Power of the Pony
Investing in polo horses is crucial to getting into the game
Investing in polo horses is crucial to getting into the game
Left to right: Gitana, Kiwi, Dolca, and Floppy photographed on location at Sarah Siegel-Magness’s ranch, Cancha de Estrella.
Written by Megan Kozminski
Photographs by Courtney Ellzey
Some people jump in and purchase a string of half a dozen ponies straight away; others buy just one to start, testing out their new passion (and pocketbook). Shopping for that perfect first pony can be complicated. Polo horses have personalities, habits, strengths, and weaknesses, just like people. There’s also a lot to learn about the sport of polo, the horse industry, and even basic equine science.
Groom Juan Cruz with (left to right) Pistera, Crota, Plumita, and Duraznito.
Find people in the industry who you trust. Determine your budget and gather information from seasoned coaches, players, or professionals who can help you navigate.
Next comes the fun part: Ride as many polo ponies as possible. Try a pony at least twice—a stick and ball session, and if that goes well, a practice or game chukker. If you are trying dozens of horses, keep notes on the age, conformation, and under-saddle details for each, and always have a reputable veterinarian conduct a prepurchase equine health exam.
The most important advice to any polo shopper is buy the pony that makes you a better player based on your current skill and handicap. You want to feel like a million bucks every time you walk onto the field. Always keep in mind that after the purchase, it costs the same to feed a mediocre horse as it does to feed your perfect equine partner.
“This year, I realized the power of the pony. It took me four years to understand exactly what that means. For me, upgrading to the first-class breeding program of La Dolfina Valiente and purchasing the next-level string will give me the tools to take my game to the next level. This means compact, speedy, handy horses that stop and turn on a dime. When you’re really new to the game, you don’t realize how important that is. Then one day you do! Polo is 70 percent horse, 30 percent rider.”
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Double Vision
Polo player, professional model, and Instagram It girl Zinta Braukis strikes a pose at Cancha de Estrellas
Polo player, professional model, and Instagram It girl Zinta Braukis
strikes a pose at Cancha de Estrellas
Photographs by Courtney Ellzey
Hair and Makeup by Tomiko Taft
WHO Zinta Braukis, often called “Z” by family and friends.
“There is a fantastic, relaxed pace to life in Santa Barbara—it’s a great balance to my career and the adrenaline rush of racing down the fields on a galloping horse.”
WHAT Working as a professional model by day with such brands as Ralph Lauren and Lucchese, Braukis—who has been playing polo since the age of 14—is at her happiest in the saddle with her horses in Los Angeles and Indio.
DOUBLE DUTY Dubbed the equine Instagram It girl, @zintapolo has more than 80,000 followers and is in demand for her lifestyle posts of horses and polo.
TRIPLE THREAT Athletic, adventurous, and adrenaline seeking, Z recently earned her helicopter pilot license.
PASSION PROJECT “As with people, each horse’s personality is unique. It is truly a special relationship that develops. I teach them to trust me and that mutual respect is possible. It is an immense joy to see them flourish as a result—both in their personality and as an athlete.”
WORDS TO PLAY BY “To paraphrase Alexander the Great (one of the first polo players in history), ‘The world is the ball, I am the mallet!’”
Throughout: Tops, Rocio G., rociog.com; boots, Lucchese, lucchese.com; hats, Vanner, vannerhats.com. Special thanks to Sarah Siegel-Magness and Joe Henderson of Cancha de Estrellas for use of horses and location.
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A Glittering Prize
The Pope Polo Challenge Trophy is intertwined with an interesting family history
The Pope Polo Challenge Trophy is intertwined with an interesting family history
A formal portrait of George Pope depicts the polo player in his heyday.
Written by Joan Tapper
Photographs by Shannon Jayne Photography, Coral Von Zumwalt
Doyenne Edith Taylor Pope in the early 1900s.
Santa Barbara’s 2024 polo season kicks off with the 12-goal Folded Hills Pope Challenge, and when the winners step onto the podium on May 12, they’ll be lifting the Pope Polo Challenge Trophy in triumph. It’s elaborately crafted of sterling silver, an impressive two-handled urn—more than three feet from the bottom of its wooden base to the tip of the finial that crowns its acanthus-wreathed cover. And though its yearlong home is a glass-fronted case at the clubhouse of the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, the cup’s beginnings go back to San Francisco, where it was commissioned by society doyenne Edith Taylor Pope—after that city’s devastating earthquake and fire—as part of her efforts to lure polo-playing friends west. Eventually it honored her son George A. Pope Jr., a noted California player in the 1930s.
We owe stories and lore about the trophy to Edith’s great-granddaughter, Hope Ranch resident Geraldine “Geri” Pope Bidwell, who relates that the trophy was created at Shreve & Company, San Francisco’s preeminent firm of silversmiths, which not only dates to the Gold Rush era but is still thriving today. Why so large a cup? Well, according to Geri’s father, “Nana”—his name for Edith—“never did anything half way.”
“The first Pope Challenge was decided on April 4, 1909, when Burlingame beat England 6 to 5, a result etched onto the silver cup.”
The first Pope Challenge was decided on April 4, 1909, when Burlingame beat England 6 to 5, a result etched onto the silver cup. At the time, George Jr. was not yet 8, but Geri is sure he was watching from the sidelines, thrilled by the pounding hooves and the action. George grew up watching polo, loving horses, and learning the sport. By the age of 17, she says, he was an 8-goal player, and his win as the number-one player for San Mateo on March 22, 1934, is also inscribed on the trophy.
George was evidently a well-known figure in San Francisco-area polo circles—renowned enough to serve as a guide to a writer exploring the scene in 1938 for a story in Country Life and the Sportsman. And he’s said to have played numerous matches with and against polo legends like Charles Howard, Bill Gilmore, Robert Driscoll, and Bob Skene. He kept a low profile, however, preferring to let his prowess show up on the field.
When World War II broke out, George served in the army; and after he returned, he refocused his equestrian pursuits on breeding racehorses—with great success. He was the owner of Decidedly, the gray that won the Kentucky Derby in 1962, setting a Churchill Downs track record for one and a quarter miles in the process. George died in 1979, and the trophy eventually moved permanently to Santa Barbara.
A love of horses continues to run in the family. George’s son, Peter Talbot Pope, played polo at Princeton, though he denigrates his horsemanship: “We were terrible,” he claims. Geri herself show-jumps and trail rides. “One of the best things about riding a horse,” she says, “is that it puts us fully in the moment. Horses can give us power, wings, and a connection that feels timeless.” The only recent polo player has been her daughter Lucy, who competed in the Artie Cameron Memorial Polo Tournament for Juniors at the Santa Barbara polo club a few years ago.
“May the winners of the Pope Polo Challenge Trophy be the riders who have worked the hardest to know their horses, to honor and care for those horses well, to love this sport for the wings it gives them and the grace of God that blessed them with their horse.”
The family restored the trophy, and it shines more brightly than ever. The name of 2018’s tournament winner—Klentner Ranch—is on the cup. The next to hold that honor is still to be determined. But Geri’s wishes extend to all the teams who will take the field: “May the winners of the Pope Polo Challenge Trophy be the riders who have worked the hardest to know their horses, to honor and care for those horses well, to love this sport for the wings it gives them and the grace of God that blessed them with their horse.”