THE
HISTORY
OF
Conran
folo
An Autobiographical
History of Collegiate
Polo and its Players
at Cornell University
1919-1972
by Stephen J. Roberts,
DVM, MS’38
THE HISTORY OF CORNELL POLO
An Autobiographical History of Collegiate Polo
And its Players at Cornell University
1919- 1972*
by Stephen J. Roberts, DVM, MS '38
"Once a polo player always an enthusiast"
Devereux Milburn
Dedicated to Beejay Roberts, a polo player's wife and loyal helpmate for 53 years.
* and Beyond.Copyright 1996 by Stephen J. Roberts. All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or
otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright
Act.
ISBN 978-0-615-34975-6
Second Printing 2010
Printed in the United States of America by Sharp Printing, Sanborn, NYTable of Contents
Preface ......................................................................... 1
References and Source Material....................................................3
Coaches of College Polo...........................................................4
Colleges and Preparatory Schools Playing Polo, 1933-1972 .......................6
Northeast and Midwest Polo Teams (non-college) Playing in the 1930's............7
Cornell Polo	Horses,	1933-1972 ..................................................8
Donors of Polo Horses to Cornell, 1946-1972.....................................9
Notes on Various Polo Horses, 1933-1972.........................................10
"Split-string" Basis of Intercollegiate Polo Games...............................14
"The Horses" -- a poem by R. Gilder.............................................15
Cornell Polo, 1919-1932- Polo Magazine...........................................16
Cornell Polo	Players,	1919-1930................................................ 17
Cornell Polo	Players,	1932-1940................................................ 20
Cornell Polo	Players,	1942-1950................................................ 33
Cornell Polo	Players,	1950-1960.................................................44
Cornell Polo	Players,	1960-1972................................................ 55
Significant Role of Ralph Hospital in Polo at Cornell...........................69
Stable and Riding Hall Facilities................................................71
Administrative and Stable Personnel..............................................77
Commandants of Cornell ROTC......................................................78
Finances and Support for Polo....................................................79
Women's Polo at Cornell (mid-1930's).............................................82
SJ. Roberts, Autobiography, Cornell Polo and Coaching Philosophy................84
Cornell Student Equitation, Polo Clubs and Horse Shows..........................90
Intercollegiate Indoor (Arena) Championships.....................................92
Excellent Collegiate Polo Players (up to 1972).................................. 94
College Players of Note Through 1972............................................96
U.S. Polo Association Officers from the College Ranks...........................97
Participants in Youth Programs in Polo...........................................98
Varsity vs. Coaches: an Ode to Doc by M. Andrew.................................99
Cornell Polo Song & The Fifth Chukkar...........................................100
The Quechee Polo Club (after Banjo Paterson) by M. Andrew.......................101
Dedication Ceremony, Cornell Equestrian Center, Pine Tree Road..................102
Memorial Service for Frank H. Page, Sage Chapel (12/87).........................105
Brief Autobiography of Dr. S. J. Roberts for Nomination into the
U.S. Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, 1996........................... 109
"Cornell Polo Rides On"- Cornell Countryman 1994 ...............................Ill
Coaching Abstracts............................................................. 113
Do's and Don'ts in Arena Polo (S.J. Roberts)....................................114
Summary of the Intercollegiate Championships....................................118
Obituary of Stephen J. Roberts..................................................119Acknowledgment
The polo players and coaches wish to express their appreciation and gratitude for the
considerable long-time efforts and care of Joyce Reyna in the preparation of this History of Polo
at Cornell.

THE Jt.O. T. C. POLO TEAM	Photo bj Troy Studio
Left to right. Top Row Hayes, Huasbcrgcr, Weiss, Stcutzzr, Flack. Center Row: Hayden, Harrison, Cook, Anderson, Reis, Hamilton, Nutting, Sears.
Bottom Row: Haas. Stevenson, Graydon (Capt.), Hertz, Cape. J. A. Stewart (Coach), Ranncy (Mgr.), Baldwin, Forgan, Gardner.
Cornell Alumni News December 11, 1930
Editors Note: This book was originally printed in 1996. Doc made only 20 copies which
were distributed at that time. In "republishing" this book in 2010, we have attempted to keep
the content intact- only making minor changes/additions where errors/omissions were clearly
obvious. We have also attempted to include as many of the original photos as possible while
substituting where they were not and adding many more that were not in the original book. We
apologize in advance for any oversight as none are intentional. Thank you to Dale Chambers,
Danny Scheraga, Doug Antzcak, Bill Tutton, Dan Ladd, Dierk TerLouw & Peter Orthwein among
others and especially to Kristin Taylor for her cover artwork and to Wai Wong for her cover
design and scanning each of the 80 pictures in this book. This "republishing" is a tribute to Doc
and the legacy he left behind for all of us to enjoy, cherish and preserve.
Doc passed away on January 21, 2005- his obituary is included at the end of this document.Preface
Doc Roberts played polo on the Cornell Freshman and Varsity teams from 1933-
1937 and was a member of the graduate team in 1937-1938. He coached polo at Cornell in
1942 and from 1946-1972. During the latter period he played in a number of indoor or
arena tournaments and served on the Handicap and Arena Rules Committees of the U.S.
Polo Association. He conducted numerous polo training schools at Cornell and in the
northeast. After retiring from the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell
he was in veterinary practice with his brother, Jim, in Woodstock, Vermont. He assisted in
establishing the Quechee Polo Club in 1974 where he was an active player, delegate and
coach of the Club until 1993. His wife, Beejay, passed way in November 1991. In 1993 he
and his brother sold their practice and Doc married Ruth W. Shipman and moved to Bath,
NY, 50 miles southwest of Ithaca. Since 1993, he has been a member of the USPA Rules and
Veterinary Committees.
As the custom, inherited from the British and the U.S. Army, parties or "gatherings" of
the two competing teams and friends were held after all games at Cornell. This social time
provided for recounting occurrences during the game but also made for long and lasting
friendships between participants and coaches often including female friends who frequently
became the future wives of the players. Thus Doc and B. J. Roberts were able to make many
long-standing friendships with many polo players, students, alumni and friends not only at
Cornell but at other colleges and polo clubs. These friendships and acquaintances in the polo
"fraternity" have been preserved and cherished.
Both indoor (arena) and outdoor polo was played by Cornell and other college teams
from the end of World War I (about 1919). From this year to 1942 nearly all college teams
were "sponsored" by the Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) having field artillery or cavalry
instruction units. The coaches were largely Army officers and the players ROTC students. A
very full schedule of games from October through May against other college ROTC teams,
and National Guard Units having horses, arenas and teams in all of the larger cities of the
northeast and midwest. This era came to an end during World War II (about 1942-1943)
when nearly all field artillery and cavalry units were terminated and replaced with motorized
or tank units and the paving of the National Guard Armories to accommodate such
equipment. Following the end of World War II, polo was only sporadically played at relatively
few colleges that had arenas and outdoor fields and supported or encouraged by local polo
clubs often made up of alumni of the college. It was not until the late 1960's and early 1970's
that more than 4 to 6 colleges could field teams of significant quality. With the great increase
in popularity of equine sports and polo in the 1970's and 1980's, many more men's and
women's collegiate teams have been formed.
1References and Source Material
I.	Personal Communications:
Mrs. Ralph J. (Louise) Hospital, 1984, Ithaca, NY
Mr. Frank H. Page, 1984, Ithaca, NY
Mr. William Tutton, 1984, Ithaca, NY
Mr. Dierk TerLouw, 1984, Ithaca, NY
Mrs. Jane (Tutton) Silvernail, 1966
Mr. John S. Pfleuger, Akron, OH, 3/26/51
Gen. Ralph Hospital, Ithaca, NY 9/29/53
II.	Magazine Articles and Books:
1.	Yearbooks of the United States Polo Assoc. (1983-1984), Executive Plaza, Suite 506,
1301 West 22nd Street, Oakbrook, IL, 60521 (Blue Books).
2.	Topliffe Sawyer. (1930) "The Galloping Game", College Humor, April, pp 68, 69, 101,
102, 104.
3.	Capt. J. A. Stewart. (1931) P-O-L-O, Rider and Driver, March 14th, p.22.
4.	A. M. Weir. (1934) "Cornell Horse Show History", Cornell Countryman, 31,8.
5.	Nona Sutton. (1953) "Pounding Hooves -- The Galloping Game", Cornell Countryman,
March.
6.	Margaret E. Saturn. (1956) "Hockey on Horseback", Cornell Countryman, February.
7.	Robert J. Kane. (1962) "Tops in the Country", Cornell Alumni News, 64, 10 (May), 31-33.
8.	A Brief History of Scholastic, Collegiate and Women's Polo in America, 1992,
Dennis T. Amato, 5 Crow's Nest, Port Washington, NY 11050.
III.	Newspaper, magazine articles and polo programs saved by:
General Ralph J. Hospital (Major in 1934, Colonel 1937) from 1919-1933 and presented
to S. J. Roberts in a large album in 1972.
S. J., B. J., J. F. and Elizabeth Roberts (wife, father and mother) and friends from 1933-1972.
These included the Cornell Daily Sun, The Cornell Chronicle, Ithaca Journal, New York Times,
New York Herald Tribune, Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo Courier Express, Cornell Alumni News,
New Yorker Magazine, Chronicle of the Horse, Polo Newsletters by U.S.P.A., Polo Magazine,
Sports Illustrated, Cornell & Yale Polo Programs, Squadron A Polo Programs and others.
Doc and Beejay
3Coaches of College Polo
Cornell
Army (ROTC) Officers (1921-1942)
Col. Thomas J. Christian, 1921-1923.
(Col. Christian was the grandson of General Stonewall Jackson).
Maj. Richard E. Anderson, 1923-1926.
Capt. Hugh J. Gaffey, 1927-1929.
(Capt. Gaffey became Chief of Staff of General George S. Patton's Third Army that drove through
Europe in World War II. General Patton was a hard driving, aggressive polo player in every game
from his days as a West Point cadet through the late 1930's. He was married to Beatrice Ayer,
Fred Ayers sister and Neil Ayers aunt of Hamilton, MA)
Capt. John A. Stewart, 1929-1930.
Maj. M. E. Hopkins, 1930-1932.
Capt. S. E. Bullock, 1931-1933.
Capt. E. 0. Hopkins, 1933-1935.
Maj. Charles (Chick) S. Ferrin, 1932-1934.
Maj. C. E. Boyle, 1935-1937.
Capt. John R. Pitman, 1937.
Capt. G. B. Coverdale, 1939.
Maj. George Metcalf, 1938-1942.
Lt. R. Blatz, 1942.
Lt. J. P. Downing, 1942.
S. J. Roberts, 1942. (No polo 1943-1946), 1946-1972.
(Assisted by Frank H. Page, DierkTerLouw and William Tutton)
Dierk TerLouw, 1972-1974.
Irving Allen, 1974-1975.
Dan Scheraga, 1975 -1985.
David Eldredge, 1985 to present (1996)
4Yale
Frank Butterworth Jr., 1931-1942, 1946-1968.
Albert Marenholz, 196? -196?
Daniel Wallace, ?-1972
Univ. of Connecticut
Hal Vita, 196(?)
Wm. Le Royer, 197(?) -
Harvard
Lester Crossman, 1967 - 1968
Michael Andrew, 1969 -1970
Valley Forge Military Academy
Col. Eugene A. Fischer, 196(?) -1970.
Culver Military Academy
Capt. Jack Fritz, 1947 -1953,
Maj. Ray Walmouth.
Col. Kitts.
Col. Gerald J. Graham, 1959 -
CSM Hudson, 197(?) —
Univ. of Virginia
Drs. Herbert Jones and Douglas Nichols
Richard Riemenschneider
Col. Harry Wilson Jr, 1966
Juan Rodriguez, Cyril Harrison
Williams College
Zenas Colt, 1947-1950
Herb Pennell, Art Mason (Pittsfield Polo Club)
Southern Arizona School
L. F. Brigham
J. J. Walsh
Univ. of California
Duncan Peters
Dr. Robt. G. Walton
Note: These men's years as coaches subject to error, especially those of colleges other than
Cornell University.
5Colleges Playing Polo, 1933-1972
*Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
Yale University (New Haven, CT)
Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)
*Pennsylvania Military Academy (Chester, PA)
University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
*	Norwich University (Northfield, VT)
^United States Military Academy (West Point, NY)
*	Virginia Military Institute (Stanton, VA)
Amherst College (Amherst, MA)
*Texas A & M College (College Station, TX)
Colorado State University (Ft. Collins, CO)
*New Mexico Military Institute (Roswell, NM)
University of California (Davis, CA)
Univ. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
Kenyon College (Cleveland, OH)
*Texas Tech College (Lubbock, TX)
Georgetown, University (Washington, DC)
*Valley Forge Military College (Wayne, PA)
University of Miami (Miami, FL)
Williams College (Williamstown, MA)
Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA)
University of Utah (Provo, UT)
Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR)
University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
*University of Illinois (Urbana, IL)
Brown University (Providence, Rl)
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)
*Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
*Michigan State University (East Lansing, Ml)
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
*Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
Purdue University (Lafayette, IN)
Skidmore College (Saratoga, NY)
University of South Carolina (Clemson, SC)
*Missouri University (Columbia, MD)
* ROTCor Army (14)
Preparatory Schools Playing Polo, 1933-1972
Valley Forge Military Academy (Wayne, PA)
Lawrenceville School (Princeton, NJ)
Southern Arizona School (Arizona)
Robert Louis Stevenson School (Arizona)
McDonough School (Baltimore, MD)
Manlius School (Manlius, NY) Played 1912-1916 and 1925-1930. Discontinued polo in 1930
Phillips Andover Academy (Andover, MA)
Berkshire-New England School
Culver Military Academy (Culver, IN)
Southeastern Arizona School (Tucson, AZ)
Hun School (Princeton, NJ)
Garrison Forest School (Garrison, MD)
In 1983 there were 112 polo clubs and 1,720 players registered with the USPA and in 1995, 264 polo
clubs and over 2,500 members.
6Northeast and Midwest Polo Teams (non-college) Playing in the 1930's:
Army or National Guard
112th F.A., Trenton, NJ
Troop E, Nat. Guard, Red Bank, NJ
112th F.A., Westfield, NJ
112th F.A., East Orange, NJ
Squadron A, New York, NY
104th F.A., Syracuse, NY
109th F.A., Wilkes Barre, Scranton, PA
105th F.A. Grosse Pointe, Ml
Commonwealth Armory, Boston, MA
(110th Cavalry, 102th F.A.)
Flartford Cavalry, CT
103rd Cavalry, Philadelphia, PA
101st Cavalry, Cleveland, OH
Squadron C, Brooklyn, NY
122nd F.A., Chicago, IL
124th F.A., Chicago, IL
Essex Troop, Newark, NJ
Other
Cortland (NY) Polo Club
Newburgh (NY) Polo Club
Mill Creek, Youngstown, OH
Boulder Brook, Scarsdale, NY
Ox Ridge Polo Club, Darien, CT
Equestrium, Cleveland, OH
Pittsburgh (PA) Polo Club
Black Horse Troop, Chicago, IL
Chicago (IL) Riding Club
Buffalo (NY) Polo and Riding Club
Rumson (NJ)Polo Club
Akron (OH) Polo Club
Skaneateles (NY) Polo Club
Unadilla (NY) Polo Club
Chukker Valley Polo Club, Gilbertsville, PA
Mahoning Valley Polo Club, Western PA
Brandywine Polo Club, Toughkenamon, PA
Youngstown (OH) Polo Club
Cincinnati (OH) Polo Club
Chagrin Valley Polo Club, Cleveland, OH
The members of the Cortland Polo Club - nearest to Cornell (25 miles away off Rt. 11 in Homer, NY) in
the 30's, 40's and 50's were:
Chas. C. Wickwire, Sr.	Dwight Winkelman (Father of Peter and Cappy)
C.C. (Chet) Wickwire Jr.	R. J. (Bob) Ames
B. T. Jones	Leon A. Starr
Dr. D. R. Reilly	Robt. A. Foley
Frederick W. Ames, A. Ray Reilly, Capt. Argward Dodd, C. J. Dunbar, practiced on the Airport field in '28
and '29. They then bought the field on Rt. 11 north of Homer in 1930 and built stables there.
Note: In the late 50's or early 60's Fred and Ed Tejan, with Louis Ramos, were the pros and ran polo at
Cortland. In the 70's and 80's polo ceased in Cortland, but Pedro Silvero trained and cared for B. T.
Jones' stable of polo ponies (until 1984).
After the demise of the Cortland Polo Club in the 50's, the Skaneateles Polo Club, 30 miles north, was
started and continues to the present. This club was largely established and supported by Dwight
Winkelman and his sons Peter and the late Cappy, David Chase, Don Cross and others. Their first field
was on the Skaneateles airport until the late 60's when a regulation field was constructed nearby.
Dale ('67), John and Mike Chambers of Unadilla, NY built an indoor arena and developed the Unadilla
Polo Club in the mid to late 70's.
7Cornell Polo Horses*
1933-1942	1946-1960	1960-1972
Icepond,** Bay G	Duke, Bay G	Buck, Buckskin G
Jimmie, Roan G	Rudy, Br G	Buckeye, Buckskin G
Prince, Ch G	Sputnik, Bl G (Colt)	Sweepstakes, Buckskin M
Jack, Bl G	Happy, Ch G (Colt)	Spot, Appal G
Witch, Bay M (Hopkins)	Fireball, BI&W G(Page)	Ajax, Grey G
Maude, Bay M	Navaho,Ch&W M (Oliver)	Snowflake II, Ch G
Major, Ch G (Ferrin)	Golddigger, Bay G(Day)	Rocky, Bay G
Shakespeare, Bl G	Gayboy, Ch G	Billy Hill, Bay G(Kraml)
Dandy, Bay G	Spook, Ch G (Parsells)	Sundown, Grey G
Geneseo,** Ch M	Flying Saucer, Ch G	Cheyenne, Ch G
Etta May, Bay M	Boogeman, Bl G (Kraml)	Lester, Br G (Winkleman)
Gay, Ch M	Moonglow, Ch M (Oliver)	Buddy, Bay G
Fantasy, Bay M (Williamson)	Simon, Ch G (Mitchell)	Hollywood, Buckskin G
Beacham,** Ch G	Qien Sabe, Ch M	Slim, Bay G
Doris, Bay M (Ferrin)	Freckles, Ch M	Vain, Ch M (Page)
Goshen,** Ch G	Duncan, Ch G	Red, Ch G (Kraml)
Tigger, Ch G (Day,Babcock)	Deacon, Bl G	Lightning, Ch G
Plaster Cast, Ch G (Hawley)	Vanity, Ch M	Dilla, Bay M
Rochester,** Bay M Dandruff, Gr G (Roberts) Imp, Ch G Iroquois, Ch G Calvin, Bl G Snowball,** Gr G Spike,** Bay G	Snowflake 1, Ch G P 41, Ch M (Mitchell) Jug, Ch G (Emerson) June, Ch M (Bassett) Buzz, Bay G Maybe, Ch M Springtime, Bay M (Page) Yo, Bay M Jug, Bay M (Strouss) Smokey Joe, Grey G Lady Rita, Ch M	Sputnik, Bl G (Colt)
* Name, color, sex (G = gelding; M = mare), donor.
** Army remounts sent to Cornell and trained by coaches and polo team members.
Phil Quartier (Richfield Springs, NY), a
noted and knowledgeable horse dealer,
sold the polo team many excellent
horses from 1950-1972. Many horses
sold to us by Phil Quartier were trained
during the summer by the coaching staff
so as to be able to play in the Fall.
"Spook"
8Donors of Polo Horses to Cornell -1946-1972
Albert K. Mitchell, New Mexico, Qien Sabe, Simon, P 41 and others.
U. S. Army - 40 head in 1946, through intervention of Gen. Ralph Hospital. Many of them former
ROTC polo ponies from Yale, Norwich, and Princeton.
Dwight and Peter Winkelman, Skaneateles, NY, Lester.
