Polo Makes Debut at the 2011 Pony Club Festival
United States Polo Association Solidifying Sport as U.S. Pony Club Discipline
Photos by Amy Wisehart
August 3, 2011 (Wellington, FL) – Over 350 Pony Club members rallied at the Kentucky Horse Park last week in Lexington for the 2011 Pony Club Festival where polo made its official debut with three days of activities organized by the U.S. Polo Association (USPA). The event kicked off Sunday with a polo demonstration in front of a crowd of 150 people eager to sign up for the polo clinics starting Monday.
The clinics included an interactive polo session on a mechanical horse and mounted exercises to give participants a feel for riding in the saddle, swinging a mallet and hitting the ball towards the goal. With its success and popularity among Pony Club participants at the event, the sport is poised to establish itself as an official U.S. Pony Club (USPC) discipline in the near future.
“Polo’s presence at the Pony Club Festival is a positive reinforcement that together with USPC, we can reach young riders everywhere and help them develop their horsemanship skills and teach them how to play this exciting sport, “ said USPA Executive Director Peter Rizzo. “Pony Club members will also have the opportunity to advance through the USPA’s Interscholastic and Intercollegiate programs as they grow older, allowing them to stay in the sport for years to come.”
The United States Pony Club is also optimistic about the long term potential polo has as a full discipline in Pony Club. According to USPC Activities Services Director, Wayne Quarles, “We feel certain that the cooperation between USPA and USPC will create great opportunities for our membership.”
Polo playing Pony Club members took a moment to smile for the camera with USPA officials after their polo demonstration! Left to right: Chuck Weaver, Katie Graham, Amanda Hersey, Trystan Smith, Austin Allen, Katie Webb, Riley Rockford, Ty Morris, Jim Wright, Margie Paur and Ed Armstrong
The joint venture between USPA and USPC has been years in the making and the two organizations have reached a verbal agreement to incorporate polo into the Pony Club discipline program in a cross-promotional effort to capture the interest of young horsemen and women nationwide. The official roll out is set for January 2012 at the USPC Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
The USPA plans to offer a free introductory membership to Pony Club members across the country and is currently working with its member clubs and other polo entities to offer polo to the USPC regions in the form of educational clinics. The U.S. Pony Club has experienced resounding success in teaching riding, safety, and horsemanship skills – all important building blocks for learning to play polo.
For more information on U.S. polo, or to get in on the action and schedule a lesson, visit www.uspolo.org. For more details on the U.S. Pony Club, visit www.ponyclub.org.
About U. S. Polo Association
The U.S. Polo Association was organized and exists for the purposes of promoting the game of polo, coordinating the activities of its Member Clubs and Registered Players, arranging and supervising polo tournaments, competitions, and games, and providing rules, handicaps, and conditions for those tournaments, competitions, and games including the safety and welfare of participants and mounts. For more information, please visit, www.uspolo.org.
About U. S. Pony Club
The United States Pony Clubs, Inc. (USPC), headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, was founded in 1954 as a non-profit national youth organization to teach riding and horsemanship through a formal educational program. Many of the nation’s top equestrians, including many of our Olympic team members, have roots in Pony Club. Members range in ages from as young as 4 through age 25. There are approximately 10,000 members in 600 clubs and riding centers in 43 regions throughout the country.