Sussex Polo

Hector Worsley

I wasn’t the most enthusiastic recruit to riding, but the appearance of a little 11h2 pony called Connie got me going and I was a regular on the hunting field every Saturday. Although for the first 2 years my sister had to jump my pony over all the jumps for me! From this I progressed to the Old Surrey and Burstow Pony Club where I did everything from mounted games, cross country, and pony racing.

I am very fortunate to have a very horsey mother but she was never very keen on polo and at the mention of pony club polo she always stopped listening! Eventually Viv Good managed to recruit me and I played my first season of Handley Cross on a lovely little pony called Millie who was pretty useless at polo but looked pretty… but I was hooked!

At the same time I was given a lovely little thoroughbred which was called “the little brown mare for pony racing” – she was very successful becoming champion in the south east for two seasons running, my riding commitments were taken care of: hunting and racing in the winter and polo in the summer but still there was a lack of support at home – no polo ponies and I had to beg and borrow or ride things that were not that suitable.

This all began to change when I went off to boarding school at Stowe. Polo is a regular activity and I signed up to play whenever I could. Going to Kirtlington Polo Club twice a week and riding lots of different ponies. I was incredibly fortunate that Viv Good took pity on me as my mother was not supporting my passion and Viv found me some fantastic ponies tack and equipment. With my constant enthusiasm my mother has started to change, although she was not amused when I hit a polo ball through a window shattering the glass. She is really good at keeping my ponies fit and healthy while I am at school and transporting them around the country at short notice for matches. I now have a small string of 6 ponies including my champion racing pony, as well as a couple of youngsters and a couple of real old stagers.

I had the most wonderful summer playing at Sussex and cannot wait for next summer. Sussex is so supportive of all the young players and we have such a blast every weekend. I love playing with Jimmy Mulligan whose positive encouragement has helped me improve greatly. It has been nice to play under the team banner “Good Polo” named after Mark and Viv Good who without their help I would not be playing.

It was an honour to receive this award. I am also very grateful to Sallie Anne and her team for a really great 2009 season and am thoroughly looking forward to next season.

Hector Worsley