VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE # 248
AIR DATE: 10 14 2022
TRANSCRIPT

OPEN ((VO/NAT/MUSIC))

BLOCK A

((NATS, Music))
((NATS: Horse galloping, announcer, music))
((Connor Deal
Polo Player))
Keep pushing.
((NATS, Music: Announcer))
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
There’s not many places in the world you can go to watch a polo match for free.
It's the bond between the rider and the pony.
((Ronnie Hayes
Umpire))
It's a sport that once it gets in your blood, you just can't get it out.
((NATS: Horse galloping, music))

((Title/Text on screen))
Polo

The Athlete & Its Rider
((Locator: Crozet, Virginia))

((NATS, Music: Nature sound scaping))
((Geronimo
Horse Groom))
I am the groom of the horses and I work for the family here, taking care of the horses.
((Anibal
Horse Groom))
Anibal is my co-worker and we are a team.
((NATS))
((Geronimo
Horse Groom))
Well, in the morning, we go in. Then we check that the horses are all right.
((NATS))
((Geronimo
Horse Groom))
We give them grain. Grains, electrolytes and supplements.
((NATS))
((Jim Deal
Horse Groom, Polo Player))
We feed them grain only in the morning, but they have a lot of grass in the fields. So, they're pretty much eating all the time.
((NATS: Sound scaping, horse neighing))
((Jim Deal
Horse Groom, Polo Player))
This is a fly mask. So, there are so many flies around here. It gets...they swarm their face and eyes, and it just really helps them to have something covering their face so the flies can't really get to them.
((Connor Deal
Polo Player))
Sometimes they lose them in the field and we're always short of them. We’re always short, looking for fly masks because they rub them off or something. They don't like them. They don't understand why they're good for them.
((NATS, Music))
((Geronimo
Horse Groom))
The horse is very pretty. He likes the work routine and he already knows that now we are going to take a little bath and he is going to rest.
((NATS, Music))
((Jim Deal
Horse Groom, Polo Player))
I'm kind of a groom/player here. I help with the daily care and exercise of these horses. We've got about 15 horses in this barn right now, and I play in the practices. I've got a few of my own here as well. This is probably one of my favorite mares right here. Betty, she was bred and taught to play polo from a really young age. She's out of Argentina, but I got kind of lucky with her because Paints [horse breed] don't typically play polo, but she's an amazing horse. She doesn't have one solid color. They're not the most sought-after color for a polo pony, but this one is kind of an exception in my eyes.
((NATS, Music: Horse galloping & panting))
((Jim Deal
Horse Groom, Polo Player))
Every morning, we get here pretty early. We bring everybody into the barn. We feed them some grain. We give them a good brush, keep their coats looking really nice and then we take them out on sets. And we walk for 45 minutes to an hour and then give them a little trot. Just works on their stamina and endurance, and that's how we exercise them.
((NATS, Music: Horses walking))
((Jim Deal
Horse Groom, Player))
Be careful.
((Geronimo
Horse Groom))
I like the discipline, how they work, how the horses are treated. I wanted to learn, I wanted to learn, and not stop learning. Every day you learn from one, from another. And it’s something nice, something like I told you, it’s a world that if you like, you want more, you want more, you want more. And as time goes by, it’s still the same.
((NATS, Music: Windmill turning, water pouring))
((Ali King
Manager/Player, Roseland Polo))
Do you have these horses ready or no? It doesn’t matter which one I play first, right?
((Geronimo
Horse Groom))
No, it doesn’t matter.
((Ali King
Manager/Player, Roseland Polo))
I would say a lot of what I do here is manage the horses, manage their care, oversee a lot of the injuries. But also, I'm a player. I've been riding horses since I was six years old and from that first day, probably haven't missed many. For me, the polo is still relatively new. I've been doing it for about five years now, competitively for about three. For me, it was always about the horse. You know, when you do have those horses that you've made or even the ones you haven't, and they're picking up on the plays before you are, certainly I play some of them that know the sport better than I do. So, I just have to trust them and go with it. So, I'm frequently just amazed by these animals when I do see them catch the play before I do.
((NATS: Horses galloping))

TEASE ((VO/NAT/MUSIC))
Coming up
((Banner))
Polo
The Athlete and Its Rider
continues

BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))


