The Provocateur
Emerging polo patron and movie producer Sarah Siegel-Magness leads a passionate life on and off the field
Sarah Siegel-Magness—with her horse Winter—wears Gucci with a Dior hat and veil.
Written by Katherine Stewart | Photographs by Tasya Van Ree
If you hit the polo fields around 8 am, you might see her streaking by on her polo pony, mallet raised. Or astride one of her thoroughbreds, upright in the saddle. Four days a week, Sarah Siegel-Magness plays matches, either at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club or on the 65-acre estate adjacent to the club that she and her husband purchased last year. The property features three polo fields and a jumping arena with a view of the ocean. On other days she’s training with her coaches, polo legends Joe Henderson and Memo Gracida.
“We came to Santa Barbara initially to play polo but fell in love with the community.”
“I am a woman in a sea of men, and I’m also quite petite,” Siegel-Magness says. “This is rather unusual but not a disadvantage at all. Polo is a game of the mind. Strength is important, but to power the ball, it’s all about technique.” On the field, she rides like one of the guys, and that’s how she expects to be treated. “I want to be as good as everyone else,” she says, “and play a well-rounded defensive and offensive competitive game.”
Siegel-Magness certainly has a more varied résumé than most polo players. She is an Oscar-nominated film producer and director whose projects include the award-winning Lionsgate film Precious. She is the cofounder, along with husband Gary Magness, of Smokewood Entertainment, which is committed to the creation of thought-provoking and social justice-minded films. The pair is also active in a range of philanthropic activities, having cofounded the Fresh Air Fund’s Precious Center for Teen Leadership, among other youth-focused organizations and initiatives. “My goal is to create an environment for inner-city kids of Los Angeles to learn polo,” Siegel-Magness says. “That would be a dream.”
Her interest in polo was sparked 17 years ago, when she and Gary wed at Costa Careyes, Mexico, which has an avid polo community. “When I watched my first match, I thought it was the most amazing game I’d ever seen,” she says. “I couldn’t get it out of my brain, but we had no place to play! I literally dreamed of playing polo for years.” Then, three and a half years ago, the Magness family bought a place in Costa Careyes, built a capacious barn, and became benefactors of the polo club, and her devotion to the sport blossomed into a full-time passion.
It was this passion—and her determination to grow as a player—that drew her to Santa Barbara last summer. “From the moment we set foot on this magical property, we fell in love,” she says. “We came to Santa Barbara initially to play polo but fell in love with the community.”
“For any person who has ever thought about learning to play a sport later in life…don’t be afraid.”
Her husband and son Cable, the youngest of the couple’s three children, are active players too, and the family enjoys riding together and even competing against one another. Siegel-Magness says polo is a great way to spend time with family, enjoy nature, and collaborate with men and women of all ages and backgrounds. But she is not the type of person to coast. “The minute you get complacent about the game, you will stop growing,” she says. “I am humbled every day being around the pros.”
She is presently focusing her creative passions on expanding polo opportunities in Santa Barbara. The Magness family is working with the polo club to create an 8-goal Rincon League that will be played from June through October. It is absorbing work, but there’s nothing else she’d rather do. “I compare everything I do to polo,” she says. “If it is not more fun or more interesting than polo, I don’t have time to do it!”●
