ERIC SCHMOLDT Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Saturday, August 16, 2008 12:00 am
Polo has been played in Wyoming for 115 years.
Fields in Sheridan and Big Horn began hosting some of the premier players from around the world and the top players from the United States for more than a century. Horses from the area have been sold to some of the top armies in some of history's biggest wars.
But the sport has never been stronger in the Cowboy State than it is today.
"There are probably about 200 polo clubs in the United States during the summer and Big Horn, population 217, has the Big Horn Polo Club and the Flying H Polo Club right next to one another," said Sam Morton, a local historian, author and polo enthusiast. "Big Horn Polo Club is one of the five largest in the nation in terms of numbers. Flying H is one of the three top-level clubs in the U.S. in the summer.
"Absolutely (it's the best polo that's been played). Without a doubt."
Morton has done extensive research on the history of the Sheridan area and has written articles regarding polo in the area and around the country for various publications. He's also in his 20th year coaching the sport at Big Horn Polo Club.
He's researched and documented plenty of changes since the first game there in 1893 and has been a part of plenty more over the last 20 years. And those that have occurred in the last few years have taken polo in Wyoming to a whole new level.
"We could certainly compete with (premier summer clubs in) Bridgehampton, N.Y., or Santa Barbara, Calif.," Morton said. "And if you put the Flying H and the Big Horn together, we're the biggest facility in the United States."
It certainly hasn't always been that way, though the area's history is rich with tradition.
More than 1,000 fans were in attendance when the first game took place on the Fourth of July in 1893 at the Sheridan Fairgrounds.
In 1898, Malcolm Moncreiffe moved to Big Horn and built a polo field and breeding operation, and the grounds played host to famous American players such as Tommy Hitchcock and John Cover - perhaps the greatest player to come from Wyoming - in the early 20th century.
"(Polo's) always been played here between ranchers and merchants and anyone who had horses in their backyards," Morton said. "(But) they had several 10-goal players in the 1910s that were world-famous players."
Polo players receive handicaps based on their performance. The best players in the world are 10-goal players. Games are given ratings by adding the handicaps of the four players on each of the teams.
Twice in the first half of the century, teams from Big Horn won prestigious tournaments in Colorado Springs. But play halted in 1952 and didn't start again until 1963.
The famous Moncreiffe Field lasted about 100 years before it was sold in the early 1980s as the Big Horn Polo Club expanded to become one of the largest clubs in the United States.
Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, the level of polo in the area varied. Big Horn Polo Company, one of the few constants in Wyoming polo history, held as high as 12-goal games.
"It's kind of cyclical," said Boone Stribling, the polo manager at Flying H. "At one point in the Big Horn Club, we had quite a few rated players and some 12-goal polo for a few years. Then the level went down for a few years until Skey (Johnston) decided to put this high-goal facility in here."
In 2005, Johnston decided to add the high-goal facility, the Flying H Polo Club, next to the Big Horn Polo Club, creating a polo haven that features players of all skill levels.
And he spared little expense in fostering one of just three summer clubs in the United States that offers high-goal polo.
"These players that are out here now have played all over the world," said Bobbi Stribling, an assistant director of the North American Polo League. "And these are probably the best fields anywhere in the States right now."
The complex includes three regulation polo fields, one practice field and one stick and ball field to go along with two exercise tracks and four barns, the last of which was just completed last year.
"It is the perfect tandem - it's the best thing that ever happened to the Big Horn Polo Club," Morton said. "(And) probably the biggest thing that made it feasible is that it grew the right direction with the right people at the right time.
"There was this heritage and history of polo and it just kind of draws you there. … Everything just fell together perfectly."
A handful of the world's top players spend six weeks in Big Horn, and they will join together for a 27- or 28-goal game - the Goose Creek Benefit Cup - on Sunday.
It's likely the highest rated game ever played in Wyoming and will just add another chapter to polo's long history in the Cowboy State.
Contact sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at (307) 266-0578 or eric.schmoldt@trib.com.
POLO TRACKER
SUNDAY: The Goose Creek Benefit Cup will likely be the highest rated polo match in the history of Wyoming.
THE DETAILS: Benefitting the Downtown Sheridan Association's Stream Restoration Project, the match begins at 4:30 p.m. at Flying H Polo Ranch in Big Horn.
SHE SAID IT: "These players that are out here now have played all over the world. And these are probably the best fields anywhere in the States right now." - Bobbi Stribling, assistant director of the North American Polo League.
MAKE A WEEKEND OF IT: Players will play for the Gallatin Cup and Spear Ranch Cup today at 1 and 3 p.m., respectively, at the Flying H Polo Club.