both on the club level and in
the USPA Interscholastic/Intercollegiate leagues. Three riders per
team, enclosed area with wooden boundary to contain the action,
shorter periods, and fast action much closer to the spectators
results in a win-win situation.
Great Meadow Polo, located at Great Meadow Events Center in
The Plains, Virginia, launched arena polo on Friday nights in 1994
when the founder’s son Peter Arundel acted on a suggestion from
the late great Big Joe Muldoon to establish polo in the Piedmont.
“Joe took Peter to Pittsburgh where they had an arena and
then Arthur, Peter’s father, built the arena with a berm with trees
overlooking the arena and that started Twilight Polo at Great
Meadow,” explained Rob Banner, board member for 17 years until
stepping up as President four years ago. “Since then, Twilight Polo
has only grown. Our berm makes it easy to spectate. There are
boxes arena-side that can be reserved, and families and groups of
Amateur photographers love
taking photos at Twilight
Polo, because they can
get close to the action.
This photo was taken with
relatively sophisticated
equipment, however, by a
professional.
Photo by
Robert Banner/Great Meadow