During the week of October 23, over 300 trainers and their recently retired racehorses began escending on the barns at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky for the Annual Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover.

While any breed of horse is acceptable in polo, Thoroughbreds have always been popular. Racing Thoroughbreds are identified by a tattoo inside the top lip.This tattoo allows you to look up the horse’s breeding and racing history.

Training off-the-track Thoroughbreds is a bit different than a horse that has only seen polo. Choosing the right horse is key. Most trainers agree the horse’s temperament is an important factor, while size and gender are more a trainer’s preference.

Mahubo I heard about the Retired Racehorse Project in November 2015 after some polo players I knew had competed. When I acquired a Thoroughbred that came right from the track on Halloween, I looked up the rules for entering and realized my horse would qualify. Mahubo was offered to me by my former trainer David Raposa from Clinton, New York. My previous experience with training Thoroughbreds was that they take a long time to make and require a lot of patience. I rode hunters and equitation horses growing up in upstate New York, competing at the highest levels trained by Raposa until I went to college, joining Cornell’s polo team. What I learned from Raposa has carried over into what I teach my young riders and players. He has had an enormous influence in my life. When I got a call from him saying he had a horse he thought would make a good polo pony, I was intrigued. I first perked up because I had not really heard from him in 30 years, and it was great to hear from him. Second, the horse seemed so interesting—not your average horse at the track. The horse was from South Africa and had raced all over the world including Dubai, England, Canada and all over the U.S. When I asked for a photo, Raposa suggested I google “Mahubo Racehorse” on youtube.com. Of course, it was going into the winter months in Maryland and the last thing I wanted was a high-strung 9-year-old Thoroughbred coming to me straight off the track. But after watching the videos and speaking with my ex-trainer, I said, ‘sure, send him down.’ Mahubo arrived muscled, sleek and shiny, prancing around so happy to be free from life in a stall. He was my new favorite horse. He has a chocolate lab personality that is so endearing. He loves treats, grooming, feeding time and to be ridden. Right off the bat, I knew he had class. Mahubo had raced 44 times and his body felt tired. The reason I was fortunate enough to acquire him was because he had stopped trying. He was tired of racing. After giving him time to settle in, I started working him in the dead of winter, in her indoor arena. He rode like a dream—smooth gaits, effortless lead changes, for the most part a very quiet and easy horse to ride, but he was body sore. I gave him rest, supplements for his joints, minerals, special feed to maintain his weight and even had a horse chiropractor look at him. He was generally in excellent health, just a little worn out. He had shipped in from New York with another horse and after the two were turned out together they became fast friends. They soon became inseparable, making it difficult to work with Mahubo. I moved the gelding to a field with other horses, but he was at the bottom of the pecking order and got chased around and bitten up by the other horses. He had so many bite marks, after a while he looked like a ranch horse. I began his training by riding him around while giving lessons to little kids on bombproof polo ponies and umpiring arena polo lessons. It helped him get used to balls careening past him and other horses zooming back and forth in the arena. This was very exciting for Mahubo and he would frequently kick up his heals, buck and take off to keep up with the pack of players. Eventually, he got used to the action, but if he hears the crack of a whip near him, he tucks his rump and bolts forward. Too many years of racing has conditioned him to move forward and fast with the crack of a whip. In preparation for the Makeover competition, I removed him from the field with the other horses to give him his own space. Without the stress of being chased around, he grew a nice coat, though trying to keep weight on him without him getting hyper was a bit of a trick. Three months of isolation and individual attention helped him turn a corner in his training. He traveled to outdoor practices and slow chukkers and was very good at the trailer and on the field. He is also comfortably scrimmaging with the varsity students in the arena. Mahubo had done a lot of traveling previously and the trip to Kentucky for the competition was the first long road trip since he had arrived at my farm. I was worried he would associate the travel and new surroundings with a trip back to the racetrack ... but he seemed to settle in just fine and didn’t act a bit nervous. We arrived a day early and had the opportunity to ride in the covered arena. There was so much to look at and lots of loud noises, tarps and banners. He was a little more amped up then I would have liked, but we rode around and got his nerves under control. Once he realized he was not warming up for a race, I was able to pick up a mallet and calmly stick-and-ball like he was used to back home, which seemed to calm him. I got to see some of the other polo competitors who were all stabled together. It was a neat little community of polo players supporting one another. We were all very nervous about our performances because they were individual performances showcasing the skills our horses had learned. Most players are used to the team aspect of polo. Well, for seven minutes we were alone in the arena with our horse, showing the maneuvers we had schooled them to perform. We had to demonstrate running, checking and release, roll-backs, lead changes and finally, stickand- ball work. All the while, the announcer would point out the horse’s race history and accomplishments of the trainer. My demonstration on Mahubo went well. He was calm, in control and I had a great time riding him and stick-and-balling but the judges wanted me to go faster in all the elements. I was OK with going steady and being conservative. It was great for me to finish in the top six and have had the opportunity to follow through on the whole process with my horse. We had a really great experience and I am incredibly proud of him and the strong Maryland representation at the event. It was a fun weekend overall for everyone and an experience I will never forget. – by Kelly Wells

Mike Groubert, who entered a 4-yearold Florida-bred Filly in this year’s competition and is currently training six other off-the-track Thoroughbreds, said the personality or soul is as equally important to conformation.

