Midland, Texas, is addition stop forth the way in Hallie Hightower’s 12-year-old life. She and her ancestors (her ancestor works in oil) accept resided in Calgary, Egypt and now Midland.
One connected for Hallie are the horses.
“I consistently capital to ride horses. It’s a lot of work, but I absolutely like it,” she said aftermost anniversary at the Midland Polo Club that sits aback from Bluebird Lane in arctic Midland.
Hallie was gearing up for her polo academy lesson. She beggared her helmet and leaned adjoin the shoulder-high horse arrest as her new acquaintance Madison Lange, 14, brushed bottomward a horse alleged Dumbo.
Madi, as she’s accepted about the stalls, is accomplished in polo and aggressive advancing up on four years of riding. She has her own horse (a brand of account of sorts amid the sport).
On this accurate Wednesday aboriginal evening, they formed on riding, jumping and amenities and on Fridays they use mallets and assurance to convenance and scrimmage, Madi said, answer the ins and outs of polo rules, which assume to be accounting in a adopted language.
“Madi is an expert,” Hallie said average Madi’s blast advance on the sport.
Madi nodded stoically in agreement.
There are now six girls about their age who assignment calm as a mini polo academy and will attempt in the area’s interscholastic aggregation adjoin clubs in El Paso, Houston and Dallas through the U.S. Polo Association.
“It’s absolutely fun, and it’s an absolute team. We can all accommodated up every day if we appetite and ride together,” Madi said.
To Hallie, the aberrant traveler, it’s a best perspective.
“There’s annihilation like arena a action with a horse. Aback you accept a brawl or a racquet it’s not the same. This, you accept a living, breath beastly alive with you and you comedy calm as one,” Hallie said. “It’s altered … than anything.”
The Midland Polo School, a 501(c)3 nonprofit of which there are a 20 or so in polo academy and a dozen added bodies who booty clandestine lessons, got activity about four years ago by Louisa Fikes and Carolyn Stimmel. Stimmel absolutely accomplished Fikes the action as a adolescent babe at the Midland Polo Club that’s been about for decades.
“We’re acquisitive to accumulate bodies acquainted in and interested,” Fikes said.
The history of polo in Midland stretches to the aboriginal 1900s. Jan Floyd and the Floyd ancestors aloft thoroughbreds on their agronomical south of Midland area a dry basin bed on the Floyd Agronomical served as this area’s aboriginal polo grounds.
By the mid-1930s Midland was the assumption antecedent of polo ponies in the country. Such bounded acclaim as amateur Tommy Lee Jones, and bedrock bandage Cream’s bagman Ginger Baker alleged the Midland Polo Club their playground. Fikes’ polo horse Poquita belonged to Tommy Lee Jones’ wife.
In 1964, a accumulation of advisers abutting calm and founded the Midland Polo Club beneath the active administration of George Landreth.
Fikes came up with starting a Texas League afterwards years of aggravating and now it’s assuredly happening. On April 12 and 13 is aback Midland Polo Club plays host to their leg of the clash starting at 11 a.m. April 12 and continuing into the backward afternoon of April 13. The accessible is acceptable to accompany a barbecue absolute and cafeteria and watch the polo match. Admission is chargeless and the grass is green.
The 40-acre acreage is area the Musselman ancestors about grew up: ancestor Henry Musselman, mother Melinda, Fikes (her affiliated name), Molly and Luke.
A year into starting the academy to which Fikes admits was, and still is, a lot of work, she alleged her sister Molly Musselman to advice teach. Musselman grew up at the club forth with Fikes and their brother Luke (the kids and dad played polo; mom absolved horses and mowed the lawn, Musselman joked). She played polo at Texas Christian University and through the action has accompany all over the world.
“It’s like Winston Churchill said, ‘Polo is your authorization to the world,’ ” Musselman said.
So Musselman, again a agent in Fort Worth, didn’t charge to be asked twice.
“I’ll be there in a second,” Musselman remembers saying. “I was central 8 to 5 all day at a computer. I was so accessible to appear and assignment out there.”
Midland is her home, she said; “all of my (desk) assignment clothes are covered in dust now.”
“We do this because we adulation this sport. We adulation the legacy,” Fikes said.
Like anyone at the Club on any accustomed day will acquaint you: there’s annihilation absolutely like the activity of riding.
Musselman sighed afore answering.
“Being on a horse is the best ameliorative affair anyone can do. A acquaintance abdicate aftermost year and came aback and said ‘I don’t apperceive why I quit,’ ” Musselman said.
The academy eases riders into the sport, she said. Newcomers (most of whom are at atomic accustomed with benumbed horses) charge about a year of benumbed and convenance afore jumping in and affairs $400 helmets or $100 mallets to accumulate up in a action that’s not bargain and requires constant time and dedication.
“The abstraction too, is to sustain the sport. We appetite to alternation them here, and hopefully they break and comedy with us,” Stimmel said.
On one of those airy West Texas afternoons, Stimmel led a assignment with four adolescent bodies in the amid Holt Arena. They rode in the English appearance (as against to Western), bouncing in synchronization with their horses.
“The absorption is growing,” Stimmel said.
>> Contact Lindsay Weaver on cheep at @OAschools, on Facebook at OA Lindsay Weaver or alarm 432-333-7781.
