The short answer: The Northeast is summer polo country, from Long Island and the Hudson Valley to Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Vermont. For a big spectator day, go to Newport Polo in Rhode Island or Tinicum Park in Pennsylvania. For playing, I had great visits at Gardnertown in New York, Simsbury and Yale in Connecticut, and the Boston Polo Club, where I stick-and-balled bareback. I spent a good part of the summer of 2021 here on my tour of every polo club in America.
These notes come from my 2021 and 2022 tour, when I tried to visit every polo club in America as a playing USPA member. Seasons, contacts, and prices change, so check each club's Instagram or the U.S. Polo Association before you go.
Pennsylvania: Tinicum Park Polo Club
Hesham, who runs the club, took me to lunch and couldn't have been kinder. Tinicum plays on a field inside a county park in Erwinna, in Bucks County, on summer Saturdays, and I was told 600 to 1,800 people come to watch. It's one of the best examples I saw of polo built for the public.
New York
Gardnertown Polo Club, Hudson Valley
So nice. Bill and his son comped my play. About 50 horses and a great arena. We ran passing drills while my horse kept pulling.
Meadowbrook Polo Club, Long Island
It rained and there was no play the day I came. Meadow Brook is a name with history: in the 1920s and 1930s, its Westchester Cup matches drew crowds of up to 45,000. More on that in Can America Be the Best in the World at Polo Again?
Saratoga
Mario was charming and invited me to stay for a huge asado with lamb and tons of food, with lights strung up next to the old clubhouse and two fields. Everyone told me Saratoga polo used to be amazing.
Skaneateles Polo Club
I saw the field on a rainy day. It sits in a residential neighborhood with the lake across the street, and the club was hosting a benefit for the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame that weekend.
Connecticut
Greenwich Polo Club
Beautiful fields, very polished, and the full Greenwich experience. I watched an 8-goal final here.
Farmington Polo Club
I got a tour from Heather. Flags everywhere, movies on the jumbotron, hunter-jumper riding, and a girls' summer camp. Farmington sells the whole day.
Simsbury Polo Club
A fun arena crowd to play with and very welcoming. They invited me out for drinks afterward.
Yale Polo
Patrick was so nice and set me up to play two chukkers at 5:30 in the evening. Good arena footing and around 25 to 30 horses.
Rhode Island: Newport Polo
A great spectator experience. A few thousand people, great sound, a jumbotron, a good announcer, food trucks, flags, and fans cheering for individual players by name. If you're bringing friends who've never seen polo, bring them here.
Massachusetts
Myopia Polo Club, South Hamilton
Tricia took me riding. Myopia has two fields and is part of a larger club.
Boston Polo Club
The owner bought the place and runs it himself to keep polo alive there: two large barns, one field, and an arena. I stick-and-balled bareback. A little scrappy, and very real.
Harvard Polo
A quick tour of the indoor arena, barn, and paddocks. There's no outdoor field.
Vermont: Sugarbush Polo Club
I stayed with a lovely family who hosted me, and I took a fall here on a horse named Tequila who bucked the whole way back. An Argentine pro there said he'd never seen anything like it. It was one of my falls that summer. The hardest stretch of my tour is in The Dip.
Tips for polo in the Northeast
Summer only. Most clubs play June through early fall. See the season calendar.
Some clubs are private. Clubs on Long Island and in New Jersey told me they're closed to the public. Watch where you can, and ask politely where you can't.
College teams are out for the summer. Plan around the school calendar.
More regions: what I learned trying to visit every polo club in America.
Finding a chukker in a new state shouldn't take a week of messages. PoloFlow is the app I'm building to fix that. Polo, wherever you are. Join the waitlist.
