Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Polo pony palaces
Tour will take public behind the scenes, and help wounded military
Believe or not, elite polo horses live in the lap of luxury in South Florida, housed inside barn palaces that even offer them spas and treadmills.
Now, an upcoming tour will give the public a rare behindthe-scenes look at five of these prestigious polo facilities, all situated in Wellington.
“These are people who would never open their barns up,” said Randy Russell, of Polo America, a marketing firm helping organize the event.
The March 25 tour, which will shuttle participants in buses to the five barns, is a fundraiser to benefit injured members of the military.
The barns, big enough to house hundreds of horses, were
built to do more than stable horses and store hay. In addition to some of them having horse spas and treadmills, there are medical wings for the horses.
The megabarns also house multiple feeding areas and tack rooms that mirror high-end horse boutiques. For the people who live on the grounds, some barns also have full kitchens and wine cellars.
The Santa Rita Polo Farm houses the Grand Champions Polo Club, which is the home-base of the Audi team and hosts many polo tournaments every year. The property features five barns with a total of 120 horse stalls, a practice track for the horses and veterinarian wings in each barn.
Lisa Ramirez, who runs operations for Santa Rita, said the facility also houses its 120 employees.
Another location, the J5 Valiente Polo Barn, last year received a visit from Prince Henry for a charity event. Visitors will get a chance to see the nearly 80,000 square-foot, 130-stall barn during the tour.
“They’re very privately guarded and trying to get into these barns is difficult,” Ramirez said.
The other three barns on the tour are the 20-acre Double H Farm, Tonkawa Polo Barn and Pony Express Barn
Tickets for the tour cost $50 and proceeds will go toward the Semper Fi Fund, which is an organization that raises money for rehabilitation for post-9/11 members of the military who are either wounded or ill. According to the organization’s website, it has raised more than $144 million since it began in 2004.
The tour is split into four time slots at 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Attendees will meet at Suri West, located at 13410 Southshore Blvd. in Wellington to board the buses 50 people at a time.
So far, organizers say about half of the 200 spots have already been reserved. Anyone interested can buy a ticket by calling Polo America at 760-668-6093.