Zenas Colt, Pittsfield, MA, Sputnik, Happy, Lightning.
Robert Uihlein and George Oliver. Milwaukee, Wise, and Stuart, FL-- Deacon, Boogeman,
Navaho, Moonglow, Brains.
James and Kenneth Kraml, Chicago, IL. -- Billy Hill, Hollywood, Red, Buck, and others.
Chas. K. Bassett ('14), Ft. Erie, Ont. Canada -- June.
Marcus Day, Jr. — Golddigger.
Al Parsells, East Orange, NJ -- Spook, Flying Saucer.
H. Allen Jerkens, Huntington, NY - Snowflake I and Buzz.
Matty Lake, Ithaca, NY - Maybe.
Neil Ayer - Sweepstakes.
Lester Crossman, Danvers, MA -- Snowflake II
Yale vs Cornell 1966 Intercollegiates, Ox Ridge, Darien, CTNotes on Various Horses -1933 - 1972
Horses, as well as players, had their own distinctive character, abilities and vices that generally had
to be accommodated. The best horsemen got the most from the horses they played.
1933-1942
Icepond - a ewe-necked gelding, a favorite of Lefty (Jack) Lawrence.
Jimmy and Jack - excellent ponies for polo for both beginners and advanced players.
Snowball - a large, quiet 1200 lb. horse that was played by Bart Viviano, a Cornell football great
who needed a large mount. Bart later married President Livingston and Daisy Farrand's
daughter, and was a long time chief counsel of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
Dandy - a common bay gelding but C. C. Combs could "wind him up" and get a great game
from him.
Geneseo -a beautifully built chestnut mare that was an excellent pony after being painstakingly
trained byT. H. (Tom) Lawrence.
Etta May - the "hardest mouth" of any of the field artillery horses pressed into playing
polo.
Beacham - would appear to cross his forelegs when rapidly pushed into a gallop.
Plaster Cast - purchased by Warren Hawley Sr. for his son Warren Jr. from Louis Smith, East
Aurora, NY.
Dandruff - a talented but "bronky" grey pony that after dropping Steve Roberts numerous times
was aptly named. If he had you 2 inches to one side or the other you never got back into the
saddle. He later made an outstanding pony ridden by Art Christian and once stopped so quickly
he threw the latter through a tennis court screen.
Calvin - a willful, smart gelding that would jump out from underneath you as soon as your weight
was placed in the stirrup while mounting. To mount him safely required the rider to grab his
cheek piece and pull his head to the saddle while he mounted (Jack Lawrence's suggestion).
When going to bump another horse he frequently would try to bite them.
Fantasy - a handsome strong mare owned by Major "Pinky" Williamson. Loaned to the team to
play vs Univ. of Arizona - spring 1937 and ridden by Bud (C C) Combs. She was an excellent, fast
strong mare that after 2 hard periods of polo had to be walked for 3 hours to cool out. (Arizona
had a string of over 20 ponies shipped by rail). This game was played on Spring Day (1937) to a
crowd of 5,000 people on upper Alumni Field.
Imp -a fast small horse that usually "propped" when he stopped as he had a "tender mouth" so
the men because of their anatomy tended to avoid riding him but he was the favorite mount of
Miss Nat Colvocoresses who played him very well.
Spike - a rather small, tough in mouth and body, bay gelding with a marked Roman nose that
would rear if held in and spurred or whipped.
1946-1960
Duke - the patriarch of the ROTC Stable. An excellent polo pony for many years until he lost the
sight in one eye from an injury and then an equitation mount until he reached about 34 years of
age.
10Sputnik - a high goal pony about 14.3 in height that played every practice and game after he was
given to Cornell by Zenas Colt, a period of about 8 years and until he was about 26 years old. The
soundest horse ever seen at the stables, and never took a lame step. Previously he was played by
Forrester (Tim) Clark and Zenas Colt in high goal polo. Fie was originally purchased from the
Wiley Jones Ranch in El Reno, Okla. by Flerb Pennell and shipped to Pittsfield, MA. (See Polo
Newsletter, 3/1973; p. 21.) The last polo pony to leave the Squadron A Armory in 1966.
Navaho - a high-goal pony given to Cornell through the "good offices" of George Oliver. She
had a wonderful disposition, light mouth and could "fly".
"Navaho"
Golddigger - a fine high goal bay mare donated by Mark Day, an excellent basic and advanced
pony.
Gayboy - could stop on a dime and give you 150 change. Fie was also "chicken" and could
unload you easily by ducking right or left if he thought he was in danger of being bumped or run
into.
Spook - an enormously handy pony given to Cornell Polo by Al Parsells (a 9 goal player). Fie was
the quickest turning and accelerating horse Doc Roberts ever rode. Fie had a broken coffin bone
that didn't affect his play in indoor polo. He was a lower lip "flopper" if upset. In an exhibition
game he "left" Louis Smith, a 9-goaler from East Aurora, NY.
Flying Saucer - a Thoroughbred gelding who would occasionally jump out of a ring, a "leaping
lena" that required an excellent rider but gave Doc Roberts many a grey- hair watching students
play him. He once jumped out of the Essex Troop ring during a game and into the "walking" ring.
Bud Strouss was riding him and he stayed on!
Simon - a gelding from New Mexico that became anemic on playing polo - proven to have equine
infectious anemia and assisted Dr. LeRoy Coggins in developing the AGID test for this viral
disease.
1 1Qien Sabe - the best filly sent to Cornell from Tesquiquite Ranch, New Mexico by Mr. Albert
Mitchell, Chairman of the Cornell Board of Trustees.
Dilla - a pacing Standardbred mare trained by a Cornell polo player and purchased in Unadilla, NY
for $242.50 at auction. Played #1 for years as one of Cornell's best ponies - if held in on the
throw-in of the ball she would rear.
P41 - the worst of the 9 ponies sent from New Mexico and was sold for a Quarter Horse brood
mare. When P41 bucked, if her head was not held up very quickly, it would disappear between
her front legs and the saddle would slide over withers and neck, along with the rider.
1960-1972
Buckeye - a handsome "Cadillac" of a horse purchased cheaply as was "motheatten" by lice. He
turned into a top pony that would never trot under saddle but had a beautiful extended trot on
pasture.
"Sweepstakes" and Doc Roberts
Sweepstakes - a "leaping lena" given to Cornell by Forrester (Tim) Clark of Boston, MA. Only Doc
Roberts and William Tutton wanted to ride this strong, bold mare because of her very light
mouth. She played polo for 17 years and in a number of tournaments, raised 3 colts which all
grew over 16 hands (and she was only 15.2 hands). Her last colt by an Arab stallion became the
mount of Cornelia Clark Roberts of Dover, Mass, who was Master of the Hounds. He, like his
dam, never refused a jump, had a light mouth, was afraid of nothing and was extremely handy.
Ms. Roberts was the niece of Tim Clark.
Freckles - a grand, fast, quick chestnut mare with white speckled spots - a favorite of many
students over the years.
12Lester - a favorite of Bill Tutton (Assistant Coach) that only the best student riders could handle
but nevertheless a high goal pony that could play top polo indoors.
June - a Thoroughbred mare from Mr. Charles K. Bassett of Buffalo, NY. She dumped many a
student that didn't keep his knees on her when she went to the wall by her quickness in
turning either way.
Vain - a handsome Thoroughbred mare owned by Frank Page who refereed innumerable
games on her in the Cornell Riding Hall.
Lightning - 3 year old Quarter Horse, very handy and quick, given by Zenas Colt because of
lameness occasioned by breaking as a 2 year old riding horse. Later had to be put down because
of fractures of both extensor processors of his coffin bones - that occurred prior to being given
to Cornell. He played well for years in arena polo.
Brains - a 15 hand 3 inch Quarter Horse, well-trained, and smart. He had straight short pasterns
but was never lame. He would automatically follow the ball. So when the ball would go by him in
the opposite direction he would prop and turn without guidance, often dropping his rider!
13"Split Strings" Basis of Intercollegiate Polo Games
After 1946, almost all collegiate games away and home and even the intercollegiate tournaments were
played with horses on a "split-string" basis (horses played by one team one period were played by the
other team another period.)
Doc Roberts on "Brown Jug" at Quechee Polo, VT, 1978
14THE HORSES
Air, "The Ladies." After Kipling, by Rodman Gilder, 1909
I've taken my mounts where I've found them,
I've cantered and run in my time;
I've had my picking of horses,
And four of the lot were prime.
One was a sorrel or buckskin,
I never could make out which;
Two were regular riding school skates
And one was an Irish witch.
The buckskin I had as a rookie,
I bought from a man getting out;
I parted with two hundred dollars,
Not knowing what I was about.
His body was fat and topheavy
And his legs unaccountably slim.
I have figured since then he was worth at least ten —
And I learned about horses from him.
Then I dropped into an auction
And purchased a rangy old hack.
His gaits in the ring were unequalled,
But the next time I got on his back
He broke up like raw macaroni;
He hadn't a single sound limb.
So I gave him away to a groom the next day --
And I learned about horses from him.
A black and white cayuse at Duriand's
Caught my experienced eye;
I gave him a thirty-day trial
And then I decided to buy.
But after he'd rolled over backward
They told me his name, Loco Jim.
Though I hated to squeal, I went back on that deal —
And I learned about horses from him.
Then I got Kathleen, a "hunter,"
From a man who was going abroad.
With nobody up she was languid,
When I cinched her she merely looked bored.
But she kicked and she bit and she struggled
At the very first touch of my spur,
And the Captain, of course, shouted out, "ride your horse!"
And I learned about horses from her.
I've taken my mounts where I found them
And what have I got for my pains?
Three fractures and four dislocations
And dozens of bruises and sprains,
And the end of it's walking or driving
And dodging each horse that you see.
Yet all this, it's true, need not happen to you —
For you've learned about horses from me.
15Cornell Polo-1919-1932
From: Polo Magazine, 1929, page 10.
The Possibility of Polo at Cornell University
"The spread of polo at American colleges and universities lends particular interest to the growing
pains of the sport at a great institution like Cornell, at Ithaca, NY Here is a keen interest in the game that
has not, as yet, become a working organization.
"Polo was started at Cornell in 1919, when Maj. T. J. J. Christian and Maj. Ralph Hospital
organized the Field Artillery unit of the Cornell Reserve Officers' Training Corps. At present there is a
Cornell Officers' Polo Club, composed of two officers in the Field Artillery unit, Capt. H. J. Gaffey and
Lieut. A. K. Hammond, and two students. This team plays as much polo as it can, at Madison Barracks in
the summer, at the Tompkins County Fair in Ithaca in August, at Governor's Island in September, and at
nearby Cortland.
"In addition, Cornell has the Cayuga Heights Polo Club, an organization of exactly four students:
Mr. John Hertz, Jr., Mr. M. M. Fuerst, Mr. G. J. Olditch, and Mr. Paul Deming. This team 'Occasionally has
the temerity to challenge some organization,' but it has neither mounts, nor field, nor coach, nothing
but a desire to play polo for the sheer joy of it.
'The reason polo is not on a firmer footing at Cornell is because there are no facilities whatever
for winter practice. Cornell has a long winter and a cold one and it would be impossible to play polo
most of the college year without a riding hall. If this could be obtained, a sufficient number of students
could easily be interested in the game, many furnishing their own horses. When student teams are
formed, undoubtedly the game will be recognized by the athletic authorities.
"That Cornell is alive to the possibilities of polo may be judged from the fact that Col. J. W.
Beacham, Jr., and Maj. Hospital recently had a conference with President Livingston Farrand, head of
the university, with a view toward obtaining new stables and a riding hall similar to the one recently
finished at Princeton. President Farrand expressed himself in full sympathy with the idea.
"A report was drawn up which shows the following interesting facts:
"Cornell's mounted unit was one of the first placed in the leading American colleges and
universities after the war. In 1919 stables were constructed out of lumber salvaged from the old mess
hall constructed for the aviation ground school located at Ithaca. These stables, unfortunately, are of
wood and constantly in need of repair; since their construction, $2,249.95 has already been spent on
them and another expenditure of $1,300 is imperative.
"How important these stables are may be gathered from the fact that the Government has an
investment of $29,000 in horses, equipment, and forage in these stables. The fire hazard is a
tremendous one despite every precaution, and this is not the only reason new stables are urgently
needed.
"Since 1919, more than 2,500 students have received instruction in equitation; the enthusiasm
for riding, polo and horses is exceptional, as elsewhere. For students a riding hall would be a boon; for
the Government it would be a valuable addition to the National defense; for Cornell it would add
greatly to the university's plant and equipment.
"The type of building Cornell should have, according to the report would cost about $200,000.
Cornell would then have a riding hall second to none, fireproof, sanitary, modern, economical in
operation. Cornell would then have polo, and polo on a fitting scale."
16Cornell Polo Players-1919-1930
In 1919 Majors Thomas J. J. Christian and Ralph Hospital established the Cornell Officers Polo
Club composed later of Capt. H. J. Gaffey, Lt. A. K. Hammond and two students who played outdoor polo
at Tompkins County Fair, Madison Barracks near Watertown, NY, Cortland, NY and Governor's Island.
In 1920-1921 the first (official) Cornell polo team was:
Caesar Grasselli '22
John S. Pflueger '21
Richard Burke '22
David Morse '24
Walter Schoelkopf Schmidt and
Theodore Runsdorff, Mgr. '22
(They were coached by Major Thomas J. J. Christian and Major Ralph Hospital.)
From 1919 to 1929 - 2,500 students at Cornell were taught horsemanship on Field Artillery
horses. During that time 100 horses were shipped by the Army to Cornell.
From 1923 to 1928, since Major Hospital was not at Cornell, records are not available!
1924- D. Morse (Sub.) —R. H. White, Jr., No. 2—C. A. Grasselli, 2nd No. 3 —H. Headden, No. 4 A. S.
Jarecki, No. 1—R. Turner (Sub.)—R. D. Warren (Manager). - courtesy of the Field Artillery Journal
Cornell lost to West Point 12-2 in the preliminaries
vt
17In 1929, four students: John Hertz Jr. ('30), Myron M. Fuerst ('29), G. J. Olditch, and Paul Deming
formed the Cayuga Heights Polo Club since they could not call themselves the Cornell Polo team. They
had no horses, no field and no coach!!
In 1929 Capt. H. J. Gaffney constructed a polo cage in the southeast corner of Barton Hall and
selected first and second polo squads that practiced on an area of 100 by 200 yards on Upper Alumni
Field west of Wing Hall and also 3 times a week during the late winter at the 104th Field Artillery Armory
in Syracuse, NY This team (club) played Yale in late February 1930 and other National Guard teams
Richard Sears '34
P. Cook'33
Col. C. K. Graydon '31
L.	Hilyard '30
M.	D. Sawyer '30
Arthur Fredericks'31***
W. B. Keese '32
J. A, Feick'32
J. B. Forgan '33
W. T. Cusack '32
RH 'Manduke' Baldwin '34**
E. R. Hayden, '34
* Since SJ. Roberts entered Cornell in 1933, I personally knew some of these players.
** Father of Peter'59 and Ben'61.
*** Father of Richard Fredericks, Capt. of Cornell Polo Team 1964-1965.
F. H. Anderson '32
H. E. Gardner '32
Daniel S. Stevenson '34*
C. L. Ranney '34*
R. Hunsberger, '34*
Milton Untermeyer, '34*
and 25 others -- Parker, Hubbel, White, Rathgen, Rousseau, Laird, Smith, Townsend, McCormick,
Shotthafer, Kanstroom, Verney, Lummis, Danerbaum, Schanz, Greenspan, Harwood and Carlson. (Only
this listing of the polo squad was available for this era (SJR)).
HUNSBURGER RAN HEY M. UNTERMEYER	.STEVENSON
. CORNELL B.O.TC POLO TEAM
1332-33
18In the Fall of 1930 Capt. J. A. Stewart, Coach took a team of C. L. Ranney '34, John Hertz Jr. '30,
R. H. Baldwin '34, C. K. Graydon '31, (Capt.) J. B. Forgan '33, H. E. Gardner '32, to play Ohio State
University. Other members of the 1930 Polo Squad were T. F. Hayes '31, R. Hunsberger '34, H. Stuetzer
'31, J. A. Feick '32, E. R. Hayden '34, P. H. Harrison '33, G. P. Cooke '33, F. H. Anderson '32, J. T. Reis '32,
D. Hamilton '31, L. M. Nutting '31, F. R. Sears '34, S. V. Haas and D. S. Stevenson '34.
The team rode 12 horses to Cortland in October 1930 and practiced and played the Cortland
Club on their field 2 days later. In the Spring of 1931, the first game was played in Ithaca vs. Ohio State,
During the winter of 1930 or '31 they played Norwich, West Point in their polo halls.
In the April 18,1921 issue of the Cornell Daily Sun the following was written:
"THE POLO TEAM LOSES- The fact that Cornell fared not very well in her first official polo encounter may
dampen the enthusiasm of a few over-ambitious souls. But the fact to be kept in sight is not that the
team failed to win- for a victory under the circumstances was hardly looked for- but rather that one
more worth-while sport has been added to the list in which Cornell is represented.
"Polo as an American college sport is on the upward trend. At Cornell it has jumped suddenly
into the limelight; and the fact that this is one of the comparatively few universities where there are
facilities for the game serve to heighten the interest in it. Before another year rolls around, polo will in
all probability be established on a firm basis at Cornell and the team will be able to compete on equal
terms with those other universities."
In 1937 my father James F. Roberts of Hamburg, NY bought 3 polo ponies from Walter
Schoelkopf Schmidt of Buffalo to mount me in the Intercollegiates ("Dun", "Blackgold" and "Mescara").
He bought them at a nominal price. They were later sold to members of the Cortland Polo Club,
Cortland, NY.Many or most of polo players in 1930 to 1940 were students in the Veterinary or
Agriculture Colleges of Cornell University. From 1935 to 1972 S. J. Roberts knew, played with, and
coached all players.
Taber & Roberts 1937
19Cornell Polo Players- 1932-1940
Polo at Cornell became a varsity sport in 1934 with minor letters and was obliged to observe all
intercollegiate and Ivy rules. Freshman were not eligible. Transfers were not eligible for 1 year. Only 3
years of varsity play was allowed if grades were acceptable. In 1934 a regular collegiate schedule was
established.
Team Members:
In 1932-1933 - W. B. Keese '32, F. H. Anderson, W. T. Cusack '32 and J. A. Feick '32.
In 1933-1934 - C. L. Ranney '34, R. H. (Manduke) Baldwin '34 (father of Peter ('59) and Ben ('61)
Baldwin), Dan S. Stevenson '34, R. M. Sears '34, Milton F. Untermeyer '34, R. Fiunsberger '34, W. A.
Ryder '35, B.L. Barringer, Mgr. '33. J. C. Lawrence. Capt. '37
In 1934-1936 - John C. (Lefty) Lawrence '37, Thomas Lawrence '38, John S. Leslie '35 (father of
Alan '63 and Bill '72 Leslie), A. J. Linderman '35, H. E. Babcock, Jr., '36, Fienry Untermeyer ’36, Wm.
Eggert Jr. '35, Bart Viviano '33 (Capt. and fullback on Cornell football team in 1932. In 3 yrs Bart led
Cornell football to an 18-5-1 record). (Capt. J Lawrence and John Leslie)
In 1936-1937 - C. C. (Bud) Combs Jr. '39, S. J. Roberts '38, Thomas Lawrence '38,
Wm. A. Martin '38, Harry C. House '38, W. J. Williams '36. Capt. Roberts
In 1937-1938 - Walter Naquin Jr. '38, Robert C. Taber '38, Robert S. Young '39,
Morton Meisels '41, Thos. F. Johnson '41, George S. Miller Jr. '39, George H. Reis '38, Warner L. Jones Jr.
