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Growing up, did you always know you wanted to be a polo player? What type of influence did your family have on you? I'm a fourth-generation polo player so while I wasn't forced into playing polo, I sort of fell into it. I grew up in that culture, riding horses on a farm. My father's a polo player still. I was kind of molded into that life but at the same time, I never felt like I was forced to play. I played a lot of other sports like golf, tennis and soccer. at was always my life. en I had the opportunity to play in the US Open, which is one of the most important tournaments in the world, at the young age of 15 and we ended up winning it. at's what sort of kick-started my career into playing polo professionally. Did winning the US Polo Open at 15 add any pressure going forward in your career? I didn't really feel any of the pressures back then because I was so young. For me, I was just having fun and it's what came natural to me. I was living my dream, playing a sport that I loved—that my family loved. I was having a lot of fun and working hard to improve every day. I had to grow up fast, obviously, playing with some of the best polo players in the world, traveling alone. It was a pretty amazing experience. How has polo changed over the years since you first started playing? What do you wish more people in the US knew about the sport? Since then, I think it's become way more professional. It's a lot more intense, a lot faster. Like all sports, the athletes get fitter. e horses get fitter, the quality of the horses gets better—everything improves dramatically over time. I think for the most part, the largest mission in polo right now is education. Most people don't even know about the sport, how it works, how intense it is and the amount of training, the amount of hours and dedication that goes into competing at the top level. It's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We don't have any days off. e preparation of the horses is like preparing myself for a marathon. ere are special diets, special training programs—there's a lot that goes into polo. It's not just showing up on a Sunday aernoon in the Hamptons drinking champagne. At the same time, there are different levels of interaction. Anyone, if they have a passion for horses, can play polo. ere are academies all over the United States that are affordable and accessible. It's a sport for all ages, men and women, which I think is pretty cool. It's a great family sport, too. Do you think that polo has the potential to one day become a household sport in America? It's tough, I've been trying for years to change the way people perceive polo. And it's not just me, people like Nacho Figueras and other big ambassadors of the sport are too. But it's difficult because at the end of the day, polo is very much an elitist sport and I think really any equestrian sport is elite. Whether you're jumping, riding or racing horses—the reason horse racing is so big is because they have gambling. I don't think that we will never open up to the level of baseball or basketball, but if you look at sports like golf and tennis, they started out really small and have grown in the past 20 or 30 years thanks to guys like Tiger Woods. I have high expectations so we'll have to wait and see. Some consider polo more of a lifestyle than a sport, and a luxurious one at that. Would you agree and can you tell me why people might see it that way? I agree and I disagree. Yes, polo is a sport played in some of the most beautiful places around the world and at the best time of year to be there. It is indeed played by many royal families and attracts high net-worth individuals and brands as personified in "Pretty Women," for example. However, there is also another side of it. Many of the top professionals in our sport grew up in middle class families and have started from the bottom and rose to the top. ey followed their dreams, worked really hard and got to where they are because of persistence, dedication and passion. To answer your question, polo does has a lavish side. But it also has a side which most people don't realize—that most people don't see and understand. 90 percent of polo games you can go to free of charge or at very little cost and turn up in your jeans and T-shirt for a tailgate. I would encourage your readers to go out and watch a game, it's also super family-friendly. V U E N J . C O M 92

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