Competitive Beach Polo a Harbinger of Summer

James Gadea, Bridget Torrey, Leo Mejia & Ted Torrey

Snow, sand, freezing temperatures, and…….. polo?

With wintry accents as a background, and snow dusted dunes, fiery matches on Second Beach followed a heavy snowfall for Beach polo, featuring two

James Gadea(#3), Dan Keating(#2), about to strike the ball, Bridget Torrey & Ted Torrey

competing teams playing in 4-chukker matches lasting an hour and a half. A bundled-up crowd cheered on the spectacle of horsemanship and enjoyed panoramic views of one of New England’s finest beaches.

The event was a low-impact, eco-friendly exhibition played on the inter- tidal area of the beach at low tide, in keeping with the Parks and Recreation

Department guidelines for horses and off-season use of the beach. Horses are accustomed to sand footing in their natural habitats all over the world, including the desert southwest. The thoroughbred polo ponies are highly fit, and exercised year-round in arena polo, played on similar footing materials.

The players for Newport included Bridget and Ted Torrey, Leo Mejia, Jonathan Kaye and James Gadea, as well as Captain Dan Keating.

Dan Keating & James Gadea (#3)

A professional color commentator and DJ gave the play by play, explaining the progress of each match, and entertained the audience with music between periods. Saturday’s results were: Newport defeated Boston’s ‘Myopia’ 3-1. Sunday’s results were a 6-6 tie between North Island and South Island teams (Aquidneck Island).

“Newport Polo aimed to highlight the unique assets of Newport County by combining a popular spectator event and the year-round natural beauty of the sea shore,” stated Dan Keating, president of Newport Polo. “We were pleased to see a good showing by our loyal fans, as well as those who had never seen polo before, in conjunction with the Newport Winter Festival.”