'39. Capt. - Christian
In 1938-1939 - Arthur B. Christian '39, Merton F. Gerhauser '39, Henry J. Lawrence '40, David
Poliak '39, Delano Proctor Jr. '42, Otto Gillig Jr. '39, E. H. Swazey '39, Frederick Burton ’42, Richard
Silberberg '42. Capt. - Christian
In 1939-1940 - Warren W. Hawley III, '40, Charles V. Axtell '44, James M. Easter '41,
Jules Wiener '41, Marcus Day Jr. '42, James Armstrong '42, Frederick Burton '42. Capt. - Easter '41
In 1940-1941 - Durand Blatz '41, Warren Hawley HI '40, Fred Jaicks '40, Thomas Jackson '42,
True Davis '41, John Mathews '41, Morton Meisels '41, Herbert Schiffer '41, Paul Schoelkopf '41,
Herman Uihlein '41. Capt. - Easter
1937-MAJ Boyle, SJ Roberts, CC Combs, Tom Lawrence, Bob Taber, Arthur Christian, Walt Naquin
20Incidents. Players, Games & Memories 1933-1942
The West Point (U.S. Military Academy) Polo Hall was very large, so large that they played 3-
man polo with outdoor rules with back lines and goal posts. The horses were large and strong but
visiting teams did not play with split-strings and the Army team usually beat other collegiate teams in their
Hall. It was an experience to stay in the guest team quarters and eat in the very large dining hall and
observe the protocol at each table, especially the formality, hazing and lack of conviviality.
During one game in 1937, I had a very hard-mouthed large horse that was a "roarer"
(laryngeal hemiplegia). Since I could not stop and turn the horse easily, I ran around and once I
bumped Wilson and knocked him off his horse. I was surprised because I didn't mean for this to
happen. The horse was roaring so badly in his attempts to breathe, they gave me another spare horse
for the rest of that period which was much easier to ride and stop.
Driving the Storm King Highway up the Hudson River was an interesting experience since the
road was carved out of near cliffs above the river and I had never traversed such roads before!
In the 3 years we played West Point - 1935, 1936, 1937, we lost every game except the finals of
the Intercollegiate Tournament in Squadron A in 1937 when they had been undefeated for 3 years, a
total of 32 games. C. C. (Buddy) Combs and Tom Lawrence were excellently mounted by Mr. Combs on
very fast, handy, quick ponies that would run right to the wall turn their head and neck and hit it with
their shoulder. Some were "retreaded" runaway outdoor ponies and some had 12" hackamores so
they could stop on a dime. One horse with such a hackamore that "over flexed" was fitted with a
western breast collar and a metal rod from the chest to the caveson beneath its chin. Buddy at that
time was rated at 6 goals, Tom at 3 and I was 1 goal (Total 10 goals). In that tournament, four of the
entered collegiate teams were rated 7 to 10 goals. We had to defeat Yale and Princeton to get to the
finals. West Point had larger and stronger horses and were led by their 5-goal player A. H. Wilson Jr., an
excellent back and (Billy) W. W. West at No. 2. With the ability of Combs' ponies to stop quickly, we led
Army 2 to -2 at the end of the first period (In those days one-half point was taken from your score for
each foul as no foul shots on goal were allowed). When the Army ponies went to bump the Cornell
player, the latter would check at the last second and the larger Army pony's momentum would carry him
across the line of the ball. The referee, Mr. Tom Brady, wore out two horses each game staying next
to the play and when a foul was whistled on you his long bony finger was pointed right at you not 10
feet away. He was the best referee I have ever observed.
In subsequent years, C. C. Combs Jr. was rated at 10 goals indoors. The only other player so rated
by the U.S. Polo Assoc, was Winston F. C. Guest who graduated from Yale in '26. Buddy Combs an
excellent athlete, was mounted by his father and Uncle ("Unc"), both very knowledgeable horsemen
who worked together and also ran a large riding stable in Red Bank, NJ.
One time I was playing with Buddy Combs in the Essex Troop Armory in Newark, NJ. I was
mounted by a Mr. Evans who had a number of horses he brought to the Armory. The first horse I
played was an excellent pony, but greatly "overbitted" with a large curb bit that on the least touch
would cause the horse to stop and be reluctant to run on. After the period, I took the horse to "Unc"
and told him he needed a snaffle but not the curb. He agreed. In the third period when I was to again
play the horse, he was nowhere to be located. The referee came over and said he wouldn't hold up
the game and I'd have to ride another horse. About that time, "Unc" came from way back in the
stables leading the bay horse with a snaffle bit in his mouth. Mr. Evans yelled at "Unc" saying that was
the wrong bit and to change it. The referee blew his whistle and I said I'd try to ride with the present
bit rather than hold up the game and be penalized. Mr. Evans gave in. The horse played exceptionally
well that period without any fear of being hurt.
21The father of Tom and Jack (Lefty) Lawrence of St. James, NY, Charlie, was an English horseman who
trained and raced horses at Belmont Park for Mr. Walter Fletcher. They drove an old model A coupe
with side curtains and a manifold heater, and when we went to play other teams the 3 of us would
wrap a blanket around our legs. One winter trip (1938) after we were ineligible to play at Cornell
because of playing four years and we were in 5-year professional colleges, we drove to Hartford, CT to play
indoors in their National Guard arena. They had one horse that at the bell ending the period, it would
stop dead, whinny and trot to the outgate of the hall.
Since 8 or 9 new remounts were sent to the ROTC unit at Cornell in 1935, the privates and
sergeants at the stable rode these "green" horses daily and the varsity polo team members and cavalry
officers trained them further evenings and weekends. One particularly outstanding polo remount
"Geneseo" was trained by Tom Lawrence. About one-half of the above remounts became polo ponies.
Upper Alumni Field- Cornell vs West Point-1935
One very interesting and eventful trip during the mid-winter of 1937 was taken by the Cornell
Polo team (Combs, T. Lawrence and Roberts) with Major C. E. Boyle as coach. We played first at the
Michigan Fairgrounds Arena outside of Detroit against the team from Grosse Pointe. I remember the
game very well because my opposite #1 kept pulling his horse's bit across my back and shoulders on the
throw in but after we won the game we went to that "gentleman's" house to shower and change our
clothes. We went into this very large mansion and to an enormous bedroom on the second floor where
the butler was running our bath in an enormous tub - so both Tom and I bathed together facing each
other and our feet didn't touch! After the butler had drawn our bath, he removed his jacket, rolled
up his sleeve and dipped his elbow in the water to check its temperature for us!
We then left Detroit by train (all long trips were by rail in the 30's) for Chicago. We played in
the 124th F. A. Armory with a very large arena like Squadron A in New York City against a 7-goal
team to which we gave 3 goals. Mr. Leon Mandel, a wealthy Cornell alumnus, lent us 4 of his horses,
2 for Buddy and 1 each for Tom and myself. We beat the home team rather badly (16 1/2 to 3) and
22Buddy, on a white "high-goal" pony called "Nicotine," put on a real show by breaking the Armory
scoring record with 11 goals. Other added attractions at this polo game was an actual jousting
tournament between two "knights" with blunt spears, a Black Horse Troop Drill and a second polo
game with the Culver and a Junior all-star team held before our game. They said about 10,000
people were spectators at this game.
After the game, Mr. Mandel took our party to the Chez Paree night club. Henry Busse's band
and Edgar Bergen and "Charlie" and "Elmer" were the entertainers. We wore tuxedos and Mr.
Mandel had girls for us from his department store -- Buddy, the evening dress model, Tom the sports
attire model and myself the photographer - all were very attractive. After going to Mr. Mandel's
home we went swimming in his grotto-like pool, had breakfast and got back to the hotel just as the
sun was coming up over Lake Michigan. A memorable weekend!
/
Arthur Christian, a close friend of Tom Lawrence and myself and later Captain of the Polo team
invited us a number of times to visit his home in Elmira, NY which was on the grounds of the Elmira
Reformatory of which his father Dr. Frank Christian was Warden. We often had dates with Elmira
College women. At the prison, large German Shepherd guard dogs were used in the yard and on the
farm. These 12 to 16 dogs had a Swiss trainer and were carefully schooled to guard prisoners and attack
if ordered. They would work in pairs and when ordered to attack would circle the prisoner who usually
had a club or weapon in his hand. When one dog would get behind him he would jump and grab the
arm holding the "club". The other dog would immediately jump on his chest from the front and
knock the man down and then stand over him until the guard secured him. We were with the trainer one
23Sunday a.m. in the yard where the dogs were exercised when the largest dog came over to Tom rather
menacingly and sniffed his pants where he smelled the odor of Tom's own dog "Vickie" and proceeded to
"turn up" on his best suit. Tom was hesitant to move rapidly for fear the dog would attack, so got a good
"hosing down".
In 1936 the late May annual Cornell Horse Show was to be held in the ROTC Riding Hall. Dr. Jack
Frost, Professor of Large Animal Surgery had a large fine Irish bay hunter mare at the Veterinary College
that needed outside exercise. Tom Lawrence, Art Christian and I took turns riding her on University
property at the east end of the campus. She was sound and very well trained and would jump anything
she was pointed at even a wire fence with a board on top. We convinced Dr. Frost that we should
enter this mare as the "Vet College Special" in the Cornell Show. We drew straws to see who would
ride her to victory and I won. Dr. Frost was seated in the center of the gallery as an honored guest to
watch his horse perform. I warmed her up outside the Hall, jumped a few practice jumps and entered
the Hall. At a controlled gait she proceeded to canter around the Hall and through the jumps knocking
every pole down. The jump crew busily put the jumps together again and the process was repeated the
second time around. Dr. Frost laughed so hard we were afraid he'd have a heart attack. We took a lot
of ribbing from everyone for the next several weeks and were told to stay with the polo ponies. We
never did ascertain whether the mare had never jumped in a confined indoor roofed arena or
whether she knew the bars would fall if she hit them, but my chagrin over this episode remains clearly
with me to this day.
One day in 1934 when I was a Sophomore I went to the Cornell Stables to ride one Saturday
afternoon. I was saddling up an assigned horse on the picket line when Stable Sergeant Jensen roared
"Roberts come here!" I went over and he told me a stable hand was tacking up a black gelding, #3,
for Mrs. "Daisy" Farrand, the wife of Cornell's president Livingston Farrand, and the latter had told
him that Mrs. Farrand should never go out alone from the Stables. I was told by Sergeant Jensen in no
uncertain terms I was to ride with Mrs. Farrand and stay with her until she returned. Daisy, a large
energetic, talkative and friendly woman soon showed up to ride her favorite mount and was
introduced to me. She said, "Well, Roberts, are you ready to get some exercise?" I didn't know then
what she meant, but I soon found out. We trotted out of the stables across Dryden Road up Judd Falls
Road to the Cascadilla Creek trails where she broke into a gallop to the Game Farm, by the Reed Farm,
up Turkey Hill Road to the top of Turkey Hill a distance of about 4 or 5 miles. I dutifully followed but
had to spur my horse along the last two miles to keep up. When she "pulled up" on top of the hill
over looking Varna, the university, Ithaca and Cayuga Lake she didn't even take a deep breath and
started talking concerning the gorgeous view, the good day and the points of interest to be observed
on the campus and surrounding countryside. We rode back to the stables at a fast trot. She had an
appointment. She thanked me for accompanying her. I walked Daisy's and my horse for an hour
cooling them out.
That was the first of many enjoyable encounters I had with this positive and talkative
extrovert. She always remembered my name and on other occasions at the stable, in the Veterinary
College Clinics where she took her dogs or at the polo field where one time she was perched on top of
an automobile, would greet me with "How are you, Roberts," and then proceed with a rather one-
sided conversation. About 1938, her old #3 black gelding at the stables became incurably lame so had
to be "put down." Daisy would not permit him to go to the Veterinary College but staged a full
dress military funeral and buried him on Kite Hill with a squad of rifle men giving a salute and taps being
played on a bugle.
24Upper Alumni Field- "Lefty" Jack Lawrence on the right
Jack (Lefty) Lawrence, captain of the polo team in 1935 and 1936, was in advanced ROTC and
served as an equitation instructor for a class of women students. In the spring of the year, the
Riding Hall was hot and dusty so they rode in the outside ring behind the stables. The women
wanted to take a trail ride on the Cascadilla Creek trail and begged Jack to take them out on the next
nice sunny day. This he promised to do and a week or so later he asked me to accompany him and the
women on this trail ride, specifically to bring up the rear so we would not lose anyone. After we had
been out a half-hour or more the women kept begging him to go faster. So finally he said o.k. and being
rather sadistic he said to me, don't let them fall back, keep them in a line behind me and he
proceeded to slow trot which required slow posting, about the next 10 miles. By the time we got back
to the stables most of the women were exhausted and their legs and knees were nearly rubbed raw as
they hadn't been riding enough to be in condition. As we entered the stable area he said, "There -
when do we go again?" There was a noticeable lack of any response!
Later in 1942 to 1945, Jack was an instructor and 2nd Lt. in the ROTC at Cornell, and my sister
Betsy was living with Beejay and me and working at the Veterinary College. Her husband was killed in the
Normandy invasion and since she loved to ride, Jack took her "under his wing" and helped greatly to
assist her through a very difficult period. Jack Lawrence despite his degree from the College of
Architecture decided to follow his father's footsteps and became a trainer of race horses at
Belmont and Saratoga. He retired from the track in the late 1970's to continue raising Thoroughbred
horses on his farm in St. James, Long Island, NY. He refereed many polo games in Squadron A Armory
during the 50's and early 60's.
My father who was a part time horse dealer bought at a too reasonable price a handsome
moving, very athletic grey horse shipped into the Buffalo Yards from the West. He gave it to me to
ride and we soon found the "hole" in his animal. He could be moving along very quietly and suddenly
jump sideways and buck and you could never regain your seat in the saddle and he would keep
bucking until you went off. I was bucked off this horse so often I changed his name from "Grey
Dawn" to "Dandruff'! After one went off this horse he never ran off. He always stood quietly for the
rider to remount. He later made an excellent polo pony, but if you said "Whoa," he could stop in one
movement from a walk, trot, gallop or run! One time at Cornell, Beejay and I were practicing for the pair
25class in the Annual Cornell Horse Show and the horse, which was cantering along, was startled by a sound.
She said "Whoa," and the next second she was standing in front of him looking him in the eye with
the reins in her hand after performing an impromptu complete somersault from the saddle. Later
Art Christian took Dandruff to the Pegasus Polo Club in New Jersey where he played polo that
summer. The horse would occasionally run away with him and one time ran off the end of the field
toward a screened-in tennis court. Art thought the horse would run right through the wire at the
speed he was going but again he stopped in one motion and catapulted Art through the screen onto
the court. This horse was later sold to Chet Wickwire of the Cortland Polo Club and a number of years
later was given to the Cornell Polo team and Pete Johnson rode him for several years before the
horse died of a twisted intestine.
The favorite mount of Beejay's was a little black horse, "Black Gold", purchased from Walter
Schoelkopf Schmidt of Buffalo, NY for me to ride in the 1937 Intercollegiates. This horse was a very
kind but bold animal. Because of his small size he had trouble "bumping" a larger horse off the ball.
After he bounced off the other horse a couple of times, he would try to get his neck under the other
horse's neck and move him that way. If that wasn't successful the rider had to watch him carefully as
the next time he went to bump the opposing horse, he'd do it with his mouth wide open to bite the
other horse or rider as a means of intimidation. Another Army horse "Calvin" would also "attack" an
opponent's horse in a similar manner.
Tom Lawrence was a quiet, tall, slim, excellent horseman who was always mentally composed and
unemotional, excellent attributes for a back or #3 where he played on the Cornell polo team for all
three of his eligible years and thereafter in many tournaments with Buddy Combs. In college he was
rated at 3 goals but later achieved a 5-goal rating even when playing strange horses. In one game in
the ROTC riding hail, Tom set a record of 15 goals, scored 8 of them by back shots, many from beyond
the center of the hall. He was a good man to have behind you. Tom played with Buddy Combs
during the early 40's in many tournaments. He developed a good equine veterinary practice in New
Jersey near Red Bank until his retirement in the late 70's to Colorado and later California near Santa
Barbara where he became a veterinarian for a horse breeding farm.
1937 Intercollegiate Champions- - Roberts, Combs, Lawrence, Young, Christian
26On a trip one winter, the polo team went to play in a National Guard Armory in Pittsburgh, PA.
The heating plant in the Armory was temporarily nonfunctioning and the arena was so cold a portion of
the dirt floor near one goal had frozen solid. Some benighted custodian had decided to thaw the
area by a liberal dose of rock salt. This application had only melted that surface making the footing
very slippery and treacherous. Tom warned me during our warm-up before the game of that slippery
area and said not to try to stop a horse there or he might slip and fall down. Once the game started his
prediction was correct, only it was Tom's horse that slipped and fell. No one was hurt and the game,
through his example, continued but at a slower pace in that portion of the arena.
Henry (Hank) Untemeyer, a substitute on the Cornell polo team, in the mid-thirties was a positive
thinker, taking direct action. He drove his new sedan with side curtains like he was on the
Indianapolis Speedway. He prided himself on driving in those days from Ithaca to New York City, his
home, in 5 1/2 hours. He claimed he could avoid the constabulary by driving to Binghamton on Rts 79
and 11 and then Rte 6 over very winding roads through the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania
(Carbondale, Hawley and Milford, PA) to Branchville, NJ and down 206 to Dover and Rte 46 into New
York City. After one's initial "white-knuckle" ride with him, excuses were usually found to avoid
another unnerving ride with Hank at the helm. Hank later became very successful in the sedentary
business of saunas and hot baths in California.
The usual driving route to New York City from Ithaca in the 30's was through Binghamton and
Scranton, PA on Rte 11 and down through the Pocono Mountains and the Delaware Water Gap and
across northern New Jersey, a trip of about 7 1/2 hours. The present most direct route down Route 17
was not constructed until the late 1940's. Students at that time however, usually traveled by train,
either the Lehigh Valley from Ithaca to Binghamton, Deposit, Port Jervis, Ridgewood into New York
City, or the Lackawanna Railroad from Ithaca to Owego and on the "Phoebe Snow" to Binghamton,
Scranton, the Delaware Water Gap, Dover into Hoboken, NJ. The latter route was a much smoother
ride than on the rough "Leaky Valley."
Bob Taber, a substitute on the polo team in '36 and '37, was on the varsity team in 1938. Bob was
an extremely hard worker who put himself through the College of Agriculture by a variety of jobs
including waiting on tables at a fraternity and taking the advanced ROTC course. His father Lawrence
Taber had a small dairy farm near Newfield about 6 miles southwest of Ithaca on the Elmira Road.
Bob was an equally hard and serious worker in his Ag courses as in polo. This diligence and ability to
work long and hard paid off in his career in the Army when he moved up through the officer ranks to
have a highly responsible position in Viet Nam, and to have a major responsibility in the formation of
the volunteer Army by 1973. He finally retired as a Lt. General, (while all of the West Point polo team
cadets that played against us in the 30's retired as "bird" Colonels). His son, John, after a stint in the
Marines, entered the Veterinary College at Florida State in Gainesville in 1983, and plays polo at
Ocala with Dr. Tom Lane, Extension Veterinarian and former polo player and graduate of Cornell in
1958. In 1981, Dr. Lane and I and our wives visited Dr. Nat Grew, a classmate of Tom's in Cornell
and a polo team member who had a cattle and coffee ranch in Costa Rica. We played polo there with
Francisco Escobar, a regular polo player at Wellington and Gulfstream Polo Clubs in Florida.
In the winter of 1940-41 when Bob Taber was a 2nd Lt. in the Cornell ROTC and in charge of
Cornell Stables, a large truck carrying liquor ran off the north side of slippery Rte. 13 and over the bank
next to "Hotaling Hall" of the stables and crashed. The Army privates sleeping in the "Hall" rushed out
to help the driver and also surreptitiously helped relieve him of some of the liquor. The officer in
charge of the stable, Bob Taber, was called and he came to the scene of the accident at 2 a.m. and
assisted in restoring "order." The driver was not seriously injured and the truck was returned to the
highway. Broken bottles and cases were removed but a number of cases of whiskey were missing. A
27diligent and repeated search of the stable buildings and area failed to find the missing whiskey but when
Lt. Taber returned home he heard a rolling sound in the backseat of his car and found 2 bottles of "high-
priced" whiskey on the floor where someone had "compromised" him. The author found out 10 years
later, and Bob 30 years later, the stable privates had stashed the purloined whiskey in a nearby stack
of cinders from the Heating Plant. The cinders were to be used on slippery, snowy, icy roads. The
surface of the stack was smoothed and water and snow thrown on it so no one could find the whiskey
the next day or two when a careful search was again conducted. Needless to say the Army privates had
a good source of cheer for their up-coming Christmas and New Years parties!
