84 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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September 2013. Now 23 and the oldest of this
year’s Team USPA members, he waited until
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of his “big picture” polo strategy.
“The reason I held off applying before is because
getting my degree was really important to me,” said
Branden. “I’ve always known that I wanted to be involved
in polo — playing or training — but I’ve always been
taught that having that degree to fall back on is a good
idea. Polo’s a great sport, but you never know what’s
going to happen.”
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parents have always been supportive of his love for
horses. When he was 6 or 7, they sent him to a summer
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polo string. “I took a beginner clinic with David Eldredge
one winter,” recalled Branden. The rest, as they say, is
history.
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Cornell University where for 30 years Coach Eldredge
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Intercollegiate polo teams to numerous regional and
national titles. Coach Eldredge would spend 11 years
coaching Branden, moving him quickly from community
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playing polo for Cornell University while he earned his Bachelor of
Science degree in Public Policy.
“David really inspired me to play and push myself,” said Branden.
“He’s such a motivational and supportive coach that when it came
time for me to apply to colleges, I knew I didn’t want to represent
anyone but Cornell. I rode and played polo with David from the age
of 11 until I was 22 and graduated from Cornell. He taught me the
most. I was one of those kids you couldn’t keep out of the barn and I
would ride anything. David taught me a lot about horses.”
Branden’s achievements include being named the Polo Training
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at Cornell he was a starting varsity player all four years and team
captain for his junior and senior years. In all four of Brandon’s
university years, the Cornell men’s team was ranked nationally in the
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Since graduating in spring 2013, Branden has taken advantage
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the Maryland Polo Club in Monkton, Maryland, managing Chip
Limehouse’s polo string for the fall season, and spending the
winter in Wellington working for Julio Arellano. He really enjoyed
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continuing to work with them in the spring.
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hopes to improve his outdoor handicap in Sheridan, Wyoming, where
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Photos by
Kaylee Scherbinski
POLO
TEAM USPA
Branden Van Loon’s
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some members of Team USPA will spend July and August playing,
learning from some of polo’s best, and schooling horses. Branden
will take his string of eight ponies: seven Thoroughbred mares and
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Pimpinella; Reina, a “huge warhorse … who has an impossible
bump,” but can be played the next day by a kid in beginner chukkers;
and Cecilia, who has “explosive acceleration … and lopes onto the
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I have arrived
attitude” and turns heads when people
walk through the barn.
“I love polo, but 90 percent of why I love polo is being able to
work with the horses,” Branden said. “My horses are why I play polo.
There are things I can take from every discipline to make my riding
better and make my polo ponies better. In my senior year at Cornell,
I had the opportunity to compete on the western team in reining and
it totally changed how I ride my polo ponies. Each one of my horses
is an individual — that’s what makes it fun — and the horses are
making me a better horseman and player.”
About Team USPA: In 2010, the United States Polo Association
developed Team USPA, a program designed to remedy the decline of
young Americans in the sport of polo by providing exceptional players,
18–23, male and female, from across the USA with unique training,
mentoring and playing opportunities. For more information, visit http://
uspolo.org/compete/team-uspa.
By Lauren R. Giannini
