As a young girl, no more than 13 years old, Gillian Johnston embarked on what is now an incredibly successful polo career. She is currently one of only two women regularly competing in high-goal polo and is one of the highest-rated female players. Her success on the field is, in no small part, thanks to the incredible equine athletes she partners with..

Gillian is known as one of the bestmounted polo players in the country. Her horse Beckon was named 2014 Horse of the Year and her string of horses was named Best String of the 2014 season at International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. That is quite an honor considering her string competes against the top horses in the sport, including those of Adolfo Cambiaso, Gonzalo and Facundo Pieres and Mariano Aguerre, whose string won the honor in 2013.

So, from modest beginnings, how does she hone, mold or shape a breeding and training operation to ultimately deliver some of the best athletes in the business, as she has done?

It begins with a love of the horse, and given the chance, for that horse to reach its ultimate potential, playing the sport Gillian loves the most.

Players prefer their horses have certain attributes complementing their own style to create a formidable team on the field. To attain this goal, breeding is paramount. For Gillian, speed and agility are of upmost importance, added to a stable, sound mind. She looks for these characteristics in both the mare and stud when choosing which horses to breed. But, that is not all. Size, talent and temperament all need to mesh together in the coupling of the dam and sire to attempt to create the desired outcome.

Once the calculated match is made and the baby is born, the training program geared toward making an ideal polo pony begins.

The program is relatively simple. The ultimate goal is for the horse to perform to the best of its ability both mentally and physically under pressure. This steady program begins slowly on the Johnston's Flying H ranch. It provides routine and structure for these creatures of habit, allowing for confidence when faced with any staged pressurized situation.

The training program takes on more of a maintenance guise as the horse matures, and the goal is to see these horses graduate into Gillian's high-goal string.

Sealy, Blue Duck and Silver Leaf are prime examples of the success of Gillian's operation.

"Sealy has the best mouth of any horse I've ever played and is super handy; just all around the perfect horse. She has such personality too. She knows she is special," says Gillian.

Blue Duck is the son to beloved and proven mare, Paulina, who came from Carlos Gracida. He was bred and born on the Flying H and has gone on to win numerous Best Playing Pony awards while carrying Gillian safely through many a high-goal tournament wins. Gillian says, "Blue Duck has a huge engine and is extremely handy for a large horse."

While Blue Duck is large, Silver Leaf is relatively tiny. But that hasn't stopped her from being a star. A progeny of another of the Johnston's enormously talented polo playing mares named Maple, Silver Leaf will never lose the fight in a bump with an opponent, she can fly and is super handy.

Gillian has also enjoyed the successes of watching her homebreds go on to play under some of the great 9- and 10-goal players, both locally and internationally. One example is Sassafras who was sold to Eduardo Novillo Astrada. He played her two chukkers in the 2012 Queen's Cup in England and is now playing for him in Argentina.

The success Gillian Johnston has enjoyed has not been by accident. It has been a culmination of calculated planning, implementation, talent, hard work and collaboration. Gillian treats her horses with the utmost respect. In return, they have kept her safe in a dangerous game and helped enhance her own talent while winning some of the world's most coveted titles including the 2002 U.S. Open Championship. This respect comes from her love of the horse, pure and simple.

Brendon Whittle has been managing the G-String operation in Wyoming for Gillian since its inception. Prior to that he groomed and then worked his way up to trainer at the Johnston's Flying H ranch, working with horses bred for both Gillian and Skeeter Johnston.

Whittle came to the United States from South Africa in 1997. He worked with fellow South African Wayne Kvalsvig, who he calls his biggest influence in learning about polo ponies and their training. He also credits Buck Brannaman, a horse trainer known for his natural horsemanship philosophy, with teaching him about starting young horses.

The G-String operation now includes about 90 horses and as Whittle jokes that includes the sick, lame and lazy. "Gillian has a soft spot for her horses," explains Whittle.

Because the breeding season runs concurrently with Flying H's busy polo season in Wyoming, they keep the breeding operation fairly simple.

Whittle goes through the list of about 40 broodmares, crossing off horses with conditions that make them unbreedable. He goes over the list with Gillian, who then decides which mares will be bred and to which of the operation's three stallions. They don't do hand breeding unless they are using a young, inexperienced stud. Instead, a stallion is turned out with the mares he is matched with. After some time, they bring them in and determine which mares are pregnant.

The program also includes embryo transfer using some of Gillians top playing mares. After they play the season in Florida, the mares are summered in Tennessee. During that time, the mares are inseminated, then the embryos are flushed out and placed in recipient mares from the embryo center located in Aiken, South Carolina. The pregnant recipient mares are shipped to Wyoming where they will deliver and then will be shipped back to Aiken when the foal is weaned.

Gillian gets some embryos from mares owned by other players and from time to time she also purchases horses that are off the track. In fact, Beckon came from Corky Linfoot as part of a package and was off the track.

Whittle said most of the top greys Gillian plays in the high goal were sired by the operation's main stud, a grey named Truman. He has since passed on so most of the breeding is being done by a Valid Expectations stud and another named Pingo. Both are new to the breeding program so Pingo's oldest progeny is just coming 3 years old, while the Valid Expectations stud has nothing on the ground yet.

All of the broodmares and studs are proven horses either Gillian or her pros have played or are from bloodlines of proven horses. The program generally produces about 10 to 15 foals a year.