At the time of the 1936 Intercollegiate Tournament in Squadron A Armory, Tom and Jack
Lawrence and I were standing at the "out-gate" of the arena watching a preliminary game when
Arthur Borden a 5-goal, 6'6" polo player that graduated from Princeton in 1929 who was standing next
to us turned to us at the end of the period and said, "Are you boys from Lawrenceville"? (the prep
school). We didn't think we looked that young! We stood as tall as we could and told him we were the
Cornell Polo Team. Later that evening, when Arthur Borden was playing in a high-goal game his pony
fell down as he went around a corner in the arena at full speed. He spread his long legs, stood on
his feet, straddling his down horse, moved over the saddle and when his horse got up he was in the
saddle and off to the next play in less than 3 seconds.
Bud Combs, Tom Lawrence, Art Christian and I were all students in the Veterinary College. Our
professor of medicine was the noted Denny H. Udall, a stern but brilliant taskmaster who had grown
up in Quechee, Vermont. He usually assigned advanced reading in his textbook and then quizzed the
students off in his 8 o'clock classes held in the Amphitheater. He would ask each student in turn 3 or 4
questions of increasing difficulty. One morning it was Bud Combs' turn to provide the answers, and
about the second or third question he began to stammer and stutter and Prof. Udall said, "Well,
Combs, get the marbles out and answer the question." Thereafter, Bud was on occasion called
"Marbles" by members of his class. In those days professors and coaches were expected to "harass"
students!
One day, Dr. Udall had Dr. W. L. Williams, the Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Surgery
who then was in his mid to late 80's, give a guest lecture to veterinary students on the importance of
having a good library in a veterinary practice and using it intelligently. At the end of his lecture he
requested questions. One of the questions was, "Dr. Williams, what is your opinion of the recently
published book on Equine Reproduction and Zootechnics by Major Ralph Beeman?" The doctor
replied "Yes, I have reviewed the book -unfortunately the author's experience has largely been limited to
Army geldings." Such successive role models in the New York State Veterinary College Clinical
Departments were, in my experience, of a very similar mold and pattern. Dr. W. L. Williams, Dr. D. H.
Udall, Dr. M. G. Fincher, Dr. J. A. Frost, Dr. A. G. Danks from 1908 through 1965 and including Peter
Olafson and Hugh Dukes of the basic sciences departments of Pathology and Physiology, respectively.
On one occasion after performing a routine rectal examination on a cow, Dr. Fincher asked one of his
students to assist in washing off his arm encased in a rubber sleeve, and the student used too hot
water from a container and Dr. Fincher yelled, "What are you trying to do, scald chickens?" On
another occasion when out on calls to farms around Ithaca, we were coming down Rte 79 near the
county farm when we came up out of a dip in the road at the excessive speed Dr. Mike Fincher
usually travelled when trying to get back on time to his class at the College. Two cars, one passing
the other, loomed ahead. Dr. Fincher pulled onto the shoulder, and we passed 3 abreast but we hit
a post on which there was a mailbox. The mailbox shot up into the air and after we passed the other
cars I looked back and Mike inquired, "Has the box come down yet?"
28From 1934 through 1938, Art Christian and I roomed together across the hall from Tom and
Jack Lawrence in Mrs. Sharp's house on the corner of Linden Ave. and Dryden Rd. in College Town, a
stone's throw from Johnny's Big Red Grill, owned by John Petrillose, who presided, along with Obie,
over the grill where we usually ate. We dated two Kappa Alpha Thetas, Virginia Hoyt and Betty Jane
Harris, who would frequently ride with us when we were riding and training remounts in the evening in
the Riding Hall. Virginia (Deena) lived in East Aurora, so often rode back and forth from or to Ithaca
with me in my old Pontiac that required the person next to the driver to hold the gear shift in place
so it wouldn't jump into neutral. This car was traded in on a model A Ford sedan that we allowed our
girls to borrow to go riding at the stable as they would put in a $1 worth of gas (5 gallons) that would
last us for a week! The house mother in the Theta house was a fine, pleasant, cheerful woman, Mrs.
Emily Case, who occasionally went to polo games with us. Shortly after we graduated she resigned to
marry Governor Earl James of Pennsylvania.
1935- Leslie, T Lawrence, J Lawrence & Roberts
Warner L. Jones Jr. of Kentucky who came to Cornell (in Agriculture) as a transfer with much polo
experience at Lawrenceville and Pennsylvania Military College had only one year of eligibility. His family
was closely associated with the Four Roses Company. When we'd take a trip by train, we had excellent
service from the waiters in the Club Car because Warner would place a bottle of whiskey on the table
and tell the waiterto bring an extra glass and help himself! This he did with alacrity and carried it
back to the kitchen for subsequent consumption. Bobby Young, a close friend of Warner's,
transferred to Cornell with him. Warner later purchased Hermitage Farm near Goshen, KY and raised
and raced many excellent Thoroughbred horses.
Other Short Items of Possible Interest
Warren Hawley III '40 was the son of one of the outstanding farmers in Genesee County (Bank
Street, Batavia, NY) and a good friend of my father. When Warren played polo at Cornell, his father
bought "Plaster Cast," a very good chestnut polo gelding from Louis Smith, manager of Ess Kay Farm, East
29Aurora, NY owned by Seymour Knox. Later his brother, Roy Steve Hawley '43, also played polo at
Cornell. The latter became an elected representative in the New York State legislature (1980's-1990's).
At one early Fall practice on upper Alumni Field, a young student approached Major Boyle
and stated he would like to come out for polo but he didn't know much about the game. He said he
had a polo mallet and had practiced hitting a ball on his home farm, so the Major told him to get on
one of the ponies and hit a ball down the field and back. This he did without missing the ball once,
but he did it the unbelievable way with the end, not the side of the mallet. We couldn't believe it so
he did it again. Unfortunately, this young man was in a farming short course and was ineligible to play
polo at Cornell.
James (Jim) Armstrong '42 (graduated from the Veterinary College) and lived in Mrs. Sharp's
house with us. Because of his hat and garb he was called the "Schenectady cowboy." He had an
infectious laugh and grin and would do anything for you. During his studies in the Veterinary College,
Jim slept and worked in the old Large Animal Clinic caring for the horses. Occasionally in the evening
if one dropped unexpectedly into the Clinic to look in on a case, one would find Jim had placed a horse
in the stocks and was sitting on its back reading cowboy magazines, veterinary books or strumming his
guitar. After his Army service he became an Extension Veterinarian at Texas A&M College.
Walt Naquin and Major Boyle 1937
Delano Proctor Jr. '42, a polo player from Kentucky, later graduated from the Veterinary College
and became a noted equine practitioner and surgeon, near Lexington, KY. In 1983 he became president
of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Durand "Randy" Blatz '41 along with Robert Taber '38 were young officers in the Cornell ROTC
Program at Cornell in the early 40's and have remained friends for years. Randy was president of the
Insilco Comp, of Meriden, Conn and did much to promote dressage, hunting and other equine activities.
He had a summer home in West Windsor near my home in Woodstock.
30Herbert Schiffer '41, an excellent polo player, had a serious automobile accident while in college
that ended his polo career. After graduation he became a very successful antique dealer north of
Philadelphia, PA and was the author of several noted books on antiques.
Walter Naquin '38 was also an excellent swimmer who also married a Cornell girl, Virginia Sturgess.
They lived for many years in Hawaii where he was the agriculturalist and engineer of large pineapple
growing companies not only in Hawaii, but also in East Africa.
Robert Ladd '43, son of Carl Ladd '12, Dean of the College of Agriculture, was a successful
businessman near Washington, D.C. (Potomac), and he and his wife Carol had two sons, Daniel '70 and
Charles '75 who also played polo at Cornell. Robert was very active in alumni activities at Cornell.
Halsey Eldredge '44, a successful farmer north of Sharon Springs, NY, played polo following his
graduation but especially with his two sons, Chuck, who graduated in the late 70's and became a
physician, and David '81. They were actively supported by their mother, Sandy. David has been the
Cornell Polo Coach from 1985 to the present, 1996.
The author's data and recollection of polo at Cornell from 1938 to 1942 is rather sketchy
because of his absence from Cornell while at Kansas State College. Between 1942 and 1946 during
World War II, polo ceased at Cornell. During this period the author went from a bad golfer to a
hopeless one!
John Leslie '35 when playing polo on Upper Alumni Field in 1932 was bumped. His pony went
down and rolled over him and he was knocked unconscious with a concussion. He was taken to the
Cornell Infirmary and was unconscious for about 10 days before recovering completely. He lived in
Rahway, NJ with his family, and took over the management of his father's business that made marine
air horns, one of which was installed under the hood of his model A Ford that he drove around Cornell.
In later life he and Katharine, a Vermont girl, had 7 children. Two of his sons played polo at Cornell,
Allen '63 and Bill '73. The latter was captain in 1971-1972. John retired to Vermont and was an active
polo player on the Quechee Polo Team and President of the Quechee Polo Club in 1983 and 1984. Thus
the association of this fine gentleman with the author has extended over 50 years.
Dr. Earle Hopper '17, DVM, lived in Ridgewood, NJ and was associated in an excellent practice for
many years with Dr. Cassius Way. The latter was a noted equine reproductive specialist. Earle was a
noted bovine specialist who practiced preventive herd health management many years before
preventive medicine became popularized in the 1970's. This practice numbered as their clients
many of the wealthiest persons between Richmond and Boston. Earle reached a 7-goal indoor status
in polo keeping his ponies at Saddle River, NJ. His son, also a good friend of mine, Henry D. (Bud)
Hopper reached a 5 goal status before he came to the N.Y.S. Veterinary College in 1942. Because of the
absence of polo at Cornell during the next years, he never played for Cornell, but we did play golf
together.
Earle was an aggressive and combative polo player, and when he and Buddy Combs were on
opposite teams, it was "a battle to the death and no holds barred." Off the field Earle, was a fine
gentleman and veterinarian who had, as some few gifted individuals, a fantastic memory for animals
(cattle and their pedigrees). Often by looking at an animal on a farm, he could accurately indicate the
animal's sire. This incident related by him and his wife, "Gingy," must be correct as I heard it from him
several times. (I tried to get him to write the memoirs of his practice after he had retired from
practice to be manager of Chedo Farms due to advancing arthritis that incapacitated him from active
practice or polo).
He and Gingy had gone to Bob Kleberg's King Ranch in Texas to buy Quarter horses at their
Quarter Horse sale for his client, Mr. Pingree's ranch in Cuba at that earlier time, prior to Castro,
31Batista was "dictator" or president of Cuba and American enterprises were encouraged. A Santa
Gertrudis sale preceded the Quarter Horse Sale, and the manager and geneticist described the
development of the Santa Gertrudis breed by crossing Shorthorn and Brahman cattle to produce the
highly efficient beef breed for semitropical areas. They showed the picture of the great and noted
progenitor of that breed, the "Monkey" bull. Earle sat up and looked again and said to Gingy he'd
seen that bull somewhere but couldn't remember where. She said that was impossible because he'd
never been to Texas before. He still maintained he'd seen the bull and puzzled over where until late
that night when he sat up in bed and said, "I know where I saw that bull!". He was a young veterinarian
practicing in Ridgewood, NJ when a classmate of his at the nearby Clifton Quarantine Station in Clifton,
NJ called and said, "Earle I need your help; bring all your ropes as I have a bull here to test that is so big
and strong he is tearing the place apart." Earle drove down and together with help, they tied the bull up
and TB tested and drew blood from him. Afterwards Earle said, "Where did that 'beast' come from and
where is he going?" They checked the import travel papers and way-bill on the bull and found he was a
purebred Sindhi bull from East Africa and was going to Kleberg's King Ranch in Texas. This was related to
the geneticist the next morning after the sale, but he had no comment. Earle was certain that the
"red" bull he helped to test was the 'Monkey' bull and accounted for the red color of the Santa
Gertrudis cattle which to this date no one has been able to duplicate by crossing Shorthorn and
Brahman cattle (2/5th or 3/5th or whatever combinations).
1936- Roberts, T. Lawrence, J. Lawrence
32Cornell Polo Players -1942-1950
In 1941-1942 - Wm. C. Flint '43, Herbert W. Schiffer '41, Latham F. Jones '44, Sheldon Blumenkrantz
'44, Richard B. Curtis, Robert J. Woods '44, Carl Zellner '45, F. Palmer '51, Oscar Carr, Lee Werner,
J. Babcock, '49. Capt. - Flint, Schiffer
In 1943 "Randy" Blatz '41, was coach. Marcus Day and Silverberg entered Cornell from Culver.)
R. Steve Hawley and Wm. C. Flint, co-captains.
In 1942-1944 - Wm. T. Dunn Jr. '43, J. T. Jackson '42, H. E. Otto '42, E. M. Lancina, P. B. Gibson
'43, R. H. Flack '43, C. C. Haysen Jr. '44, Mead Stone '43, Roy (Steve) Hawley '43, Stanley Levy '43,
G. V. Russell '44, Wilson T. Ballard '49, Dean C. Moore '46, Robt D. Ladd '43, John F. Whittemore '44,
Halsey Eldredge '44, H. D. Hopper '43.
In 1946-1947 - Edward A. Rowe '47, Cecil D. Cooper '47, John D. King '48, Ben P. Bone '47,
Irving W. Wiswall '48. Capt. - Cooper
In 1947-1948 - Hugh G. Dean '48, Adelbert C. Matthews Jr. '48, Charles W. Leavitt '51, Lawrence
Bayern '49, Gerald Boylen, Francis E. Laimbeer '52, Doug C. Dickinson '48. Capt. - Albert A. Strouss '49
In 1948-1949- John B. Babcock '49, Norman Bichler '50, Wm. S. Field '51, Charles Gandal '51,
Albert A. Strouss '49, Thos. Lengyel, Garrie R. Davis, Albert Grass '52, Mike Mulligan, James Shupe '52,
Capt. C. Gandal
In 1949-1950 - Robert V. Williams '52, John Brennan '52, Rodger Graff '52, Frederick Palmer '51,
Richard Ottinger '50, Thos D. O'Conner '50. Capt. - Willard I. Emerson '51
In 1950-1951 - William Bair '51, Willard I. Emerson '51, Edward Grano '52, John Morgan '52,
Frank Wetmore '51, Peter DePuy '51. Capt.- Fred Palmer '51
The five-year span of 1946 through 1951 at Cornell was particularly outstanding because of the
greater maturity of some of the polo players as veterans of World War II and the fact that these players
were only 10 to 15 years older than the coach. Furthermore, the Cornell Polo Team and Club had to
largely support the return of polo to Cornell with the exception of the return of the polo horses and
equipment from the Army arranged by Col. Ralph Hospital, Professor of Military Science and Tactics
(PMST) who was then commandant of ROTC at Cornell. The enthusiasm and willingness of the students
of this era to overcome obstacles and work and sacrifice to re-establish polo at Cornell got the coach
and his wife "well-hooked" on promoting and continuing polo at Cornell and other colleges and clubs of
the northeast since the Army, the National Guard or ROTC, no longer had horses in either Artillery or
Cavalry units.
Cecil Cooper '47 and Ben Bonelli '47 came to Cornell and the Veterinary College from ranches in
California. They were excellent students and horsemen and rapidly developed into good aggressive
polo players who, after graduation and dating of attractive girls from Wells College (20 miles north on
Lake Cayuga) in Aurora, NY, returned to practice in their home state. Being a "cowboy" and
ranchhand who had broken and trained horses in the foothills of the Sierras, "Ceese" or "Coop" Cooper
was begged by a young woman keeping her young horse at the Cornell stable to help her, since her horse
stubbornly and viciously refused to leave the stable area and barns by rearing and rubbing the girl
off against trees or barns. With much urging, Coop brought his western saddle and bridle to the stable
very early one Sunday morning. He started away from the stable with the horse when even after using
spurs and a whip, the horse reared and went into his usual "performance." Coop pulled the horse's
nose and mouth around to near the horn of the saddle, quickly wrapped the heavy rein around the
33horn and stepped off the other side of the horse, and when he dismounted, he pulled the horse on his
side with his head uppermost securely fastened to the saddle horn. He then proceeded to firmly
stamp the heel of his cowboy boot on the tensed muscles of the down horse's neck. After a few
minutes the head was released, the horse stood up and Coop remounted, but this time with a short
stiff crop in his hand. The horse and Cooper repeated the above performance as the horse would still
not leave the stable area. But the horse was thrown on his opposite side with the result that both
sides of his neck were sore. After remounting the then sweating horse, Cooper tapped his neck on
either side with his crop and the horse went where he was supposed to -- even away from the stable
in a quiet manner. Cooper and the girl rode the horse daily for several days thereafter tapping the
sore neck with the crop if the horse hesitated or refused to go where directed. The cowboy "cure,"
although rather rough and ready, was highly effective.
In one game Cooper was not playing his usual smart, aggressive game and toward the end of
the first period got hit and cut with a mallet under his eye (no face guards were yet standard
equipment in polo in the U.S. or Cornell). In checking on the damage or severity of the injury, I
realized that Cooper had been drinking. From that day on, I never allowed a student to play polo
after drinking even a beer! At these home polo games Dr. Showacre of the Cornell Medical Clinic
(Gannett) was always in required attendance and became a loyal supporter of the team. After three to
five years at every game Dr. Showacre convinced his superiors that a doctor's attendance was not
necessary because the relatively few, usually not serious injuries, could be taken promptly to the
clinic or infirmary - besides a veterinarian (coach) was always present to give or supervise first aid care!
Inside Squadron A Armory in New York City
Hugh Dean '48 was a cheerful, well-coordinated, very intelligent and excellent polo player, but only
a fair student. Both he and his younger sister were well-schooled in horsemanship having shown
horses in Madison Square Garden, N.Y.C. Their father was a noted medical specialist in urology in a
medical school in New York City. Hugh's girlfriend Nat attended Northwestern University in Chicago
34and I still remember his surprise when the Cornell team was on a polo trip to the midwest and Nat
showed up at Culver Military Academy and had lunch with us before the game. Hugh later was in a
serious automobile accident and a fractured pelvis eliminated him from a term of polo.
On another occasion we were flying to Miami, Florida to play the University of Miami in the
Orange Bowl in the first game of a double header featuring an all-star second game including Pedro
Silvern and George Oliver against a team from New York City. We left Ithaca from the downtown airport
with pilot Allan Hayes to fly to Newark, NJ in two small planes. Two players and I in one plane and
Hugh Dean with another pilot and all the baggage and equipment in the other smaller plane. We ran
into a snow storm over the Pocono Mountains and got separated. Allan landed us safely in Newark by
flying low enough so we could follow landmarks and land in one corner of the Newark Airport. But there
was no sign or communication from Hugh and his pilot. We were to take a Constellation plane to go
to Miami in several hours. After about one hour of extreme worry, I was called to the airport phone.
Hugh and his plane got lost in the snowstorm and came down in a cow pasture in western New Jersey
and they walked into the barn as the farmer was finishing the evening milking. After milking, the farmer
drove Hugh and our equipment into the Newark Airport in time to reunite us and for us to catch our
plane to Florida. Quite an experience. On the return trip we took the train from New Jersey to Ithaca!
One of the polo students, Adelbert Mathews Jr. '48 ("Matt"), was quiet but very hard working
student went to Law school and stayed in our home one summer and helped paint the porch floors
and fence. My wife, B.J. still remembers when an F.B.I. agent stopped at the house several years later
to inquire concerning "Matt's" loyalty to the U.S.A.
