Potomac Polo School Red Eagle Ranch Hosts Intensive Clinics Blue vs White: Ryan Carey goes for the hook on Nicole Roche in the Level 1 Game. Red Eagle Ranch is the home of Potomac Polo School, the oldest polo school in the United States. Located in Poolseville, Maryland, the Red Eagle Ranch hosts several clinics annually and the most recent one took place on June 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2002. The weather was spectacular for the three days, with sun and welcome breezes bathing the beautiful Maryland countryside. Classroom sessions, video review and chalk talk discussions were held in a dramatic setting inside a historic stone building (circa 1823) on the site of a Union encampment from the Civil War. Horsemanship classes were held just a stone’s throw away at the main Red Eagle barn where each polo pony relaxed between riding and polo sessions in its own fan-cooled stall. And when it got too hot (or maybe it was just the class having fun with each other) there was always a pond nearby, which was handy for tossing in a student or two at the end of the day. Charlie Muldoon (6 goals) led the clinic. Charlie has competed at the highest level of polo nationally and internationally, including the World Cup, the U.S. Open, the Geneva Open (Switzerland), the FIP World Championship (Chile) and the Camera de Deputados. He has also won the 1999 20-goal Texas Open and the 2001 26-goal USPA Gold Cup. Charlie’s talented sister Mary Louise Muldoon (1 goal), owner of the Red Eagle Ranch, served as co-instructor. The age of the students in the clinic ranged from mid-teens to 30’s, with experience spanning junior intermediate (level-1) to highly competitive interscholastic play (level 2). The three full-day sessions were jam-packed with discussion between students and instructors, class interaction, video analysis, skills development, mini-mallet practice, horsemanship, safety, tacking-up, and playing time. Many aspects of successful team play were emphasized including rules and regulations, foul shots, bowl-in and knock-in strategies. Both classroom and daily on the field practice with stick and ball sessions and scrimmage chukkers kept the momentum building toward participation in the tournament. The clinic ended with the highly anticipated inter-student 4-chukker tournament. Over 70 people turned out to watch and cheer the four teams in their whites and jerseys. A traditional trophy and award presentation was held in the late afternoon under the setting sun, followed by a barbeque and party with parents, relatives and friends that carried well into the evening Everyone had a memorable and exciting learning experience with new skills and friendships gained as a result of their participation. Parents were no less enthusiastic. One father, while pulling a third (or was it a fourth?) cold beer from the cooler, was overheard remarking at the post tournament party that polo events were a lot more fun than other equestrian competitions that he had attended with his daughter. Polo people truly are a fun loving crowd! Another parent noted that her son, who is an experienced interscholastic polo player, said that the clinic provided the best instruction and the most fun he’s ever had. Since the Red Eagle Ranch offers polo lessons six times a week there’s plenty of opportunity for everyone to come back for more — and that’s exactly what all of the local clinic attendees have done. Tournament Results Level I Game: Partridge Family vs. Flying Bamboo Princesses These two level 1 teams had more than just interesting team names. They had nothing but smiles on their faces throughout and after the tournament. No individual player had more than one year of experience in polo, although many had several years of showing and dressage. Most have been taking polo lessons weekly at Red Eagle Ranch for the past year and used the intensive clinic to move their polo playing to the next level with a distinct focus on team strategy and tournament play. The game was close for the first two chukkers with the Partridge Family in the lead throughout and finally pulling away for good in the third chukker. Laurie Hourahan played tough and converted two penalties shots for Partridge Family. A scoreless fourth chukker signaled the end for the Flying Bamboo Princesses who were defeated by the Partridge Family by a score of 4 to 1. Julia Smith with two goals was Most Valuable Player; Nicole Roche was given the Red Eagle Sportsmanship award, a silver eagle necklace exemplifying the spirit of polo at the Red Eagle Ranch; and Monte Lewis from Australia who had previously only played polo crosse and who also got thrown into the pond by Charlie Muldoon, received the Most Improved Player award. Level 2 Game: Red Bull-2 vs. Coca Cola-2 In the fastest and most surprising game of the day, two equally matched and strong teams met to decide if youth would succumb to age. Team Red Bull, named after the prodigious quantities of a certain energy drink consumed prior to the game, had age on their side with their youngest player being 37 years old while Coca Cola had two players under 18. Coca Cola got off to a bad start after the first bowl in when team captain Dr. Dante Tedaldi got caught up in the excitement, lost his bearings and mistakenly hit a booming offside backshot far downfield against his own goal. Fortunately, his fast reacting teammates picked up the ball and quickly moved it to goal at which point Dr. Tedaldi redeemed himself by scoring the first point with a successful foul shot. From that point onward Coca Cola’s highly effective team play dominated the game with five impressive goals from Jarrett Freeman (Most Valuable Player) an additional penalty conversion from Dr. Tedaldi (Most Improved Player) and one from Stan Feldman (Red Eagle Sportsmanship Award). Red Bull’s only score came from penalty 1 awarded to team captain Dr. Val Baliad. Dr. Baliad summed it up best after the game when he was heard to remark, "We just basically got spanked by those guys; they made some incredible plays."  Want to see more stories and photos, check out the Tack shop directory where you can pick up a copy of Sidelines. Or call 561-790-6506 for a subscription.

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