FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES MARCH 2014 165
10 days. “I was on the Palm
Beach team and we were
playing Gulfstream’s home
team with legendary player
Jimmy Bachman in the finals of
the Delegates Cup,” said Alina.
“I had to mark Jimmy. He was
always very well mounted, but
my mare Ananuya came into her
own. Every chukker he played,
my mare was right there and
Jimmy couldn’t move. Ananuya
was amazing and we won the
tournament. They named her
Best Playing Pony.”
The following year, Alina
played in a 14-goal tournament
and both her young horses
played even better than the
previous
season.
“Carlos
Gracida hounded me the whole
time – I was in anguish all 10
days of that tournament,” she
recalled. “He offered me a lot of
money, especially in those days,
for both of them, but I couldn’t
decide. Finally, I sold my really
good horse, Ananuya, to the
Rolex team Heguy brothers.
I cried for three days. I hated
selling her. They changed her
name to Alina and flew her back
and forth to England to play for
many years. Then she went to
Argentina to breed. She was
always super light and my arms
never got tired, which is very
important for a female player.
I don’t think I ever had a horse
like her again. Her second
chukker was always her best,
she really got down to business.
Ananuya-Alina was in a class of
her own.”
Alina currently rides her
polo pony Spot II early every
day so she can continue to
help find people their dream
properties in Palm Beach and
the Dominican Republic. Her
fluency in Spanish comes in
handy wherever she goes.
This summer she will safari to
Kenya and meet with her Masai
beadwork people as well as visit
the Polo Club at Ngong near
Nairobi where she hopes to get
some time playing the game that
has directed the entire course of
her life. At home Alina loves to
play in women’s tournaments
whenever possible. Of course,
her team’s ponies will sport
beaded browbands from Masai
of Palm Beach.
Continued from page 152