Once a horse is chosen, the first 30 days is key to the horse’s development. Charlie Muldoon, a former 7-goal player, director of the USPA Umpires LLC and one of this year’s competition judges explained how the first 30 days differs depending on the age of the horse and its history. “A horse that is 2-3 with only race training is very different from a 3- to 4-year-old with multiple races under its belt. Once a horse is ready to begin work, just getting it out and teaching it to relax under saddle helps with future training.”

Kentucky-based professional player Jorge Vasquez, the other competition judge, is a proponent of some ground work and a couple of rides before turning the horse out for a month to allow its mind and body to return to that of a normal horse.

Most trainers agree Thoroughbreds generally need to start by learning to relax, followed by neck reining. A mallet is generally introduced early on, but from there it differs based on the horse. A horse might not like meeting other horses or being in ‘traffic’ with other horses, while another might favor one lead over another. In any case, building the horse’s confidence will help make a better pony. Vasquez said, “The more patience you have, the quicker you will get to the field.”

Competitors came together from all 50 states to show the progress they had made in less than 12 months of training their retired racehorses, in one of 10 different disciplines, including polo.

This year’s polo division had 14 entries after three scratched, with competitors coming from Maine to Florida and Michigan and all points in between. Trey Schott from Kentucky and Mark Powers from Ohio returned from last year’s polo division. Schott entered two horses, Sergio’s Rose and Sahara Sunrise, who was also entered into the competitive trail division. Powers is the only player to compete in all four RRP Makeovers in the polo division.

The first round of polo competition was on October 27, so Barn 7’s polo alley began filling up two days prior. The players used the extra days to get their horses familiar with the covered arena.

The competition consisted of two parts. The first was a set pattern demonstrating the horses’ ability to execute such things as lead changes, tight circles, halts and roll-backs, exercises critical for a polo pony to master. The second part of the competition, which in combination with the first had to be completed in seven minutes, was a stick-and- ball session where trainers demonstrated all of the major shots, showing their horses could handle the mallet and ball. The top three competitors in each division moved on to a final round on Saturday.

Schott was the first competitor, entering the arena on Sahara Sunrise. He was followed by Crystal Rutten from Florida on Tamazula Rose. Trey’s son Buck Schott was next on his pretty chestnut mare Strong Angel. Marisa Bianchi from Maryland followed Buck’s strong performance on ThunderontheBeach, who like Buck’s horse is out of Thunder Gulch.

The competition continued with Laura Goddard from West Virginia on Paulies Pick; Maryland-based pro, trainer, farrier and certified umpire Juan Carlos Gonzalez on Illbegetttinggold; 2015 Equine Welfare Award winner Mike Groubert on Ruby Queen; Jessica Henwood from Maryland on her big grey Callmebelladonna, who also competed in the hunter division; 15-year-old Lea Jih-Vieira from Maryland on 3-year-old Accardi; Oliver Keithly from Maine on Smuggler’s Hold (Keithly’s wife also competed a horse in the dressage division); Michigan State polo coach Paul Knapp on Hello Mama; Mark Powers on Spark D’Shark; polo instructor and coach Kelly Wells from Maryland on world traveler Mahubo; and Trey Schott finished out the first round on his second horse Sergio’s Rose.

After deep deliberations, the judges selected Buck Schott, Marisa Bianchi and Juan Carlos Gonzales to compete in the final round. Polo was eighth out of the 10 disciplines to compete, so the atmosphere was very different from the earlier round. This time the arena was packed with people from all of the disciplines.

The three polo trainers put on almost flawless performances and got some of the loudest applause of the afternoon from the packed house.

In the end, the judges selected Buck Schott for first place, Marisa Bianchi for second place and Juan Carlos Gonzales for third place.

The makeover was a unique experience for polo players as it allowed an opportunity to focus on the horses and their training. It also opens opportunities to network with fellow polo players from around the country as well as to learn from equestrians from other disciplines.

Editors note: Neil Agate helped start the polo division at the Retired Racehorse Project. His mare Josie Homemaker was entered into the competition, but Agate was injured in a polo match prior to the competition and was unable to compete.

Josie Homemaker, an 8-year-old Florida-bred mare, raced primarily on the east coast, making 48 starts, with 11 wins and $125,000 in earnings. Other scratches included Olivia Stringer and her Footprintinthesand and Hugo Pasten with Simple Life.

– By Neil Agate and Lara Straussfeld
– Gwen Rizzo contributed to this article