Larry Bayern '49 was a very hard-working, energetic blond young man who not only played polo with
us but was also manager of the polo team. Later in 1982, Larry drove in from the midwest and
donated a much needed electronic scoreboard for the J. T. Oxley Polo Arena at Cornell.
The following years, the Cornell polo team travelled to Miami, Florida to again meet the
outstanding University of Miami team in the Orange Bowl and arrived without incident. The team
consisted of John B. Babcock '49, son of H. E. Babcock a former professor and trustee at Cornell and
later one of several men who formed the Grange League Federation (GLF), a farmer's cooperative in
Ithaca. This company later became Agway, Inc. His older brother, Howard Babcock Jr., '36 had played
polo at Cornell. Charles (Chick) Gandel '51 played #2 and Albert (Bud) Strouss '49 played #3. John's
mother, who was in Florida at the time, had come to the game along with about 10,000 other
spectators. We were being mounted by Mr. George Oliver, manager of the Del Ray Polo Club, on
excellent playing ponies. They had been trucked in to the Orange Bowl and were saddled there by the
grooms. George Oliver went over each horse being used by our players giving information on their
peculiarities, speed, aggressiveness, steadiness and how to handle them to get the most from
them.
John Babcock's first mount was a small 14'3" hand, thin horse that George told John would
buck if hit with spurs so he should take them off and put them on for his second horse as the latter
needed them. John realized he'd only have 2 1/2 minutes between chukkers, so he mounted the first
horse and his feet hung about 10 inches below the horse's belly when he had adjusted his stirrups. So
he said to George, "See, my spurs won't hit him, then I won't have to put them on after the first
period." George said again, "You had better take them off when you ride that horse." About then,
they called the mounted Cornell team into the entranceway, turned on the lights of the Bowl for the
game, put the spot lights on the entrance and the loud speaker intoned, "The first game will be
between Cornell University of Ithaca, NY and Miami University. At #1 for Cornell is John Babcock."
George said, "Go ride to the center of the field." John's horse froze and wouldn't move, so John
unconsciously hit the horse with his spurs. He jumped forward into the Orange Bowl and threw a
35couple of straight bucks. John performed a perfect high somersault over his head and landed sitting on
the ground with the reins in his hand facing the horse that stood looking at him. The crowd roared.
John slowly reached over and picked up his helmet and mallet that lay next to him and put the helmet
back on. While still sitting there about 50 feet into the Orange Bowl field brought up first one leg and
then the other and removed his spurs and threw them toward the entrance gate and the crowd
roared again. At this time, George Oliver was leaning on the fence of the end gate laughing so hard
his face was reddish purple. He went out and picked up the spurs while John pulled his long frame
onto his feet, walked to the horse, crawled on and rode to the center of the arena to another roar
of the crowd. For the next 20 years whenever I saw George Oliver he asked after John Babcock and
started laughing again. John Babcock, on the other hand, preferred, rather obviously, not to be reminded
of what to him must have been his most embarrassing moment. Cornell again got beaten by the
Miami team which with nearly the same players won Intercollegiate Polo Tournament in New York
City from 1948 through 1951.
The next year, the Cornell polo team again went to Miami to play in the Orange Bowl with a
team composed of Willard I. Emerson '51, Albert (Bud) Strouss '49 and Fred Palmer '51, an older
student who had been a bomber pilot in World War II. He was also a guitar player, a practical jokster
and a married man finishing up his final years at Cornell. The team played well but was again
defeated by a narrow score before thousands of spectators at the Orange Bowl. However, the high-goal
game following the college contest starring George Oliver and Pedro Silvero was an outstanding game.
*
1950- Morgan, Gandal, Emerson
After the two games, we were leaving the Orange Bowl in the Oldsmobile car loaned to us for our
sojourn in Miami by Richard Fincher who had car agencies in Rochester, NY and Miami Beach, Florida
and who was a cousin of Dr. Myron Fincher, the head of my veterinary department at Cornell. Fred
36Palmer said, "Let's stop in at the 'Jungle Club' and have a beer." We parked the car, walked into the
crowded club and went to the bar. While drinking a beer, the floor show came on and we country-boys
from Ithaca had our eyes "out on stalks," as the girl entertainers had only rhinestone pieces on all
"critical" areas. Fred Palmer went down the bar and spoke to one of the "girls" standing there and
pointed back to us, especially Will Emerson. While we were finishing our beer, this girl came back to Will
and started talking and making up to him. Will, who was very "straight-laced" and formal, was too polite
to tell her to "get lost" and she became more aggressive. Will was blushing, embarrassed and stuttering
and saying to us we had to go. We let him squirm longer for our enjoyment and finally left. Later, I asked
Fred what he had told the girl. He said he'd told her Will was really interested in her; he was the bashful
type but had a lot of money. She did the rest!
The next day, Sunday, we were driving up to Del Ray to catch the outdoor polo game featuring
George Oliver, Peter Perkins and other high goal players. The old jalopy, with some of Fred Palmer's
friends from Miami that was following us to the game, couldn't stop fast enough when the newly loaned
Oldsmobile stopped for a light that suddenly turned red and rammed into our rear bumper. Fortunately
the damage was limited to a small scratch, but from then we "followed" the jalopy with the poor brakes!
On Monday, we flew out of Miami Airport in a Constellation and were climbing for altitude over
the Atlantic Ocean when Fred, the former Navy pilot, noticed we were heading toward a large mass of
"thunderhead" clouds. We were together in a forward compartment and the stewardess had just served
us lunch. The plane began to bump and lurch and then dropped thousands of feet. The milk in Will's
glass was a solid white column about 3 feet high, and when we hit "bottom" it splashed all over Will. At
that moment a very loud rat-tat-tat occurred and Fred said, "My God we're popping rivets." Will turned
whiter than the milk on his jacket and his eyes widened. Fred relented and said, "Relax, that was just a
very short hail storm we passed through." The rest of the flight to Newark and the return to Ithaca was
uneventful.
Bud Strouss '49, a graduate of Culver Military Academy, and a native of Youngstown, Ohio was an
enthusiastic, well-coordinated, cheerful young polo player when he came to Cornell. His girlfriend, a
dark-haired beauty, "Lill," from Boston, MA was attending Ithaca College. In one game in the ROTC
Riding Hall, "Lill" was sitting on the north side spectators' gallery when Bud hit the inflated polo ball that
went through a 1' x 1' opening at the top of a small door in the heavy screen between the gallery and
the arena and hit Lill in the head. We immediately put icepacks on the injury and later Lill developed a
gorgeous black eye to go with her black hair. That was the only time I had ever seen a ball go through
that small opening in hundreds of games and practices held in the ROTC Riding Hall.
On another occasion, we were playing a team in the South Orange Armory in New Jersey when
Bud Strouss was riding a fast, rather "nutty" chestnut Thoroughbred gelding provided by Al Parsells. Bud
came running along the wall and into the corner of the arena and the pony couldn't negotiate the turn
and jumped out of the arena (over a 5 foot wall) into the "hot-walking" area. No one was hurt and Bud
was still in the saddle. It was quickly decided to mount him on a slower, more reliable horse. Al later
donated this horse, "Flying Saucer" to Cornell - where it tried to give the author grey-hair watching the
students play him. Finally after several years of trying to slow him down, he was sold to a large, excellent
horseman alumnus, Bob Stuerzebecher. Meanwhile, Fred Palmer and others got their thrills at living
dangerously trying to play him regularly.
Bud Strouss and "Lill" got married and moved to Youngstown but after several years working in
his father's department store (The May Store) Bud decided to come back to Cornell and take some
science courses so he could apply to a veterinary college (later he enrolled at Ohio State, graduated and
became a practicing veterinarian near Columbus, Ohio). While living in Ithaca, he and Lill rented the
second-floor apartment in the house owned by Dr. A. Cameron Goff, Cornell Veterinary College, 1913, a
37friend of my father (Class of 1912), a practicing veterinarian and horseman in Ithaca for many years,
1913-1980, and a starter at Standardbred races at many Eastern tracks.
Dr. Goff was one of that generation of individualists who had a unique and vivid outlook on life
and lived it as he wanted to. One time, Dr. Goff had to have a local sheet metal company put a new rain
trough or gutters on the front of his house on Trumansburg Road across from Biggs or Tompkins County
Hospital about 1 mile north west of Ithaca, I happened to be there when he received the bill from the
Hull and Wheaton Company. Doc Goff exclaimed about the high cost of gutter and jumped up, went to
the phone, dialed and said, "Mr. Hull, I want to sell you a horse." Undoubtedly Mr. Hull said, "What do I
want with a horse?" because Doc's reply was "Jesse James rode a horse!" Doc had an E.D.T. room (every
damn thing) behind his kitchen. Several other standard remarks of his were "slip me five" meaning to
shake hands and "He's a prismatic S.O.B." (an SOB anyway you looked at him!). For a number of years
1980-1984 Doc was the oldest living alumnus of the Cornell Veterinary College until his death at 92 years
of age in 1984.
Charles ("Chick") Gandal '51 came to Cornell from Brooklyn, New York City. His father, an Art
instructor in a local high school was a former cavalryman in the Polish Army. Chick had a great interest in
horses and dogs and was a good but relatively small but smart athlete and thus made an excellent No. 1
on the Cornell polo team. He had a number of occasional girl-friends while at Cornell. One in particular,
Nona Sutton was a good horsewoman and enthusiastic about riding and caring for our polo ponies. She
was a rather short, buxom young woman who blushed beautifully one evening when she wore a new
white sweat shirt with a red CORNELL across the chest and Fred Palmer spelled out Cornell like a
cheerleader but laying heavy emphasis on the 0 and E. Later she took up sky-diving after graduation.
Another of Chick Gandal's young ladies was the pleasant, slight, ever-smiling Clover Breiling. The author
and his wife on moving from Ithaca to Woodstock, VT were agreeably surprised to meet Clover, who
with her husband John Durfee, lived in the neighboring town of Bethel and had horses in the barn
behind their old New England home on a hill on North Main Street.
Chick always had a grin on his face like a "bear in a honey tree" (Palmer) and he was also called
"Pedro Gonzales," but the author never knew the background for this nickname. Chick after graduation
and a year or so of practice in up-state New York in Schoharie County with Dr. Lincoln Field, went to
work as a veterinarian in the Bronx Zoo under Dr. Leonard Goss and assumed the latter's position when
Dr. Goss left to go to the Cleveland Zoo. It was great to visit Chick at the Zoo and my children loved to
ride the Galopagas turtle and the camel. Chick had even done the impossible by training a zebra to be a
riding pony!
Chick loved to hunt and fish off Long Island and had trained a champion German Shorthaired
Pointer ("Biff") that won in bird-hunting trials as well as dog shows. When you visited Chick and Elaine
and their daughters in Pleasantville, NY, Chick would even send Biff upstairs to bring him his slippers. He
regularly came to Ithaca in the Fall to hunt pheasants and often took my son with him. When the Bronx
Zoo of the N.Y. Zoological Society was turned over to New York City, Chick left and went into equine
practice in Westchester County where he has done very well because he had kept and built up his
expertise in equine practice during his time at the Zoo by caring for the police horses and polo ponies at
Squadron A Armory and at other N.Y. City police stables. I well remember a fascinating and informative
conversation I had with an Irish sergeant at one of these stables who visited with Chick. The former
vividly described the need, use and tactics of riot control by mounted policemen who could ride through
barricades into crowds, up brownstone steps and arrest the instigators of the riots by going places
neither men on foot or men in cars could penetrate.
38Willard D. Emerson ("Will”) '51 mentioned previously as a polo team member when we played
Miami in the Orange Bowl, was a very serious, intense, strait-laced, proper young man as befitted the
son of a financial officer of a large New York City investment firm, a cavalry officer associated with
Squadron A and later an investment counselor in the Treasurer's Office at Cornell University . I had to try
to keep Will relaxed before each game or he would be rigid and unthinking until he warmed up. Will
became engaged to a charming red-haired girl, "Connie," who attended Vassar and was adored by all
who knew her. When Will and Connie got married in Fairfield, CT, it was a "high society," gorgeous
wedding and reception with many friends and relatives attending. The wedding ceremony was very
formal with a number of Will's fraternity brothers (from Theta Delt) and polo friends as ushers in
morning coats including Fred Palmer, Gus Pabst, both practical jokers, and a large tall blond fraternity
brother "Bo" from Sweden. The latter, a handsome, solemn man had never ushered at such a wedding
in America so he was stationed at the entrance of the large church collecting the formal wedding
invitations. Fred and Gus had told him to take the invitation offered, tear it in half, and return one half
(like done in movie theaters with ticket stubs). Needless to say most of the guests were nonplused to
see such a solemn young giant perform this act. It wasn't until the wedding party arrived later and saw
what was occurring and corrected it. By then it was too late! Later at the reception, Fred Palmer who
was then a farm equipment salesman, when asked by persons coming through the receiving line what
his business was, would pull out a sales pamphlet for a manure-spreader and hand it to them. Later both
he and Gus Pabst nearly ended the reception party by jumping into the swimming pool with their formal
clothes still on! Will and his family probably rued the day they invited those two as ushers, but it did
liven up the festivities and was a conversational piece for many subsequent years.
THE NEW YORKER	39
Fred Palmer '51. who attended Cornell from Long Island during the early forties, served in the
Navy's air force during World War II and returned to Cornell in the late forties after being married. He
graduated in 1951. He was a "comedian," practical joker, had a very positive attitude and was a rugged
competitor plus an excellent guitar player and party organizer, was a leader of the younger players, and
as an alumnus a loyal supporter of Cornell and the polo team. Later his son Fred Jr. ('74) became captain
of the Polo team in 1974. Fred Sr's wife, "Shirley," a long-time school teacher and forebearing woman,
was often very embarrassed by the occasional words uttered by her husband Fred at the top of his voice
during a polo contest. At times they even embarrassed me. Fred & Shirl and their family have remained
39close friends of the author and his family ever since graduating from Cornell. Since moving to Cazenovia,
NY, Fred, and his guitar and sense of humor have been active participants in the Cornell Savage Club and
other area get-togethers.
Other Cornell Polo Players from that Era (1946-1952)
Ed Grano, '52 was a veterinary student at Cornell was a returning war veteran with a disability
that did not keep him from playing, JV and varsity Polo.
His classmate Rodger Graff '52, was a fine, well-liked young man from western New York State
who served faithfully and well as manager and Treasurer of the Polo Team and Club. Later in his senior
year in the veterinary college, Rodger developed a rapidly growing cancer and died a month before
graduation. A memorial to Rodger was placed by his classmates on the shore of Beebe Lake on the
Cornell campus.
Bill Bair '51 was a large, friendly blond young man who was the son of a minister and although an
aggressive player, never swore. In fact the worst word he would say was "darn." After graduation from
the College of Agriculture, he attended divinity school and accepted a church in Iowa. He later spent
most of his life in service with the U.S. government in A.I.D. in South America and retired in 1984 to a
small farm in northern Minnesota, near Bemidji.
Frank Wetmore '51, was a tall, blond crewman from Chicago who also played polo though he had
an allergy to horses. He, Fred Palmer '51, Gus Pabst '52 and Will Emerson '51, were close friends. Frank's
father was a lawyer and polo player and so after graduation Frank attended the Cornell Law School and
played with the author and Jack Lawrence in a low goal (5 goal) tournament at Squadron A Armory in
New York. Frank and his wife Daphne, a statuesque red-head, lived in a suburb of Chicago where Frank
became a highly successful lawyer. They both were avid duck hunters, raised Retrievers and were
members of a duck club on the Mississippi River.
Frank Laimbeer '52 (Francis "Effingham" Laimbeer III) was an extremely friendly, gangling
extrovert that was an excellent player of the harmonica and a fine rider and polo player. After
graduation he lived in Geneseo, New York, kept a stable there, and taught in a secondary school in
Rochester, NY and played polo and rode the hunt there. In recent years, he moved to Warrenton,
Virginia to enjoy a longer hunting season and to avoid the heavy snows in mid-New York State. Frank
and Rosemary Laimbeer raised two boys and two girls as well as good horses. The girls Daphne and
Sarah attended an advanced training level school run by Denny and Mae Emerson in Strafford, VT (home
of Senator Justin Morrill, who established the "land-grant" colleges, including Cornell, in the 48 states by
the sale of western lands in the 1860's). On a visit (April, 1984) to DelRay, Florida, Beejay and I
accidentally saw Sarah at a horseman's barbeque and caught up on the Laimbeer saga. We reunited at
the Genesee Valley Hunt Meet in Geneseo, NY in 1995.
Pete Depuy '52 was a slight-built, active student graduated from the Veterinary College at Cornell,
had a large family and for many years had a large horse practice in central New York south of Rochester.
Gus Pabst '52, was a close friend of many polo players of this era (Palmer, Wetmore, Emerson)
and a Theta Delt, was brilliant but excessively fun-loving, partying and practical jokester with an
engaging personality. At parties he was usually seen in a World War I German helmet with spike and a
black cape. He couldn't be serious about studies or polo although he had the ability to do both well. He
stayed at our house one summer to care for the horses while we were on vacation but old "Deedee"
(Dublin Damsel), my Thoroughbred mare, dumped him off a number of times. Gus made an immediate
"hit" with both my and the neighbor's children and was forever after referred to as "Gus-Gus". He later
"busted out" of Cornell, traveled about the world in a sail-boat with an adventurer and author. With
40some finagling we got him re-enrolled at Cornell several years later when he completed 2 years of study
in a year and one-half. He married a fine girl, Audrey, from Kenmore, NY and then moved to Prescott,
Arizona where they raised a fine family (Yes - Gus was a "cousin" of the Pabst Blue Ribbon family).
This group of young men, both those mentioned and unheralded, who played polo at Cornell from
1946 to 1952 should be given an immense amount of credit for establishing polo as a well-recognized
sport at Cornell, in developing and maintaining methods and procedures to support polo financially as a
club function and to establish traditions in polo that have passed down the years helped by their
continued interest in the sport at Cornell as active alumni.
Squadron A Armory on Madison Avenue between 94th and 95th
Streets in New York City was built in 1895. It was designated a landmark in
1966 after the demolition of all but the facade of the building that faces
Madison Avenue.
Polo was played there from 1904 to 1966 and the National
Intercollegiate Championships were played there from inception in 1922
to 1965. The arena was 160' wide by 290' long.
Cornell won the Intercollegiate Championship at Squadron A in
1937, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1963.
411947- Gandal, Cooper, Matthews, Strouss
1948-Gandal, Strouss, Babcock, Morgan, Biehler
421949 - Emerson, Grano, Gandal, Morgan, Strouss,
Depuy (rear)
1950 - Grano, Morgan, Gandal, Emerson
43Cornell Polo Players-1950-1960
In 1951-1952 - James W. Leaton, Robert M. Schless '54, Robert E. Cornell '55, Albert Fried Jr. '52,
Northrup R. Knox (Spec. Ag.), Francis E. Laimbeer '52, Gustave Pabst III '52. Capt. - Robert Diener '53.
In 1952-1953 - Robert M. Diener '53, Elmer King '53, Norman Brand '56, John Tasker '57, Wm.
Cass '56, Peter F. Downey '53, Robert M. Morrison '54, Peter F. Downey '53, Robert M. Morrison '54,
Walter M. Lewis '54, Peter W. Eising '54, Peter Hallock '53, Alan Embree '56, Christopher Stafford,
Robert Schless '54, Arthur Greiner '53. Capt. Peter Johnson '54
In 1953-1954 - Maurice Houseman '54, Peter K. Johnson '54, Robert Steuerzebecher '54, Forbes
Reback '56, Clifford Bond '58, Norman R. Phillips '54. Henry F. Holloway III '54. Capt.- Johnson
In 1954-1955 - Norman Shiny '55, Peter Wright Clark '59, Jack V. Frohm '55, Camilo Saenz '56
& Alberto Santamaria '57 - Co-Capt.
