To whom this may concern,
The other day I had a discussion with Brittany Halstead about her web site
REPLAYPOLO and the benefits that it could bring to retiring polo ponies, and to
PATH centers who may be in need of decent therapy horses. My opinion is from the prospective of an owner, trainer, polo player,
and a complementary therapist (energy healer), who has personally rehabbed and
re-homed man
y polo ponies. Here are the main points that I think would make this a
wonderful program to offer. The number of horses in need of a new occupation could be a huge source of donations.
**Polo is a strenuous sport so horses tend to retire at a younger age than other
riding disciplines. Many players are happy for their beloved horses to go somewhere
they can become a pleasure riding horse, this same population may be
pleased to donate to a recognized organization instead. The owner no longer has the
expense of maintaining the retired horse, and they can feel good that the horse has
a more suitable job helping others.
**While they’re may be a lot of horses who aren’t right for your purposes the sheer
number of those who could use new homes would give a good opportunity to be
selective and find a good match. Having people tie up
their tails and bandage the legs to play, have mains clipped each week when playing,
and are generally very tolerant. Most spend half the year working and are stabled,
and the other half turned out with a group of horses. They usually don’t panic when
anther horse rides up behind them or bumps into them. They have traveled a lot and
been exposed to a lot of different people. The good ones are very tolerant of rider
error.
**Not all the horses are highly strung thoroughbreds. The sport has a wide variety
of players from beginner to professional, and not all riders are on thoroughbreds
that you see when you watch high goal polo (top end of the sport.) The Crillo pony
from Argentina, and Uruguay, are very popular in the sport for their calm
temperaments. Even the ones that are very well conditioned will probably calm down
when they come off of sweet feeds and other grain and aren’t hyped up to play. Quite
often in the sport of polo people learn to play and ride at the same time, not ideal
from my perspective but, it shows that there are a lot of beginner friendly horses
in the sport. Kind Regards,
Allison Robbins
Owner of Equestrian Healing Service
