FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2014 105
John Walsh, left, of America’s Most Wanted, and John get
“busted” by Fauquier County Deputies before a June 2013 charity
match at Great Meadow.
Photo by Lauren R Giannini
John gets hundreds of kids fired up for Twilight Polo’s half-time
Tug-of-War.
Photo by Lauren R. Giannini
His most memorable horse was a mare named Dallas. “She
was my first horse and I kept
her to the day she died,” John
said. “She lived to be about 34
and she’s buried on our farm in
South Carolina. As a polo pony,
she was really quiet, honest and
extremely fast.”
About players who influenced
him, he said, “I didn’t play
much with Memo Gracida, but
I studied him and I learned a
lot watching him play. I learned
from playing polo with Mariano
Aguerre [Argentine, rated 10
goals in his prime] – he’s a
genius on the polo field.”
An injured polo pony
introduced John to veterinarian
Kathleen
Timmons.
They
started dating, got serious
and got hitched in 2000. Their
daughter Schuyler, 11, rides
her pony every day and shows
in pony hunters. They usually
spend autumn at their farm
in Aiken, summer in Virginia
and winter in Florida. John still
tries to play as much polo as
possible. “It’s more hectic for
John – he runs ragged a lot,”
Kathleen said. “I’m in Florida for
Schuyler’s entire school year –
education is important.”
As for Great Meadow Polo’s
2014 season, John said, “We
had our biggest crowds last
summer, some big nights with
2,500 to 3,000 spectators,”
he said. “We want to do some
tournaments and leagues, have
better, faster polo. Draw more people to learn to play – the school
is what makes the polo club grow.”
Formore informationonGreatPolo, visitwww.greatmeadowpolo.
org.