In 1955-1956 Camilo Saenz '56, Alberto Santamaria '57, H. Frederick Rice, Jr. '60, Mark J. (Mike)
Geronimus (Gerard) '59, Wm. F. Torrey '57, Albert J. Mitchell '56, David Kent '59, Gordon Snyder 159.
Capt. - Mitchell
In 1956-1957 - Robert Cyprus '57, Davis Melvin '57, Edwin R. Chance '59, Edward Eisner '60,
Thos. Nisbet '60, James L. Smith, Clayton Root '59, Roger D. Hagin '57. Capt. - Melvin
In 1957-1958 - George Baer '59, James Jay Shuttleworth '58; Pablo Toro '59, Thos. E. Davis '62,
Harvey Rhein '58, Thos. A. Rohr '61, Vittorio Sicherle '60, George A. Sloan '61, Richard Weyand '61,
John Wayne Stevenson '57, Peter H. Wright-Clark '58. Capt.Toro
In 1958-1959 - Peter D. Baldwin '59, William Speiden '59, Stanley Woolaway '59,
Clarence (Rocky) Pell, Robert Robens '61, Pierre Casselli '59. Capt,- Woolaway
In 1959-1960 - Michael Andrew '60, Dierk M. TerLouw '60, Edwin D. Child '63, Carl T. Olson '62,
Alan E. Schwartz '62. Capt.- Andrew
In 1960-1961 - Edgar (Pat) Baker '61, Bennet Baldwin '61, Thos. J. Lane '58, Robert H. Kelly '64,
Michael M. Mullins '64, Nathaniel Grew '60. Capt. - Baker
The era of 1953 to 1960 was characterized by winning polo teams at Cornell due to the influx of
excellent student players from Bogota, Columbia and Hawaii. Cornell won the Townsend Trophy as
winners of the Intercollegiate Tournaments in 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1959 and was in the Finals in
1960. The outstanding Columbian players were Alberto Santamaria, Camila Saeuz, and Pablo Toro and
the outstanding Hawaiian players were Fred Rice, Peter and Ben Baldwin and Stan Woolaway who
were supported by other excellent players such as, Maurice Houseman, Bob Diener, Bob Schless, Elmer
King, Jack Frohm, Pete Johnson, Bob Stuerzebecher, Mike Geronimus, Al Mitchell, Bob Cyprus, Dave
Melvin, George Baer, Bill Spieden, Mike Andrew, Dierk TerLouw, Tom Lane and Nat Grew.
Jack Frohm '55, a horseman from New York State, played polo at Cornell and later established
a large training and riding stable in Pittsford, NY, south of Rochester. He later built a riding hall there
and for many years Cornell teams and their coaches played contests there and in Ithaca.
Unfortunately Jack's two sons attended Yale and played polo there.
In 1956 Beejay and I drove down to the Intercollegiates in March and, with Mike Geronimus'
guidance, drove over to Brooklyn to have dinner at his home with his parents. His father was a very
large man, 6 feet tall, weighed about 200+ lbs. and was a gym instructor in one of the local high schools
while his mother was a very small, tiny, delicate but artistic woman whom Mike resembled by his small
size. Mike originally became interested in horses by being a hot-walker and later exercise jockey at
Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks and, being a good student, came to Cornell in Agriculture and then
graduated from Cornell in Veterinary Medicine. In his last year in College he worked extensively with
44electrocardiograms with Dr. Steele from Australia and an Irish veterinarian, Dr. Glazier (Dublin) who
were trying to detect stake-class horses by the electrocardiogram. After a pleasant dinner in Brooklyn
at the Geronimus's we realized we might be late getting back to Squadron A (at 94th & Madison Ave) in
Manhattan.
Mr. Geronimus got in his car and said, "Follow me, I know the shortcuts." So we sped off in the
dark, with me riding his taillights in my car, and I had no idea the direction or how he went as I didn't
even know how we got there for dinner. We zoomed along and must have gone through at least 3 to 5
stop lights on the yellow or having just turned red. I didn't dare lose the lead car or I would have been
hopelessly lost in Brooklyn (What a frustrating evening I would have spent even trying to find
Manhattan!). We did make the Armory in time for Mike to change his clothes while I checked on the
horses. That year we won the Intercollegiates with Mike playing a superb game at No. I.
Late in the 50's, Fred Fortugno, the "mushroom king" from Toughkenamon (Brandywine), PA
outside of Kennett Square, PA brought a team to Cornell to play the varsity. Fred was an enthusiastic
but green player at that time, but he brought along his new bride, Liana, a most beautiful, young,
gorgeous blond, blue-eyed woman he had met on a boat to Europe. She was from Porto Allegro, Brazil
and apparently required much courting and diligent, long persuasion before she married Fred. Vittorio
Sicherle, a handsome South American student on the polo team and definitely a "ladies man"
immediately struck up a conversation in Portuguese with Liana. Up to that time she had hardly said a
word except "Si." It turned out she could not speak English very well and enjoyed and appreciated
talking in Spanish or Portuguese to our South American polo players. Vittorio came over to me in a
short while with a shocked look on his face and said, "Doc, that gorgeous creature lived only a few
blocks from my home in Porto Allegro, Brazil and I never knew her. I can't believe it possible that such a
beauty could have escaped me!"
Later during the polo game, Fred Fortugno, when he was riding a handy chestnut mare,
"Maybe," turned her so sharply she fell down on his leg and broke it, so we had to take Fred to the
College Infirmary and Hospital and have the leg set but Fred had to stay there in bed for several days.
Meanwhile his wife, who stayed with Beejay and I, spent much time there with him but she was
escorted to the Hospital, around Cornell, to dinner and lunch by a rotating sequence of South
American student polo players, sometimes several at a time all speaking Spanish and vying for a smile
from that gorgeous creature.
Fred came up for several more games and had a good polo stable of his own as he played at
Brandywine. Later, he and his wife produced 3 boys all who played excellent polo (being rated at 4 to 6
goals), but unfortunately not at Cornell. Beejay remembered the boxes of mushrooms Fred brought
with him on his visits to Ithaca and our home.
"Morrie" Houseman '54 of Grand Rapids, Michigan came to Cornell with two other polo players
and graduates of Culver Military Academy. The Admissions Director, Herb Williams, informed me that
Morrie would have no scholastic problems at Cornell, and he didn't, graduating from a tough 5-year
course in Engineering in 4 1/2 years. Besides being an excellent student, Morrie was a hard-worker and
good steady polo player but like many Engineers he carried a breast pocket full of pencils and pens from
the time he was in school, and thereafter it was his "trademark". He married a delightful extrovert,
"Marny," and had a fine family. The other two Culver graduates who entered Cornell at the same time
were told by both me and Herb Williams they would have to study hard, even though they were
outstanding polo players rated at 1 or 2 goals. One "busted out" at the end of the 1st term and the other
at the end of his Sophomore year. Neither contributed much to the polo team, as those on scholastic
probation could not play polo. The latter, Bob Schless from Downers Grove, IL, graduated from another
college, was a successful business man and supported the polo activities at Cornell. Thereafter I never
45questioned the ability of Herb Williams and the Admissions Office and their expertise in accepting or
predicting the future progress of subsequent applicants to Cornell. They had them "pegged" very
accurately.
Bob Diener '53 was a New Jerseyite that played polo and was a close friend of Elmer ("Elmo")
King. Bob applied to the Veterinary College at Cornell and was not accepted due to the many in-state
applicants, so he enrolled after graduation from Cornell at Michigan State, where he received his
D.V.M. and M.S., degrees in pathology. He and Clair lived near Summit, NJ and he worked for the Ciba
Co. He and his son played polo at Burnt Mills Polo Club and also at Chukker Valley in Gilbertsville, PA.
He later had a diving accident that ended his polo playing career.
Elmer ("Elmo") King '53 was from Morristown, NJ where my grandfather at one time was mayor
and raced his trotting mare, "Fancy Spot" in the winter against neighbors on Madison Ave - a practice
that ceased about 70 years ago! Elmer's father, an intense, successful lawyer, was in practice there
with Horace Jeffers, a longtime close friend and boarder of my grandmother Ervina and Aunt Ann, on
Green Hill Road several houses from the Kings. My aunt was a lifetime librarian and reading specialist
at the Morristown High School and she and my grandmother were close friends of the Kings. Elmer's
older sister Phyllis was a good friend of ours, a talented musician and psychology major who worked
with disturbed children near Princeton, NJ for many years. Elmo was a hard-working, friendly person
who only played polo moderately well but made up in intensity for his lack of ability. He became
engaged to and married Barbara, a fine girl from central Ohio near Youngstown. So when we went to
his wedding, Chick Gandal, Bob Diener and Bud Strouss also came and we were to play polo the day
after the wedding. Since Elmo didn't know Bob Diener couldn't get there until the last minute, we told
him he'd have to cut his honeymoon short and get back the next day for polo which was to be played
on a "skin" field (one without grass!). Poor Elmo was really "torn" and Barbara was upset by his
wanting to help us and to play and its drastic effect on their honeymoon trip. Finally Bob Diener
arrived and we 'graciously' let Elmo 'off the hook'. After the wedding, the reception was in Barbara's
home and yard and the local police were called to "quell the riot," but when they got there they joined
in as the "complainers" were well known to both police and Barbara's folks! The next day, when we
played polo against the Youngstown team that included Stan Strouss, Bud's brother, we found the field
to be incredibly fast. If we stroked the ball hard near the middle it would zoom over the end line. So I
had to change the line up and told Chick Gandal who was suffering from a "hangover" from the
previous nights party to play #2 where he could push the play. I can hear him still today saying in
pained and funereally tones - "Oh no, Doc!" Elmo and Barbara established their residence in Whippany
near Morristown, NJ and raised a fine family.
Norm Brand '56, a small, vocal owlish young appearing student applied to be manager of the polo
team. He turned out to be one of the best managers, treasurers and promoters we ever had. He took his
job seriously and also played a ukulele well at our postgame parties. He was courting "Mime," a Cortland
State College coed who also was a very pleasant person. When they were married in Liberty, NY they
invited Beejay and I and Frank and Marie Page to what turned out to be a full-scale Jewish reception,
dinner, wedding and fabulous party. It was the first such celebration we "Gentiles" had attended, and
we had a wonderful time. Everyone treated us very graciously. We recall it with great pleasure. My son
Steve, a fisherman, who was about 15 years old, found out where we were going. So he went with us
and we dropped him off at the famous Catskill trout stream to fish. But his bait had died, so he hitched
back to the hotel and watched television in the lobby! Norm has been very successful in the plumbing
and heating business in Liberty and also raised a fine family and in recent years has established himself
in Boca Raton, Florida.
46Miscellaneous Memorable Memories of Some of
Cornell's Polo Players and Happenings from the Fifties
Bob Cyprus and David Melvin '57, classmates and close friends, worked diligently to assist the
polo team and lead it in all of its activities. After graduation, Bob Cyprus and his wife Joanne established
themselves in El Paso, Texas and their son Rob played polo at Texas Tech and assisted in refereeing
recent intercollegiate tournaments. Dave Melvin entered the U.S. Air Force and flew commercially but
lost his life in the 70's in an air crash in Boston Harbor.
Jack Tasker, another Cornell '57 classmate, a graduate of the Cornell Veterinary College and
manager of the polo team, secured his PhD degree and went on to become Dean of the Veterinary
College at Michigan State University from which he recently retired in 1995 to settle with his wife,
Grace, in Delmar, Delaware.
In the mid to late 50's, a number of students from Columbia, South America attended Cornell
University and as accomplished riders and polo players, greatly enhanced the performance of the
Cornell Polo Team. They included: Camila Saenz '56, Alberto '57 and Guillermo (Bill) Santamaria '67
and Pablo Toro '59. To these notables were added in the 60's Bernardo Herrera '64, Pedro Navas '66,
Carlos Guiterrez '71. Christian Bleier '72, Jose Bermudez '65 and Pablo Navas '73. These South
Americans, when they came to our house for a post-game party would always place the "long playing"
record, "The Bull Fight Song" on the record player and sing and stomp and cry "Ole" at the proper
places in accompaniment!
On a number of occasions, this versatile Colombian group would challenge the Hawaiian
group of Peter Baldwin '59, Jim Reynolds '63, Stan Woolaway '59, and Ben Baldwin '61 to an
intrasquad game. Refereeing and watching this hard-fought game with the respective teams
shouting and giving directions in Spanish and "Hawaiianese" was a thrilling and unusual
"international" experience!
1958 Intercollegiate Champions- Woolaway, Baer, Shuttleworth, Baldwin, Toro
with Mrs. Frank Butterworth, Jr.
47Another experience occurred with Peter Baldwin '59, who liked to play "all out," especially if he
rode the very speedy, quick and bold Thoroughbred mare, "June." The only drawback with this mare
was her propensity to decide for herself when rode full speed into the arena wall whether she would
turn right or left! The result was on one occasion with Peter, who had just recently bought a new
"safety" helmet at Kaufman and Sons in NYC, sailing head first into the wall. He got up groggily but the
top of his new helmet was severely cracked and broken. I returned his helmet to Kaufman's with a note
that more work had to be done on its safety factor. Twenty four hours later, I received an urgent call
from Roy Kaufman inquiring as to Peter's health. He was greatly relieved and reassured by my reply but
promptly sent Peter a new and hopefully safer helmet as a replacement.
George Baer '59 was a very serious, smart polo player whose father was an industrial chemist
who came to America from Switzerland. After graduation from the Cornell College of Veterinary
Medicine and practicing for a few years, he joined the National Center for Disease Control in
Atlanta, Georgia. While with CDC, he became an authority on rabies and wrote a book on the
subject. He also pioneered the oral immunization of wildlife such as foxes and bats to control
the spread of the rabies. This practice has been utilized widely in the U.S. and other countries. In
recent years he has retired from CDC and moved with his wife, Olga, to Mexico City and
established an international Diagnostic Laboratory there.
Tom J. Lane '58, son of a central New York horseman, attended the N.Y. State College of
Veterinary Medicine at Cornell as my student and polo player. He and his wife Roberta (Bert)
often "baby sat" our children when my wife B.J. and I were out for the evening or weekend. Tom
and Bert later moved to Belleview, Florida, north of Ocala, and he became an Extension
Veterinarian, especially in equines, at the Florida Veterinary College in Gainesville. Besides playing
polo for years in the central Florida area, Tom's son, Steve, has become a professional polo
referee. Tom has achieved national recognition for his well-publicized activities in promoting the
many benefits of "bonding" between people and animals. He has also been active and working to
educate lay persons, especially animal rights activists, concerning the use and care and humane
treatment of animals in agriculture, sports, medical research, and over-population problems of
domestic pets, dogs and cats that leads to their neglect. As extension veterinarian at the College,
he has worked closely with horses on breeding farms, recreational horses and race horses and the
health and nutrition of horses in Florida.
Frank E. Laimbeer '52 was a very likeable, friendly person attending the College of Agriculture at
Cornell, who came out for polo. His experience with horses was limited, but he really worked for the
club, took care of the horses and learned the game rapidly. His enthusiasm for horses and polo
and people was contagious. Everyone liked him. When the players, especially Fred Palmer, found
out his middle name was "Effingham" it really caught on and he took the "ribbing" graciously. At the
polo parties, he and his harmonica were indispensable. After graduation he married Rosemary, a
fine woman, and they established a horse farm near Warrenton, VA and he raises field hunters
and race meet horses and still plays polo locally.
Peter Johnson '54 was a tall blond, good-looking, intelligent young man from Illinois who, as
an excellent all-out polo player, captained and led the polo team (and was president of the Polo
Club) in 1953 and 1954. After graduation from the Arts College at Cornell, he entered the
Cornell Law School. He continued to play with and help coach the members of the polo squad
although he wasn't eligible to play intercollegiate polo. He was then nick-named "The
Barrister," as often at the polo parties, with a glass in hand, he would "pontificate" on some
aspect of polo, the rules, team play or after game opinion of the contest. He married a
beautiful classmate, Ardith, set up his legal practice in Deerfield and Chicago, Illinois, where he
48has been highly successful. In 1995 his daughter entered Cornell University.
Irv W. Wiswall '48 Ag, '54 Vet was a very friendly, energetic, helpful young man who played a
number of years on the Jayvee squad while studying in the College of Agriculture at Cornell during
the mid-40's. After graduation he worked as a reporter in Buffalo, NY for the Department of
Agriculture and Markets of New York State, getting livestock market information back to the
farmers. In that capacity he met my father, who was a salesman for a large livestock marketing
company in Buffalo. My father, who had graduated from Cornell in Veterinary Medicine in 1912 but
never practiced, became friends with Irv and convinced him to return to Cornell and become a
veterinarian like his older brother George Wiswall, 1940, whom I knew as a student while I was in
the Veterinary College. This Irv did and played more polo and graduated in 1954 and went into
racetrack and private horse practice in western New York State. With hard work and some
good investments, Irv was able to retire in Arizona and have a home on the ocean in Mexico
with his wife Velma. He was able to donate a considerable sum of money to the Veterinary
College at Cornell to provide the outstanding Irving W. Wiswall Learning Laboratory for veterinary
students in the new addition to the College in 1995.
In the summer of 1995, my wife and I went to the Switzerland Inn near Bath on Lake
Keuka, one of the Finger Lakes. As we entered, the maitre de greeted with, "Doc Roberts, how are
you." It was Larry G. Snyder '62, another JV player of the 50's at Cornell who lived in this central NY
area, trained and boarded show horses and worked in Corning NY with a summer position in this
Inn. He came to Bath several times during the summer and rode horseback with me. It is always
a pleasure to renew old acquaintances with former students.
491951- Diener, Williams, Depuy (back)- Palmer, Morgan, Grano, Laimbeer, Bair (standing)
Emerson, Gandal, Roberts, Page, Graff (seated)
50
1952- Laimbeer, Palmer, Emerson, Morgan, Beihler, Grano (standing)
Roberts & Page (kneeling)1953- King, Hollaway, Johnson, Diener, Houseman, Fried, Cornell,
Schless, Page, Roberts, Greiner (kneeling)
1954- Geronimus, Stuerzebecher, Johnson, Houseman, Santamaria, Saenz (mounted)
Roberts, King, Stevenson, Brand, Laimbeer, Kayrouze, Torrey, Cyprus, Melvin, Rebock, Shimp (standing)
511955 Intercollegiate Champions- Mr & Mrs Devereux Millburn,
Santamaria, Saenz, Geronimus, Mitchell
1956- Intercollegiate Champions- Rice, Saenz, Santamaria (mounted)
Roberts, Melvin, Toro, Mitchell, Cyprus, Geronimus, Torrey
521957- Woolaway, Shuttleworth, Cyprus, Toro, Baldwin, Clark, Melvin, Baer, Roberts
1958 Intercollegiate Champions- Baldwin, Toro, Woolaway, Baer, Shuttleworth
Roberts, Page, Johnson, Geronimus
53
MR1959 Intercollegiate Champions- Speiden, Baldwin, Baldwin, Woolaway, Beejay, Roberts
54Cornell Polo Players- 1960-1972
In 1961-1962 - John Franzreb '64, Bernardo Herrera '64, Tierney McKnight '65, Kevin Freeman '63, Frank
Butterworth III '63, James Reynolds '63, John Walworth '62, Trevor Williams '65, Wm. Seaver '65, David
Will '64, Larry Snyder '62, Edw. R. Eisner '64, Daniel Krevere '65, Jose Bermudez '65, Capt. - Walworth
In 1962-1963 - Patrick Dix '65, James R. Morse '63, H. John Allhusen '64, Christian Boissannas '64,
Thos. G. Henderson '63, J. Allen Leslie '63, Donald M. Birrell, W. Bishop Getman '65, Thos. E. Oxley,
Daniel Roberts '50. Capt. - Morse
In 1963-1964 - Jan Suwinski '63, Paul Mountan '64, Robson (Terry) Young '64, Thomas Corkill '64,
Charles Hotchkin '66, Curtis Fullmer '67, Alan Fairbairn '67, John C. Collins '67, Dale Chambers '67, Pedro
Navas '66, Philip Fox '64, Charles Bachman '65, Michael F. Mullins '64, Capt. - Suwinski
In 1964-1965 - Richard Fredericks '64, Peter Conklin '66, Elmer K. Heubeck '65, Kenneth McKamey '65,
Jeffrey Sanders '65, Daniel C. Sharp '65, Dale Chambers '67, Jeffrey Leshin '68, Kelby Kuney '68, Benson
Martin '68, Alfred 0. Reynolds '68, Thos. M, Corkill '65, John P. Felleman '64, Chas. B. Hotchkiss '65,
Capt. - Fredericks
In 1965-1966 - Glenn Armstrong '66, James Greenwell '67, Peter B. Orthwein '68, Guillermo (Bill)
Santamaria '67, Theodore Brinkman '67, Dale Chambers '67, Joseph Durso, Jr. '67, Lee Harkness '66,
Robt. W. Sharp '67, James Buck '67, Charles Montagna '68, John Potter '67, Wm. T. Smith '66, Ira
Weisenfeld '68, Douglas Antczak '69, Wm. P. Armstrong '69, Jeffrey Springer '69, Steven Berger '69,
Barry Samuel '68, Roger McEnnis '68, Albert Compassi '62, Roger Eisinger '69, Henry Klyce '69, Peter
Leddington '68, Robert Maloney '70, Jonathon Nadel '69, John Pentacost '69, Thomas Peter '69, Alan
Robertson '69, Charles Trainer '69, Capt.- G. Armstrong
In 1966-1967 - Peter Orthwein '68, John Potter '67, "Bill" Santamaria '67, Theodore Brinkman '67, James
Greenwell '67, John L. Pentacost '69, Dale Chambers '67, Joseph Durso Jr. '67, Samuel S. Keyrouze,
Capt. - Greenwell
In 1967-1968 - Peter Orthwein '68, Daniel Ladd '70, Thos. O'Connor '68, Douglas Antczak '69, Chas. G.
