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Santa Barbara
Had Teddy Roosevelt been at the Agricultural Park yesterday afternoon, the gallant leader of the fearless Rough Riders would have had to
admit the skirmish on El Caney Hill a very tame affair compared with the recklessly daring feats performed by a number of gentlemen
from the Country Club, who were having their first trial at the fascinating game of polo. War has its certain drawbacks, and some
humane persons have decried football, but they are as nothing compared with learning the game of polo. So say the beginners.
War Is Like Tennis Compared With Polo:
Morning Press, Saturday Morning, May 20, 1899
since most of the ponies traveled “on their tails”
throughout the game. On the day following the
match, he took a tape and measured the longest skid
he could find at 27 feet.
Nevertheless, several members of the Santa
Barbara Country Club (then located on Channel
Drive in Montecito) decided to form a local polo club.
Through the instruction of two “crack players” from
the Burlingame Polo Club, Clement Tobin and Peter
Martin, and with balls, mallets and trained ponies
borrowed from San Diego, the men of the Country
Club diligently prepared for their first match on May 19, 1899 at the Agricultural Park.
On that fateful morning when polo became established in Santa Barbara, the
Morning
Press
reported that the field at the racetrack was in “first class condition, marked and ready
for battle.” Though polo was usually played with eight men, four on a side, there were
only four mallets total so only half the number could play. “Tobin and Martin,” reported
in the press, “appeared in battle array – armored in pretty yellow shirts and riding
trousers. It seemed a pity to risk soiling them. Others present were dressed
in riding suits and other ordinary gear of the children of fortune.