‘Hockey on horseback’

Teen polo players competed in super-charged and high-velocity matches Saturday night at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center’s 25th anniversary polo event.

Players gripped their horses tightly as they swung a long-handled mallet at a small plastic ball, hoping to score a point against the opposing team inside the center’s indoor arena, the Equidome.

The teens’ polo event preceded Saturday’s main events: the Harry Winston celebrity polo game and the professional polo game. The celebrity game began at 7 p.m. and featured past celebrity players Bill Devane, Alex Cord, Doug Sheehan and Grainger Hines. A professional polo game at 8:30 p.m followed the celebrity game.

The teens practiced their polo skills two to three times a week before their match.

Danielle Kammann played in Saturday’s event for the Poway Polo Club, but the match wasn’t her first.

The 17-year-old Poway resident was introduced to the sport two years ago after participating in rodeo events.

“I love how it turns into an active sport,” Danielle said. “It’s thrill-seeking.”

Steven Paulson, captain of the Poway Polo Club, began playing three years ago but rode horses since he was a child.

“Polo is kind of an active and enduring sport,” he said.

The 16-year-old also trains young horses in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to get accustomed to the conditions on the polo field. To train the horses, he swings a long-handled mallet from his right to left as he rides a horse so it doesn’t get startled by the mallet.

He described the sport as “hockey on horseback.”

Steven and his team play in polo matches once a month.

“It is a competitive and aggressive sport,” said Billy Sheldon, who has coached the Poway club for 15 years.

Though he is a professional player, Sheldon said he advises the teens to get an education and become financially stable before they consider becoming professional polo players.

“This sport costs a lot of money,” he said. “You are a nomad, and it’s hard on families.”

A strong camaraderie forms among polo players because they don’t have the opportunity to visit their immediate families as often as they’d like, Sheldon said.

Though the teens are opponents on the field, they are friends off the field, Steven said.

“It’s like playing football against a friend,” said Daniel Galindo, who at 15 has played polo most of his life.

His father is a professional polo player, who played in Saturday night’s pro game. Galindo’s three siblings also play polo.

Galindo, who plays for the Eldorado Polo Club, said he loves the fast-paced excitement of the sport.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “You’re nervous if the horse is going to fall and hurt it[self] or yourself.”

Lakeside Polo Club player Hollie Bogges, 14, said she is always nervous about safety on the polo field.

She said she is trying to perfect her swing so she can score more often and be more stable on the horse.