The program hasn't done any cloning so far, though Whittle says cloning intrigues him. "There is a lot to the development of a young polo pony prospect within its environment. There is a human element to it too," says Whittle. "Breeding is not an exact science. I remember something Bart Evans once said: 'You take your best mares, best studs and hope like hell you get something good.' And he is right."

With all that is going on during foaling season, it is not practical to spend too much time with the foals when they are very young. When possible, the mares are kept outside to foal and unless they run into trouble, they do it on their own. After the initial health is checked the newborn foal is left alone to bond with its mother. The mares and foals are kept outside and checked on twice a day during the summer.

When the foals are ready to be weaned, they are brought in in batches, about five at a time, and put in stalls next to each other. Other than basic care, they are left alone for the first three days so they can settle down. After that, they begin to be handled. They are given their first vaccinations and worming and the colts are gelded. At the end of a week, they are turned out with a nanny mare for three or four weeks. When they come back in they get more halter training, they get their feet picked up, they learn to be lead and they get in and out of a trailer before being turned out again.

As yearlings, they get a refresher course in what they were taught as weanlings. Work then begins in a round pen where the colts and fillies are exposed to random pressure with flags, tarps and ropes, allowing them to work through their initial flight reaction to the pressure and become gentle. Whittle does a lot of ground work at this stage. "I get more particular about the way they do things at the end of a halter and lead rope."

They get turned back out and when they are 2 years old, are brought in during the summer. Paul Van Dyke, a contract trainer, begins to saddle break them and puts about 30 days of riding on them. They go back out for the rest of the summer, then are brought back in for another 30 days of riding by Whittle and Matt Huckeba, a fellow trainer. They are ridden each day in an outdoor arena or on the stick-and-ball field doing basic polo drills.

They go back out for the winter and are brought back in in April when the weather breaks. Now 3 years old, they get a refresher course on the ground work and then get exposed to the mallet and ball in an arena. They learn how to meet other players and horses and the players play keep away and tag.

The young horses get turned back out for a month, then start up again working around cattle. Some of the more mature horses might get loaded up in the trailer and go to polo with some of the 4-yearolds; not to play, but just to start getting used to the routine.

The 4-year-olds learn to ride in sets and play slow chukkers a couple of times a week. How much pressure they are put under during the chukkers depends on the horse, but at this stage it is usually very little. On the off days, the trainers do drills like keep away in the arena, or stick and balling on the polo field. This type of training is done until the horse is 5 or 6 years old. Whittle explains that when a horse is played, he generally selects only two or three confidence building plays to make on a horse so as not to put to much pressure on it.

He compares horse training to heating steel in a forge. "If you leave it in the fire too long, it melts. If you put it in the fire for a little while, take it out, then put it back in, this makes the steel stronger. It is the same with horses. You work them a little bit, turn them back out, then bring them in for a short time."

Whittle evaluates the horses when they are around 5 years old. If they are mentally ready to handle the pressure, they are sent to Florida to play regular chukkers under English trainer Richard Dudman. If the horse is not quite ready for the pressure, even if the horse has a lot of talent, it does not go.

The horses that are born with natural ability will likely make it to the top, but Whittle said the reality is some horses will be middle of the road and some will just be polo ponies.

"The ultimate objective of the program is to drop a horse in one end and when it comes out the other end, you've allowed it to reach its full potential," explains Whittle. "The biggest mistake trainers make is to over-expose the horse at times, putting it in a level of polo it just can not handle."

The top horses won't play their first high-goal season until they are 7, 8, even 9 according to Whittle. They will first play a season of 20-goal to see how they handle the pressure before being moved up to the 26-goal.

The horses that are ready to move on are evaluated by Gillian. She sits on each one and determines if its a good match for her. If not, they will go to another player. She has sold horses to many high-goalers such as Sugar Erskine, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Mariano Aguerre.

Whittle says, "We had one horse, Prada, that was too small for Gillian. She sold it to Mariano Aguerre and it was played two chukkers in this year's U.S. Open final by Julian Mannix."

Whittle says seeing a horse that has come through the program and doing well is rewarding. "It is better than a paycheck. Seeing the horses performing under Gillian and those top players is so satisfying. It is also heartbreaking to see one get hurt or not make it, given the time it takes to get it there."

Whittle had the pleasure of working with some of Gillian's top horses including Blue Duck, Silver Leaf, Beckon and Tinsel.

He says, "Blue Duck is a dark bay gelding. I will never forget how lateral the horse was. He was unbelievable. He was super natural and quick. The pros tell me he has unbelievable speed, yet my wife, Shannon, who doesn't ride often, played him in a ladies tournament as a 4-year-old.

"Silver Leaf is a little grey mare but she doesn't know she is little. When training her, she had an unbelievable rate and it felt as if you were just melting into the polo field. She was all heart and that is just something they are born with."

Wiley is another mare that he has high hopes for in the future.

Some of Gillians old soldiers will deliver again this year. Seeing horses come back to the high-goal year after year is a testament to their solid foundation of training and great care.

A couple of horses may be making their debut in the high-goal. Jackpot is a grey gelding off the ranch who will likely play the 20-goal. Whittle said to also keep an eye out for Willow, a bay mare, who may be even better.