King. Capt. - Orthwein
In 1968-1969 - Douglas Antczak '69, Wm. Armstrong '69, Paul E. Wilson '69, Daniel Ladd '70, Jeffrey
Springer '69, Albert M. Ubert '69, Jeffrey Wallach '68. Capt.- Antczak
In 1969-1970 - Christian Bleier '72, Daniel Ladd '70, Allen Olson '71, Dean Schneider '70, Henry Muller
'70, Wm. T. Openshaw '70. Capt.- Ladd
In 1970-1971 - Christian Bleier '72, George Peters '73, Robert Harris '71, Carlos Gutierrez '71, Kevin
Reynolds '72, Paul Brown '71, Stephen Wright '73, Wm. Leslie '72, Ned Shankman '72, John Kittell '72,
Pablo Navas '73, Charles Ladd '70, Don F. Cammiso '71, Thos. R. Donehower '71, David A. Jonas '71, H. K.
Lidstone '71, Daniel Scheraga '73. Capt.- Bleier
In 1971-1972 - Wm. Leslie '72, Charles Ladd '70, Christian Bleier '72, Dan Scheraga '73, John Aruny '73,
Lee Whitmore, Peter Slaunwhite '74, Fred Palmer III '74, Joseph Sirico '74, Court Talmadge '75, Russell
Hubscher, Bruce Colley, Leonard Shapiro '74, John T. Conner Jr. '72, H. C. Llop '72, Ned Schankman '72,
Harry Huberth, Capt. Leslie
55Patrick Dix '65 from Spokane, WA was an athletic, good looking blond man who came out for polo
and since he rode a horse fairly well and had played some polo with his father, Peter, I accepted him for
the squad. I later found out he had been football all state high school quarterback of the State of
Washington. He became a constant student of the game of polo, studying the books, asking questions
and within a short time was a handicap player who significantly helped Cornell win an intercollegiate
polo title in 1963. Pat had to leave Cornell in his Junior or Senior year to assist his family and his father's
(Peter) construction business due to the latter's death. Pat carried on this business, married Kathy, a top
tennis player and raised a fine family. He has been active in polo circles, early by playing with John T.
Oxley in high goal polo with a handicap of 5 to 7 goals and later playing with his son on the Spokane Polo
Club of which he was the Delegate to the USPA. He also has served the USPA in a number of capacities
and on some committees including Executive Vice President (1988-1991) and on the Board of Governors
1977-1981, 1983-1988 and 1992-1994. An illustrious polo career!
James Morse '63 was an energetic, excitable, enthusiastic young man from New Jersey who had
ridden horses and came on the polo squad. He was one of the few Cornell polo players who was on the
team winning the Intercollegiate Polo Championships three consecutive years 1961, 1962 and 1963.
The latter year he was captain. On one occasion during the 1961 Intercollegiates at half-time against
Yale, I had the Cornell team in a room by themselves discussing polo tactics and trying to settle them
down and make them think, when Jim's very excitable father came into the room giving the team an
unnecessary pep talk and questionable advice. As I recall, it was the only occasion I ever had to
promptly escort a parent out the door! Jim later graduated from the Veterinary College at Cornell,
married a fine girl, "Dif," and established his family and practice near Camden, in central New York.
1961 Intercollegiate Champions- Walworth, Butterworth, Roberts, Baldwin,
Mrs. Ylvisaker, Morse, Mr. Ylvisaker
Michael Andrew '60 from Gorham, Maine was captain of the polo team. After graduation he
returned to Maine, secured a PhD degree in Education and became a professor in the Education
Department of the University of New Hampshire and later became its chairman. He innovated an
56outstanding 5-year training program for teachers that received national recognition. He was largely
responsible for forming the Down East Polo Club that played widely in the Northeast in the '70s and
'80s. He had a 5 goal handicap and was coach of the Harvard polo team in the early '70s. His son Patrick
played for Cornell in the late 1980's and was recipient of the Intercollegiate of the Year Award by Town
and Country Magazine in 1989. Mike's teammate DierkTerLouw '60, who still resides in Ithaca, NY
remain close friends and share activities as hunting, fishing and iron work.
Frank Butterworth III '63 known as "Butch" to distinguish him from his father, Frank, transferred
to Cornell University from Yale in his Junior year so he was only eligible for the Cornell team for two
years (1962-1963). Both Butch and Frank were well known polo players in the northeast from their
home farm near New Haven, CT. Frank, senior, was the longtime polo coach of the Yale polo team and
Butch started his collegiate career with that team. In 1962, the year that Butch, a tall strong quiet, "laid-
back," 2 or 3 goal player who spoke with a drawl and moved slowly, except when playing, was on the
Cornell polo team. We entered the finals of the Intercollegiate at Squadron A Armory against the Yale
polo team. I "fired" Butch up as best I could and he carried the Cornell team to victory 14 to 5. After the
game his father, Frank, asked me, "How were you able to get Butch so 'fired up' -- he nearly single-
handedly beat us and we had a good team!!" I personally thought Butch wanted to show his father how
well he could really play! After graduation, Butch has continued his polo activities by raising, training and
playing polo in New England and Florida. In the mid '90s his son, Oliver, also took up the game of polo,
the third generation. He attends the University of Connecticut and is one of the better players of his
collegiate "generation."
1962 Intercollegiate Champions- Butterworth, Morse, Reynolds, Walworth, Mr. & Mrs. EmersonAnother high-achieving player of the '63 class was Jan Suwinski, a young man from western New
York State who had a "hitch in his gait" from a bout of childhood polio. He could ride a horse quite well,
became a regular, highly intelligent player on the team and was elected Captain in his senior year. After
graduating from the College of Engineering with a B.S. degree, he secured his Masters degree in the
School of Business Administration and helped coach the Cornell polo team. Since leaving Cornell he has
lived in Ithaca with his wife, Sue, who raises Rottweiler dogs. He has worked at Corning Glass Inc. in
Corning, NY and has risen rapidly in their large corporation and is currently (1996) Executive Vice
President of their Opto-Electronics Group. He is still an active member of the Ithaca and Central New
York Polo Club with a busy summer season of polo based in Cortland, NY.
1963 Intercollegiate Champions- Mr. Rand, Dix, Mountain, Morse, Mrs. Rand
Edward R. Eisner '64 was a member of the Cornell Polo squad who graduated from the N.Y. State
College of Veterinary Medicine. Since graduation he has been in practice in Denver, Colorado and has
been a pioneer and an authority in the specialty of veterinary dentistry of small animals, becoming a
charter member and president of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry.
John C. Collins '67 was a JV polo squad member, who received a BS degree from Cornell, a
Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a JD degree from the Georgetown
University Law Center. He became Chief Executive Officer and Treasurer of the Hitchcock Clinic in
Hanover, NH from 1977 to 1995 and has recently been appointed Executive Vice President and
Treasurer of the Lahey-Hitchcock Clinic. He has been actively involved on the governing boards of a
number of medical, health, insurance and management organizations in New England.
Douglas F. Antczak '69, was an outstanding scholastic champion New England swimmer from
Connecticut before entering Cornell University. Rather than follow his early swimming career, he came
out for polo much to the disgust of the Cornell swimming coach, Scotty Little. Doug became an
outstanding leader on the polo team and was elected Captain in 1968-1969. He excelled in his studies,
58taking Russian literature besides a biology major and a BA degree to prepare him for admission into the
Veterinary College. When accepted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary medicine, he
left Ithaca and received a VMD degree there in 1973. He also became a Rhodes scholar with a 5 year
scholarship to Cambridge University in England. While there he achieved a PhD degree in the recent
popular specialty of immunology. Whereupon he was hired in 1978 as an assistant professor at the
Veterinary College at Cornell. He and his English wife, "Wendy," a medical doctor, have established
themselves on a farm near Ithaca. Doug advanced to an Associate professor in 1985, and to an
endowed professorship in 1992. In 1994 he was appointed Director of the James A. Baker,
Veterinary Viral Research Institute at Cornell. Doug works out regularly in the Cornell Polo and
Equitation Center with the Ithaca Polo men and women.
Daniel M. Scheraga '73 was a very young, skinny, tall "applicant" to the Cornell Polo Squad in
1969. He was one of only a very few who were from the local Ithaca, NY area. His father was a
noted professor and chairman of the Cornell University Chemistry Department. Danny was a
smart, apt pupil that improved rapidly in polo knowledge and riding ability but because of his
young age and thin physique he was not a strong, powerful player. I recall calling him early on as
"rubber wrists." By diligence and work ethic he became a regular on the varsity team and was
elected Captain in 1972-1973.
After graduation Dan became coach of the Cornell Polo team in 1975. A very successful
tenure followed with winning men's and women's teams until 1985. The next years (1985-86) he
worked as assistant polo manager of the Palm Beach Polo Club in Wellington, Florida under Herbie
Pennell. The following year he was hired by the U.S. Polo Association as Field Director. Dan
married Janet Burgess, a smart and athletic woman who was on the Cornell Women's polo
team from 1976 to 1979. She was Captain of the team when they won the Women's
Intercollegiate Championship for the first of Cornell's many successes. After graduation and
marriage, Janet secured her M.D. degree and is presently (1995) an assistant professor in
59Radiology at SUNY Medical Center in Syracuse, NY. Dan and Janet have a son Jeffrey and live in
Tully, NY. Dan's energy and organizational ability as Field Director of the USPA since 1986 has
resulted in increasing the number of intercollegiate polo teams to 19 men's and 17 women's teams
with three regional tournaments leading to the national (arena) championships. Through support of
the Polo Training Foundation of the USPA, he has helped establish polo training schools for
players and referees resulting in more interscholastic teams and tournaments as well as assisting
new clubs to organize. I'm very proud of Danny's accomplishments in improving and encouraging
polo nationally, especially with younger players. Fie is a real leader and promoter!
David Eldredge '81, son of Halsey '44 and Sandy Eldredge has taken on the duties of coach
of the Cornell Polo team since 1985 and is continuing the Cornell tradition of excellent polo
with current squads of 18 women and 18 men. David also followed in Danny's lead and married
Karen Lowe (1990), captain of the 1988 highly successful Cornell women's polo team. They are
the proud parents of a very young daughter "Kailey." In recent years (1990's), the excellent
facilities for polo at Cornell University and the John Ben Snow Foundation enabled the hosting
of the Eastern Regional Intercollegiate, Interscholastic and other tournaments at Cornell on
their outstanding string of polo horses.
Doc and David Eldredge at the white board
60Over the years, I have been made extremely proud of these outstanding Cornell polo players
and their many teammates. For this and other reasons, especially memorable ones, I have "basked"
in their accomplishments and kept in contact and followed the careers and families of many of
these Cornell polo players. In fact they have been "extended family" members and a blessing for
myself and my late wife Beejay and my present wife Ruth.
As an interacting addendum, I can readily recall:
Three generations of Cornell polo players:
Arthur, Richard and Russell Fredericks of North Port, Long Island, NY.
Two generations of Cornell polo players:
Halsey, Chuck and David Eldredge
Fred and Fred Jr. Palmer
Robert, Charlie and Daniel Ladd
Harvey and Alison Rhein
Peter and P.J. Orthwein
Dale and Cory and Kelly (Wells) Chambers
Michael and Patrick Andrew
John and Allen and William Leslie
Manduke and Peter and Ben Baldwin
Others (?)
I am bringing this somewhat autobiographical history of Cornell Polo to a close. Again
acknowledging Brigadier General Ralph Hospital's notes and records of Cornell Polo from its inception in
1919 to 1933. As a student, I experienced Cornell Polo from 1933 to 1938. Then I had the pleasure to
coach Cornell Polo from 1942 to 1972 and of associating and playing with many fine young men. So now
I will turn the continuing history of Cornell Polo to Danny Scheraga, coach from 1974 to 1985 and David
Eldredge, coach from 1985 to the present. Both of these latter coaches have superbly maintained the
traditions of excellence and sportsmanship characteristic of all Cornell polo teams.
Respectfully, Stephen J. Roberts, Coach Emeritus
I am looking forward to seeing the final 25 years of the "History of Polo at Cornell" as recorded by
the last two excellent coaches and writers, Danny Scheraga and David Eldredge
611960-TerLouw, Baldwin, Andrew
1961- Intercollegiate Champions- Baker, Butterworth, Walworth, Baldwin (mounted)
Roberts, Leslie, Henderson, Morse, Freeman (standing) Schwartz & Grew (kneeling)
621962 Intercollegiate Champions- Herrera, Freeman, Mountain, Boissannas, Henderson, Fox, Morse,
Butterworth, Walworth, Suwinski, Fredericks, Leslie (standing)
Page, Corkill, Smith, Alhusen, Sanders, McKnight, Dix, Roberts (kneeling)
1963-lntercollegiate Champions- Roberts, Bachman, Morse, Dix, Mountain,
Suwinski, Leslie, Page (standing)
Huebeck, Henderson, Fox, McKamey, Corkill, Sanders, Oxley (kneeling)
631964- Bachman, Odreich, Armstrong (mounted) Roberts, Chambers, Corkill, Potter, Greenwall, Conklin,
Sharp, McKaney, TerLouw (standing) Smith, Santamaria, Durso (kneeling)
1965 Page, Santamaria, Chambers, Greenwell, Orthwein, Armstrong, Roberts (standing)
Harkness, Smith, Berger, Montagna, Potter, Durso, Brinkman (kneeling)
641966 -Intercollegiate Champions- Armstrong, Santa Maria, Orthwein (mounted)
Chambers and Greenwall(standing)
1967-Roberts, Wiswall, Durso, Brinkman, Santamaria, Greenwall, Orthwein, Chambers, Springer, Antzcak
Armstrong, Weisenfield, Potter, Pentacost, Montagna, Laddaington (kneeling)
651969- Ladd, Antczak, Armstrong (mounted)
1968- Roberts, Armstrong, O'Connor (standing)
Ladd, Orthwein, Antczak (mounted)
66Coach Roberts, Willson, Springer (standing).
1970-Olson, Ladd, Roberts, TerLouw, Bleier
1971- Roberts, Peters, TerLouw, Olsen
671972 Leslie, Navas, Kittell, Bleier
1972 Team & guests at Doc Roberts' Retirement Ceremony Page, Lawrence, Combs, Roberts, Wetmore,
Bleier, Leslie, Kittell, Navas, Palmer, Steuerzbecher, Diener
68The Significant and Critical Role Played by Ralph Hospital
in Establishing and Continuing Polo at Cornell (1930-1950)
Brig. General Ralph J. Hospital died in Ithaca, NY in 1973 after a long illness. He was buried in
Arlington, Va.
Ralph Hospital was born in Washington D.C. He graduated from George Washington University
in 1913. Major Hospital was reassigned to the Cornell Reserve Officers Training Corps, in 1927 under
Commandant General Joseph W. Beacham '97. He recognized and wrote articles that the ROTC at
Cornell had about 100 horses in their Field Artillery unit that were housed in 3 stables south east of
Schoelkopf Stadium. During the 4 months of winter, they could not be used for equitation or polo and a
riding hall was urgently needed. This need was emphasized by the 2,500 students that had received
instruction in equitation during the Fall and Spring since 1919 when the mounted unit was placed at
Cornell after World War I. The stables were constructed out of the lumber salvaged from the old mess
halls constructed for the Aviation Ground School located on Hoy field. Other colleges or universities such
as: Yale, Princeton, Michigan State, Oregon State, Norwich, and Culver had indoor riding facilities as did
many National Guard units. Plans for the proposed riding hall and stables were drawn up in 1929 since
the latter were in constant need of repair. (In 1983 the #1 stable was still standing and required
frequent repairs. The #3 stable had been torn down and replaced by the Orthwein stable when the John
T. Oxley Riding Hall was reconstructed in 1972.) These early plans were approved by Cornell President
Livingston Farrand. By 1930, about 500 students per year at Cornell received equitation training by the
ROTC on Army horses.
Major Hospital married Louise, an Ithaca woman, in 1929 and together they wrote many letters
soliciting funds to build the Riding Hall. But the Depression hit at this time and only a modest sum had
been raised when Major Hospital was transferred in 1932 to Washington D.C. When Ralph Hospital left
Ithaca, the campaign for funds for the new riding hall was then headed by Robert E. Treman '09 but
even his efforts were only able to raise the contributions to $25,000 from the original $47,000 of
pledges. A request for assistance was submitted to the WPA (Works Progress Administration) a federal
agency set up to provide local projects and jobs to help people through the Depression. The presence of
Paul A. Schoellkopf '06 as Chairman of the WPA projects in western New York State and revision in plans
to leave the old stables and only build a riding hall was quickly approved. With the assistance of the Civil
Works Administration who supplied 63 men (30 skilled and 33 unskilled) and the $25,000, which
purchased the material, a modified "temporary" riding hall was built in the summer and early fall of
1934. Within several months, the 90 x 198 foot wooden, steel frame, Riding Hall, with a seating capacity
of 300 was built and dedicated in October 1934. A fine lounge that contained small bath and dressing
rooms, a small kitchen and a large fireplace for get-togethers, meetings, polo parties and provided an
area for VIP to view polo games and horse shows, was built on the west end of the Riding Hall (Cornell
Daily Sun 3/7/34 and Ithaca Journal 3/8/34).
The floor of the arena was built on an area of clay and stone fill that was made over a number of
years with a thick layer of cinders from the nearby heating plant (coal-fired) and covered by a foot or
more of sandy loam (sand and clay) from Kite Hill and the hill east of East Ithaca Station. This provided
excellent footing — salt was occasionally applied to hold moisture which was sprayed on nearly daily. It
should be noted that the added amenity of heat from the Cornell Heating Plant was provided the Riding
Hall, tack rooms and living quarters at the stable.
Just before Major Hospital's transfer to Washington DC, his first daughter, Polly (Louise) was
born. While in Washington Major Hospital attended the Industrial College with classmate, "Ike"
Eisenhower. He then was assigned to the New Jersey National Guard in Trenton in 1933, and in 1938
went to Ft. Riley, Kansas where his second daughter Peggy (Margaret) was born. In 1941, Col. Hospital
69was made Commander of the 75th Field Artillery Brigade at Camp Roberts, California. In 1942 he went
overseas to Italy with the 91st Artillery Division while Louise and their two daughters stayed in Ithaca.
