72 SIDELINES JULY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Virginia International
Polo Club
has planned
a packed summer
season from June to
September with polo
for everyone. They
have
polo school
four
times a week, where
seasoned veterans
and beginners enjoy
relaxed and social
grass scrimmages
on the many Club
ponies. There are two
4-goal leagues every
Saturday. A
Sunday
Challenge League
(6-
10 goals), and an 8-10
goal weekday league. There will also be a
National Youth
Tournament
series on July 8. And
Women’s Championship
Tournament
qualifier games the week of July 23 - 27. There
will be Junior games every Tuesday and two weeks of
Kids
Polo Camp
: June 24-27 and July 15-18. With a friendly staff
and a stunning historic estate, VIPolo truly offers something
for everyone! For more information/reservations please call
Kirsten at: 561 203 0400 or
Visit
our website at:
Photo by Maureen Brennan
e
More Asides on page 110
The San Diego Polo Club
(SDPC) kicks off its 28th
season in
Rancho Santa Fe
on Sunday, June 1st with
Opening Day presented by
Land Rover of San Diego
.
Gates open at 12:30 p.m. for two action-packed matches
at 1 and 3 pm where local and international polo players
will compete in front of an estimated 2,500 spectators. At
2:30pm, guests will enjoy a fashion show presented by
stylist,
Raina Leon
, featuring fashion from local Del Mar
boutique,
Van de Vort
. Join
Riviera Magazine
and
DJ
Here
after the matches for the anticipated 7th
Chukker
After Party
until 7pm. Polo is presented to the public every
Sunday from June 1 to September 28 with the exception
of July 27, August 3 and August 10. Each Sunday, the
SD
Polo Club
features two competitive matches, intermission
entertainment, and a divot stomp – which is a chance to
stretch your legs and walk on to the polo field with a glass of
champagne and stomp the divots that have been kicked up
by the polo ponies. Each Sunday, the San Diego Polo Club
partners with various groups, brands and charities, making
each Sunday event unique.
H. Ben Taub
, better remembered in his worn cowboy boots and
well-worn cowboy hat, in a rare dressed up moment with Sidelines
Magazine publisher,
Samantha Charles
, on the fields of
Palm
Beach Polo and Country Club.
By Ed Scanlon
There is a kind of immortality that comes to us all in memory
and the reflective affection of our family, friends and loved ones.
H. Ben Taub
passed into immortality in the early morning hours
of May 20, 2014.
I met H. Ben on a polo field in
San Antonio, Texas,
over 35
years ago. He was playing back for a Houston team and I was
playing 1 on a team from
Willow Bend
out of Plano (Dallas). We
spent six periods trying to kill each other. The “ride-offs” were
barely controlled crashes, the hooks were full on shots against
each others’ mallets. At the end, sitting on the fender of my trailer
very sore, slightly bloody, in trouble with my groom for the trial I
had subjected my horses to, I thought I might be a little angry. Up
walked my opponent with a six-pack of Bud in his left hand and
an outstretched right. “Hi, I’m H. Ben Taub from Houston. Glad to
know you.” We were best friends from then on.
“H” was a polo player’s polo player; it was all about the horses.
He bought the best and kept them at home where he could
supervise their care. When he went to Florida to play in the
Gold
Coast League
(remember that) at the new and spectacular
Palm
Beach Polo and Country Club
, he went to stay for the duration
to be with the horses and work on his game. His “work” work was
done on the phone from there. And, contrary to the impression he
liked to give, he did work. I know, I was one of his brokers and I
never knew a more diligent investor or business owner.
Over the years we played against each other as much as
together. It was always a good-natured battle. In 1987, he decided
we should make an all-amateur 12-goal team and enter the Intra-
Circuit 12-goal. H. Ben,
Tom Gose, David King
and I added up
to 12 goals, entered in San Antonio and won. We took the team
to Lexington for the National 12 Goal, and lost in the semi-finals.
Had a helluva time and scared some people. H. was, most of the
time, a happy warrior, but a warrior nevertheless.
In recent years, H. Ben played ranch polo at his home,
Paradise Lost Ranch
, and so it was on March 2nd, playing ranch
polo with his friends that H. Ben had a fall. His horse caught a toe,
stumbled and went to the ground. H. Ben was slammed face first
into the turf. He broke his nose, a rib, some teeth, and had three
contusions on his spinal cord. All together, he was paralyzed from
the chin down. He regained feeling over most of his body, but
unfortunately passed away.
Friends from all over the country gathered in Houston to wish
him on his way. Those who knew him know they will not see his
like again and we will miss him.
In Memory of H. Ben Taub