BLOCK B

((NATS: Horses galloping, panting, sound scaping, Geronimo washing horses, walking onto trailer, horses neighing, wheel barrel))
((Connor Deal
Polo Player))
So, when I first started coming and playing here, there was a lot of older people that had just been playing for a while and there weren't a whole lot of new players coming up.
So, we kind of brainstormed that in order to have a future in the sport and be able to play for a long time, we needed to start getting more players in Charlottesville.
One of the ways to do that is, is through a polo school. So, I started to teach people how to play,
((Photo Courtesy: The King Family))
getting more players to come and play with us, and then kind of raising the level of polo, and then also bringing new players up
((end Courtesy))
as our goal.
((NATS: Bump))
((Connor Deal
Polo Player))
We hit a pothole and the front tire of the trailer is flat. But we have a spare in the back. So, we're really close. We're just going to go slow and then we'll change it at the field. Always, always something.
((NATS, Music: Opening trailer, horses, sound scaping))
((Louisa Huber
Polo Player))
In the season, it's just like your whole day, every day, unless you have people working for you. But we don't. So, we pretty much do it all ourselves. It’s a lot of work but it’s pretty rewarding.
((Maddie Grant
Polo Player))
I work most days in the barn from like seven [in the morning] until six [in the evening]. I don't know, varies. It's like an all day, everyday type of situation.
I get a lot of joy out of being in the barn and get everything ready myself.
((NATS))
((Maddie Grant
Polo Player))
Just wiping the tack down before we start to get the horses ready and make sure everything's clean. If it gets sweaty and then it dries, the leather gets really hard and starts to crack. So, this just like preserves it. And also, when the leather's softer, it's like just nicer to hold and it doesn't give you like blisters on your hands as badly.
((NATS: Wiping tack))
((Maddie Grant
Polo player))
Lucy, stop.
This is her trailer. She gets her way.
((NATS: Wiping leather))
((Maddie Grant
Polo player))
She makes sure everything at the trailer is the way it should be.
((Lou Lopez
Polo Coach, University of Virginia))
I think, there has to be a relationship between the two. I think the polo horse is probably 80% of that relationship. And, you know, they're the ones that are racing to the ball. They're the ones making the ride-offs. The players are making decisions for those horses as far as where to go to be able to pick the ball up. And the players themselves are hitting the ball. So they, you know, they need athletic ability and timing and so forth to be able to do that. But you can be a top player in the world, but if you don't have a horse to support you, you're not going to be able to get there to make the plays necessary to win a match.
((NATS: Horses running, panting, players riding))
((Connor Deal
Polo player))
Now, I'm a little hot.
((NATS, Music: Players talking, laughing))
((Maddie Grant
Polo Player))
Yeah, you can play really hard against someone, and then everyone understands what you're going through and how stressful it can be. So, it's really nice to relax with everyone after the game. That's probably one of my favorite things about polo, is places you go and the people you meet, and everyone is so welcoming and has so much hospitality towards you. It’s really great.
((NATS, Music: Geronimo playing & laughing))
((Maddie Grant
Polo Player))
Lucy is a good barn dog.
She loves to come to the barn, hang out. She started taking on this like protective role of the horses. And whenever I go to ride, she'll stay at the trailer and watch them. And she barks if, you know, someone breaks away or is loose and tries to herd them back. And like 50% of the time, she herds them in the right direction, but she thinks she's helping the whole time.
((NATS, Music))


TEASE ((VO/NAT/MUSIC))
Coming up
((Banner))
Polo
The Athlete and Its Rider
continues


BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))


