70 SIDELINES JANUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Continued on page 74
By Lauren R. Giannini
Richard (Ricky) Bostwick lives for polo. He doesn’t have a
website, doesn’t do Facebook. He has a good reputation and
stays busy, thanks to people who have taken lessons, bought
or leased polo ponies, and over the years played polo with and
against him.
Hard work and strong work ethics contribute to the success of
any business, but fellow polo professional John Gobin stamped
his former mentor with an unofficial Good Horsekeeping Seal of
Approval. “I met Ricky when I was 16 – he gave me one of my first
opportunities to play good polo,” John said. “He was a great role
model and one of my heroes for a long time. When I had that bad
accident a few years ago, Ricky called up and offered whatever I
needed to help me out. He’s an all-around good guy. He sells a lot
of good horses, too. He’s a hard worker, a good father and a good
family guy. I think the world of him.”
Ricky divides his time between Bostwick Stables in Wellington
and Gulfstream Polo Club in Lake Worth, Florida. He bases his
summertime business at a private farm with a regulation grass
field in South Hampton, New York. He is also a contributor to
PoloSkilz.com. In 2012 he was featured on the History Channel’s
“Only In America With Larry The Cable Guy” in a segment where
Ricky taught Larry about horses and polo.
Two summers ago, injuries sustained in a head-on collision with
another horse during a match put Ricky out of action for a long
time with trauma fracture of his leg. “I’m not playing professionally,
because my knee isn’t 100 percent without more repair,” he said.
“But I play practice games with clients and prep the horses that
we have for sale. Most of the horses I have are real quality. My
business partner in Argentina only exports tournament-ready,
proven ponies.”
Career Polo
In the heyday of his career as a professional player, Ricky was
rated at 6-goals, and today holds a 3-handicap. One of his favorite
competition memories harks to 1982 when he played on the team
e
Polo
Village Farms Polo Team with Cartier Cup, G. H. (“Pete”)
Bostwick, Charlie Bostwick, Juan Jose Alberdi, Ricky Bostwick.
Photo by the late James Higgins
that beat Rolex Abercrombie & Kent on field 1 at Palm Beach Polo
& Country Club in the quarter-finals of the Rolex Gold Cup, the
Holy Grail of high-goal polo.
“It was the year my father died – 20 teams, mostly 26-goals,
back then you had only one shot to advance,” Ricky recalled. “The
day after the match, I got a call from Jeffrey Kent, head of the
Rolex A & K team. My brother and I got multi-year contracts and it
marked the start of my high goal professional career.”
Ricky’s greatest memories aren’t just about winning. In the finals
of the Pete Bostwick Open at Village Farms against White Birch,
he was playing against Gonzalo Pieres, at the time probably the
best player in the world. Toward the end of the second chukker
Gonzalo had scored five goals, Ricky’s team none. Factor into the
action: deep irrigation ditch, full of water, about 30 yards from an
end line.
“Once again Gonzalo headed to goal wide open, but he pushed
his approach shot right,” recalled Ricky. “His horse was tired and
never broke stride when Gonzalo reached to tail the ball toward
goal. As he turned to look – the ball nearly went in – the horse
continued full speed and disappeared over the bank and into the
water with a tremendous splash. Nearly 3,000 people fell silent.
Finally his horse climbed up the opposite bank, stopped and
shook like a wet dog. Then Gonzalo crawled up the same bank,
completely soaked, and turned to the crowd with his arms in the
air with a big grin on his face, not a scratch on him. The crowd
went wild.”
Ricky Bostwick and Tacuara blast down the field en route to the
Outback team winning the finals of the USPA National 12-Goal
Copper Cup, Ricky’s 5th career Copper Cup title.
Photo by David Lominska,
Ricky Bostwick Earns The Good
Horsekeeping Seal of Approval