BLOCK C


((NATS, Music: Sound scaping))
((Voice of Stuart King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
This farm was purchased for the ability to put in a polo field. It was here because it's difficult finding flat ground in Albemarle County. So, that's the entire reason the farm is here, is polo.
((NATS, Music))
((Courtesy: The King Family))
((James King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
Watching him [my father] pursue his passion at this business has become
a way that we've been able to grow the business, sell more wine, and just provide
((end courtesy))
a wonderful place for people to come out and enjoy a polo match.
((NATS, Music: Sprinkler))
((James King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
We are a working farm, first and foremost. We have lots of folks here who we employ to keep the vineyard and keep the farm, operate the tasting room on a daily basis, make the wine. I think people, maybe,
((Courtesy: The King Family))
don't perceive us as farmers sometimes, but we definitely are. We're growing things here and we do everything by hand. Vines are tended by hand. We pick by hand, and all the wine making is done by hand. Sorting the fruit.
((end courtesy))
((NATS, Music))
((James King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
Mama Bear. Mom has been incredible. She's been instrumental and essential for the growth and success of this place.
((NATS, Music))
((James King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
Everything aesthetically that you see has her fingerprints all over it. She has been kind of the guiding hand where my dad says,
((Photo Courtesy: Aaron Watson))
“Well, I want to do this,” she's like, “All right, well, this is how we're going to do it.”
((end Courtesy))
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
And she still works here every day. Really, really, hard. Harder than everybody.
((Photo Courtesy: The King Family))
My dad played starting in the 80s. I think he really liked
((end Courtesy))
((Stuart King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
the farm life and equestrian life and just a competitive sport.
((NATS, Music))
((James King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
My dad always wanted it to be a community event, something free and open to the public. Watching it grow from my dad's passion and hobby to something that the community really loves to enjoy, loves to come out here.
They get to enjoy the green grass, look at the beautiful mountains. They don't even have to buy wine.
((Photo Courtesy: The King Family))
((end Courtesy))
((NATS, Music))
((Stuart King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
Several years ago, when my dad was becoming unable to play - cancer, passed away in ‘19,
((Photo Courtesy: The King Family))
he looked around the room at a dinner and said,
((end Courtesy))
"Who's going to take it up? Somebody's got to play." And of course, the three brothers, nobody rides, nobody raised their hand. My wife, who has been riding since she was little, she said, "I'll give it a try."
((Photo Courtesy: The King Family))
((Ali King
Manager/Player, Roseland Polo))
David King was such an awesome man.
((end Courtesy))
And I would say our connection was really strong in terms of the polo and the love of horses. And he was such a fabulous mentor and definitely pushed me and definitely had expectations or hopes for me that, Lord knows, I hope I'm fulfilling. You know, the idea here is really to honor his legacy.
((NATS, Music))
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
There is, I think, a misperception out there from movies and media about polo, and that it's all glamorous and big hats and dresses and the whole bit and charcuterie boards, right?
But, in reality, on the other side of the field, where all the gritty work gets done, you know, it's cold beer or sometimes warm beer. And at the end of the day…and jumps in a horse trough to cool off, and scooping horse poop, and all the rest. So, it's a lot of work that goes in. You've got to be willing to do, to take care of a field and take care of the horses because we treasure them as teammates.
((NATS, Music))
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
If you boil polo down to the salient point, it's the bond between the rider and the pony. That is the unique thing that gets in the blood of polo players.
((Polo player))
Whoa.
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
It's the ultimate challenge. I mean, just riding at the speeds that you've seen and hitting a little bitty ball with a 54-inch [1.4 m] bamboo mallet.
((NATS, Music))
((Connor Deal
Polo player))
Oh, no.
((NATS, Music: Horses galloping))
((Maddie Grant
Polo player))
Behind every successful polo player, there's a lot of really hardworking people that help them keep the horses in the best shape possible and all of their equipment in the best shape possible.
((NATS: Sound scaping, birds tweeting, sprinkler sound, barn door closes))
((Text on screen))
Match Day
((NATS, Music: Sound scaping, birds))
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
When we drop the chain and let people come and watch, and when they pull in, everything looks organized and ready. But it's the 24 hours before that, every single week. And then planning with weather and watching if we can even a have polo so it's safe enough for the horses, of getting it lined and cut and the horses ready and the tails tied and the shoes ready and the mallets set up right and all the tents. So, it's right before the circus starts, it just feels like you're stomping fires out and every few minutes, there's another fire. But we've got a great team here. And the boys and Mom, we all pitch in. We love to work.
((NATS, Music))
((Stuart King,
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
Here on Sundays, managing the scoreboard and helping set everything up.
((NATS, Music))
((Carrington King
Co-owner, King Family Vineyards))
We love to share this property with anybody that wants to come enjoy a little slice of central Virginia. And the funniest times are just trying to scramble and get everything ready right on time, so that we can entertain but people can share in this awesome sport.
((NATS, Music))
((Grace Burgert
Match announcer, Polo Player))
Umpire is going to throw our ball in and get us ready to go.
((NATS, Music under announcer))
((Grace Burgert
Match announcer, Polo Player))
We'll have a lot of really nice hitters out here today, so those balls can come flying. Both the horses and the balls can hop the boards pretty easily. So, make sure you have your eye on the ball.
((Polo player))
Whoa.
((NATS, Music))
((Grace Burgert
Match announcer, Polo Player))
Flicks it back for himself trying to set himself up for a better shot.
Mark playing nice, tight defense today.
((NATS, Music: Horses running))
((Polo player))
Hey.
Coming behind. Coming behind.
((NATS, Music: Mallet hitting balls, players talking))
((Ronnie Hayes
Umpire))
It's very intense. It’s a very fun sport. A lot of people come to watch and they've never tried it. I think if you try it, you'll be addicted quick because it's a sport that once it gets in your blood, you just can't get it out. It's very intense. There's a lot of spirit to the game when it's played and you're competing against people that love horses and love the sport.
((NATS, Music: Horn blows. Sound scaping))
((Credits:
Writer/Producer: Marsha James
Reporter/Camera: Phil Alexiou and Randall Taylor Jr.
Drone Remote Pilot: Alexander Casas
Video Editor: Randall Taylor Jr.))


CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect


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BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))


SHOW ENDS