Upon his return in 1946, Brig. General Hospital was again assigned Commandant of ROTC at
Cornell University until his retirement from the Army in 1950. The cavalry and horse units of the field
artillery were largely eliminated from the Army and National Guard following World War II. Many of
these units were "mechanized." Cornell was fortunate that Col. Hospital contacted and convinced Army
Headquarters in Washington D.C. to give 50 horses and a large amount of horse equipment to Cornell.
Capt. John Pitman and the author went to the Pawling Rehabilitation Center and selected horses that
had previously played polo and provided equitation to students at Cornell, Norwich, Princeton,
Pennsylvania Military College and other northeastern colleges in ROTC equitation programs before
World War II. The horses and equipment were brought to Cornell under Sergeant Page who soon retired
from the Army and was made the manager of the stable. S. J. Roberts was polo coach, and the
supervision of the equitation courses, the maintenance of the stables and Riding Hall and the finances of
the same including the Cornell Polo Club and team were under the direction of the ROTC. that usually
assigned an officer to oversee these items. The last of these officers in 1952 was Capt. Edwin
Sunderville, D.V.M. son of Earl Sunderville: D.V.M. '09, Professor of Anatomy and long time secretary of
the New York State Veterinary College. In 1953, the Equitation and Polo Program was placed under the
Cornell University Athletic Association, Director Robert J. Kane'34.
Thus, the long term oversight of the equitation and polo programs at Cornell, both their
establishment and continuation from 1919 through the present was due to the considerable efforts of
General Ralph J. Hospital for which the author, many students, Cornell and Ithaca are much indebted.
General Ralph Hospital
70Stable and Riding Hall Facilities
1919-1934
The ROTC Stables were constructed after World War I to house artillery horses used for the
training of Cornell students. The stables #1, #2, #3, hay storage and housing, lounge, and rooms
("Hotaling Hall") for non-commissioned Army personnel were constructed from lumber salvaged from
the World War I mess and instruction halls of the aviation school located on Hoy (baseball) field (1/2
mile west of stable site on Campus Road). This source of material is reflected in the numerous windows
present in the stables. The stalls in stables #2 and #3 were for the Army artillery horses and were double
stalls with a "hanging" plank separation between the two horses. The floor was of concrete and mangers
were the width of each stall. Windows were covered with close- mesh wire. North of stables #1 and #2
were long overhead picket lines. Stable #1 was made with large boxstalls and used for private mounts
and officer mounts. Tack rooms were located in stables 1 and 2. Tack repair and stable office and fire
fighting equipment was on the ground floor of "Hotaling Hall." A blacksmith and equipment shed was
located north east of Stable #1. A number of caissons and harnesses were also stored in this long shed
near Cascadilla Creek (see map).
During the early 1930's, the non-commissioned stable men and the boys in the CCC (Civilian
Conservation Camps) located between Ellis Hollow Road and the Game Farm (about 1 mile southeast of
the ROTC Stable) constructed a series of trails extending from Judd Falls Road just south of the Railroad
Bridge east along Cascadilla Creek to the Game Farm Road. This trail had creek crossings and slides for
training Cavalry students. Trails were also made along the north side of Fall Creek from Forest Home to
the rifle range reached by a narrow bridge east of "Flat Rock" from Fall Creek Drive and on to Freeze
Road, north of Varna. The CCC boys also built a flagstone stairway and walk from the #1 stable up the
southeast bank and corner of "Hotaling Hall" to the front entrance of the second floor and to the
parking lot east of "the Hall" on Rte 13 (Dryden Road).
From 1919 to 1934, dirt, stone and cinder fill was continually added to the stable area over the
creek bank north of stable #2 to enlarge that area for riding. Another main riding ring was located just
north east of Stable #1.
In 1930, arrangements were made to practice three times a week in the 104th Field Artillery
Armory in Syracuse, NY. Polo practice on Army horses was on Upper Alumni Field west of Wing and
Stocking Halls and south of Tower Road. This field was not regulation size, but could be enlarged to the
west on game days to make a near regulation-size field. This was a hard clay field that made it very
slippery when wet. This field was used in the fall for 4 to 6 weeks and again late in the spring. During the
winter in the early 30's, the polo teams had to practice in very limited quarters with a very soft saw-dust
floor in the Judging Pavilion east of Wing Hall.
During the summer months of 1930-1941, June, July and August, the ROTC horses were taken to
Madison Barracks (ROTC Camp) where field artillery, equitation and Polo was carried out with them. The
horses were ridden by the Army privates and some ROTC students the 110 miles from Ithaca to Madison
Barracks at Sacketts Harbor on Fake Ontario about 10 miles west of Watertown, NY and return. The trip
took 3 days with night stops at Preble, NY and near Mexico, NY off Rte 11.
During this period, 1919-1934, and on to 1972, the stabled horses were fed New York or
Canadian hay and oats and bedded with straw from the same sources. After 1974 or 75, straw became
scarce and too costly, so the horses were bedded on shavings or sawdust. The manure was loaded and
hauled away by the Agriculture and Agronomy Farm crews for application on University fields. In the
20's and early 30's this was done with horses and later by truck and tractor (spreaders).
711934-1972
As stated in the biography of Major (later Brig. General) Ralph J. Hospital, he perceived the need
for a riding hall at Cornell to promote equitation for students and to develop a reputable polo team. He
started a campaign to raise $150,000 for the planned riding hall and stable in 1927. This was needed for
equitation and polo during the winter months and to construct new stables since the older ones were
costly to maintain! Because of the Depression beginning in 1929, only 30 percent of the cost had been
pledged (about $47,000) and by 1932 when Major Hospital was transferred and Robt. E. Treman, '09, a
local equitation and polo booster headed the campaign, only $13,000 had been actually donated. As
previously described, the Riding Hall itself with a lounge at the west end was finally constructed with the
help of Paul Schoelkopf '06 and the WPA (Works Progress Administration) just north of stable #2. It was
198 ft long and 90 ft wide and constructed of wood with steel trusses. The footing provided by sandy
loam from Kite Hill was excellent. The ROTC Riding Hall was heated by steam from the nearby Heating
Plant. The horse entrance to the Hall was from Stable #2 with a small 10' x 20' press box just west of the
passageway. A fine lounge with toilets and showers, a small kitchen and fireplace was constructed on
the west end of the Hall, where games could be observed by officers and VIP's. This ROTC Riding Hall
was finished by 63 workers in 11/2 months time with a gallery space for about 300 spectators on the
north side of the arena overhanging the bank of Cascadilla Creek. This gallery could be entered by a path
west of the Riding Hall and lounge or through the stable area (east end). The sidewall of this Hall (knee-
boards) was made of tongue and grooved planks (like wooden silos) which made for excellent rebound
of balls off the wall. The gallery was separated from the playing area by heavy screening. Windows were
placed around the entire circumference of the Hall about 3' to 4' wide two feet below the upper sill.
Screening was needed over these windows on the end walls to prevent the high, hard hit balls, which
were expensive, from crashing through the windows and landing in the creek on the west end and the
stable area on the east end.
Stable #3 was removed when the ROTC Riding Hall was built, as all 40 equitation and polo horses
were kept in stable #2 except for the private mounts in stable #1 (see maps).
The Cornell ROTC Riding Hall was dedicated December 13th (Friday) 1934. The University
Trustees and President and Mrs. Farrand attended the ceremonies. A mounted drill was performed by
ROTC cadets under the direction of Major C. S. Ferrin. An exhibition polo game was played between the
officers Lt. Bart J. Viviano, Maj. Chas S. Ferrin and Lt. E. 0. Hopkins and the student JV team of Howard E.
Babcock, Jr. '36, A. J. Lindeman '35 and S. J. Roberts '37.
In 1946, 1947, when the Army disbanded its equine field artillery and cavalry units during World
War II, Cornell was given 40 to 50 horses and much tack as previously related. These came from Rest
and Recreation (R and R) Centers (especially at Pawling, NY) with ROTC mounts previously stationed at
Cornell, Princeton, Pennsylvania Military College, Norwich and others. These horses, when brought to
Cornell, were under ROTC management with Sergeant Frank Page (non-civilian) in charge with students
living in "Hotaling Hall" and the lounge caring for the feeding, bedding and mucking out of stalls. The
"Cornell" horses were turned out twice daily for watering at a large concrete trough between stable 1
and stable 2 that was heated by small steam line that made a popping noise and kept the water warm
preventing freezing. The valve for this line was in the tack room of stable 2.
In the early 60's (or late 50's), "Hotaling Hall" and lounge were considered unsafe to house
students because of it being a fire hazard. A house-trailer owned by the Athletic Department to be a
"warming place" for track athletes working outside near Schoelkopf Hall was moved to the stable area
to house several students who were needed to check the stables during the night for ill horses, loose
horses, cast horses or prevent unauthorized persons using the stable and hall and to alert the Campus
Emergency Services in case of fire. Later in the 1970's after the John T. Oxley Hall was constructed
72replacing the ROTC Riding Hall, students continued to work at the stable, but none lived or stayed there
overnight. University night watchmen regularly patrolled the area.
After 1946, the Cornell Equitation and Polo horses were pastured near Ithaca on Prof. George
Warren's farm east of Forest Home, Dr. A. G. Danks' farm north of Warren Farm near the airport, Prof.
John I. Miller's farm just west of the airport and on Snyder Hill. Polo horses were not rented out for the
summer because they needed the 4 month rest after 8 months of heavy continuous work during the
winter season. This rest period was shown to be of great benefit to the horses in keeping them sound
and active in the Cornell Polo program for many years. If they could "take" the intensive work in polo for
2 years, they usually stayed in the Cornell string for 8 to 10 or more years.
By the mid-1950's, the ROTC Riding Hall and Stables under the supervision of the Cornell
University Athletic Department with Charles Fent as Equitation Director and Dr. S. J. Roberts, Frank Page
and Dierk TerFouw as Varsity and Freshman polo coaches, respectively, was instructing 300 to 400 riders
per year in equitation and 28 students per year on freshman and varsity polo squads. In addition, 12 to
15 local men played polo during student vacation periods, 10 to 15 pony club members had a polo
school at Cornell each year, 8 to 10 women students had a weekly polo class and 55 student teams
(about 165 students) participated in broomstick polo. There were about 6 horse shows per year with 40
to 120 participants in each show. An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 spectators observed equine events each
year.
The Riding Hall and outside rings were continuously scheduled from noon to 9:30 pm weekdays
and all day Saturday and Sunday. The equitation and polo horses were used for student instruction from
1950-1972 in nutrition, conditioning, parasite control, student practice in hoof trimming, floating of
teeth, worming and etc. Experiments in nutrition (pelleted complete feeds were first used in 1960 on
these horses by the Department of Animal Science (Prof. Harold Hintz) in cooperation with Agway Inc.),
supplements (polyunsaturates, iron injections, oral parasite treatments, conditioning and sweat studies
with the Equine Research Program), studies on equine infectious anemia (swamp fever) and transport
stress as a cause of equine abortion by the Veterinary College (Drs. Feroy Coggins, Sidney R. Nusbaum
and S. J. Roberts).
The varsity and JV polo teams played about 36 scheduled games each year with about 2/3rds
being home games. About one-half of the games were against other collegiate teams. From 1934 to
1970, about 350 to 450 students received polo training in the present Riding Hall. Upon graduation, over
65 students carried a U.S.P.A. handicap rating of 1 goal or more goals. About one-half of the polo
"graduates" have continued to play polo.
Doc and Dierk TerFouw in the old barn
731972-present (1983)
By 1972 the wooden stables built 53 years and the ROTC Riding Hall built 38 years previously
were developing serious maintenance problems and were rapidly deteriorating and becoming unsafe, so
replacement was considered by the Director, coaches, Athletic Department and the University if the
Equitation and Polo Program were to be continued at Cornell. Because at this time the University was in
severe financial straits, investigation by the University indicated that if funds could be raised to replace
the riding hall and stables, the rising popularity of equestrian activities by both men and women would
provide for the continuing maintenance and operational costs and thus make the operation self-
sustaining.
Therefore with much help from the University Development and Planning Office, a campaign to
raise funds for a new Equestrian Center was undertaken. A number of sites for this center were
considered including adjacent to the game farm off Turkey Hill Road south of Varna, a site on Freeze
Road south east of the Equine Research Farm (formerly the Warren Farm) and the present site across
from the Heating Plant east of Schoelkopf Stadium. The latter site was selected because of its closeness
to the University and town, the fact that some of the old ROTC Riding Hall could be used, the hall could
continue to be heated and students could get to the hall by walking or by nearby campus bus routes.
Following an intensive campaign, largely supported by polo alumni, a total of over $80,000 was raised
which together with the major donation by Mr. John T. Oxley of $200,000 rebuilding took place in the
Fall of 1973. Special appreciation is given to Barlow Ware and Richard Ramin of the University
Development Office for their considerable help.
1975- Oxley dedication ceremony- Robert Kane, Ruth Kane, Doc Roberts, Mary Oxley,
Beejay Roberts, John Oxley, Barlow Ware
John T. Oxley Renovation of the Riding Hall
The rebuilt, practically new arena was named the John T. Oxley Arena in honor of John T. Oxley
of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Boca Raton, Florida. His son Thomas Oxley was a student at Cornell and played
polo here from 1961 through 1963. The latter continued to play polo after he left Cornell, receiving a 5-
74goal handicap rating before experiencing a serious polo accident in 1968. Since then, he has been polo
manager and announcer at the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton established by his father in the
1950's.
John T. Oxley was born on an Oklahoma cattle ranch in 1909 and started playing polo in 1955.
He was Captain of the Boca Raton Polo team that won England's Gold Cup in 1970. He has captained
many winning teams in many high-goal tournaments over many years and still is an active polo player
(1984). His son Jack is a highly-rated polo player in Boca Raton and Tulsa. His wife, Mary, a very gracious
lady, made all polo players and their friends and acquaintances very welcome at the Royal Palm Polo
Club. Mr. Oxley has long been a supporter of polo schools and training programs including umpire
schools. He was the first to develop a safety polo helmet with a face-guard that has prevented many
serious facial and head injuries to many polo players of both the outdoor and indoor (arena) polo
games.
Cornell was indebted to and very fortunate to have such a benefactor and supporter of polo as
John T. Oxley that has permitted the continuation of the sport and its advocates in the northeastern
portion of the United States. Cornell has been called the "fountainhead" of the sport of polo in central
New York.
The John T. Oxley Arena was 250 feet long (52 feet longer than the ROTC Riding Hall) and the
same 90 feet width. The spectator gallery was placed on the south side of the arena under the same
roof. This gallery seats up to 800 persons. At the east end of the arena an office, showers, locker rooms
and toilets were provided. Presently (1984) this John T. Oxley Arena is the best indoor arena at any
college in the United States. In the late 70's and 80's the national women's intercollegiate and national
scholastic tournaments have been held in it. In order to build this arena, stable #2 was removed.
The Adolphus B. Orthwein Stable
To replace this stable, Mr. Adolphus B. Orthwein and family of St. Louis donated a new 40 stall
stable that was built just east of the Oxley arena. Mr. Orthwein's son, Peter, graduated from Cornell in
1968 and was captain of the polo team and an outstanding collegiate polo player. This fine stable
provides stall and tackrooms for the 40 polo and equitation mounts. Stable #1 built in 1919 has
undergone continuing maintenance problems but still houses private mounts and "overflow" Cornell
horses. This stable is rapidly reaching decadence and must be replaced (1984).
"Hotaling Hall" because of structural and safety problems, has ceased to house students, offices,
tack or clean up rooms and is serving presently as hay storage but is close to collapse and must be
replaced (1984) with a suitable hay and bedding storage building (see maps).
From 1974 to 1985, the Equitation and Polo Programs were managed by Mr. Daniel Scheraga,
Director and polo coach under the "Enterprise" category (self sustaining) of the Cornell Athletic
Department. The programs have been expanded to include more students, a women's polo team and a
summer program of equitation instruction and polo training both in the Oxley Arena and on the newly
built outdoor polo field in Caroline, NY (near the old Cornell Ski Tow) about 10 miles south east of Ithaca
just off Route 79. Mr. Charles Lent has retired as has Mr. Robert Kane, former Director of Athletics. Mr.
Laing E. Kennedy former great Cornell hockey goalie and College of Agriculture supporter and
administrator became in 1984 the Director of the Athletic Department. Overall architectural plans were
completed to renovate, increase and integrate all athletic activities at Cornell to make the programs
more attractive. This included repairs, new building and beautification and landscaping at the Equitation
Center.
75The Cornell Equitation and Polo Stables (and Hall) Over the Years 1919 to 1972 to 1987.
1.	The Crescent	14. Stable #3 (hay storage)
2.	Kite Hill	15. Cornell ROTC Riding Hall
3.	Cascadilla Creek	16. Gallery (to Hall)
4.	Campus Road	17. Lounge
5.	Dryden Road (Rt 13, now 366)	18. Orthwein Stable
6.	Heating plant	19. Lecture & video room
7.	Judd Falls Road	20. Hay & bedding shed
8.	Wilsen Synchrotron, access road	21. Shallow, swampy pond
9.	N.Y. Central Railroad	22. Island
10. Hotaling Hall		23. Riding rings- paddock
11.	Stable #1	24. East end of Cascadilla gorge
12.	Hay storage, blacksmith shop	
13.	Stable #2	
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76Administrative and Stable Personnel (ROTC & Cornell) (CUAA)
1933-1942
Sergeant M. G. Jensen, Frank Page (Sarg. 1946), David Henderson, Dick Baker, Charlie Baker, John
Oliver, Kenneth Hotaling, John Main, Jack Saroka, Everhardt, Collins, and Barry ("Hambone").
In 1943, horses were shipped out of the stables except for private mounts. Many of the Army
personnel, who were eligible, retired. Some (such as Frank Page), who were younger, were sent to
active duty. The latter spent several years in the China-Burma theater before returning to Ithaca as
Sergeant. After several more years he retired from the Army and became manager of the Cornell
Stables until 1973. Frank Page served also as polo coach and official referee from 1946-1973. He also
organized and coached the Ithaca Polo Club that played indoors in the Riding Hall during the winter
and outdoors near Jacksonville (north of Ithaca off Route 96) in the summer.
Frank Page enlisted in the Army in Dexter, Maine (his home state) at age 18 years, and came to
Cornell in 1932. He retired in 1947 and went to work for Cornell. He retired from Cornell in 1973 at
65 and cared for a stable of horses on his farm on the Trumansburg Road (Rte. 96) about 3 to 4
miles north of Ithaca until his death December 23, 1987 (see Memorial Service in Sage Chapel in Feb.
1988).
Charles Lent, a 1941 Ithaca College graduate, was a physical education instructor in the Cornell
Athletic Dept, working with handicapped or disabled students in the Old Armory. He also had had
considerable training in various phases of Equitation. He and his wife (Mary) ran a day camp with
equitation in the summer at their farm on Cherry Lane, near the Ithaca airport. In 1954 when the
Equitation and Polo Program formerly supervised by the ROTC was turned over to the Cornell Athletic
Dept, under Director Robert Kane '34, Charles Lent was appointed Director of Equitation, a position he
held until 1974 when he retired. In the mid- to late 50's, Mrs. Louis H. (Peg) Durland and Col. Carl
Raguse (former member of the U.S. Olympic team and on the Prix des Nations Jumping Team) were
Equitation Instructors.
77Commandants (Name, Rank and Term) of the Cornell ROTC
Professors of Military Science and Tactics (PMS and T)
Colonel Frank A Barton (Cavalry)	1917-1921
Colonel J. C. Nichols (Cavalry)	1921-1927
Colonel Joseph W. Beacham Jr. '97 (Infantry)	1927-1932
Colonel J. J. Fulmer (Infantry)	1932-1937
Colonel W. C. Potter (Field Artillery)	1937-1940
Colonel C. 1. McClure (Field Artillery)	1940-1942
Colonel E. R. Van Deusen (Field Artillery)*	1942-1946
Colonel (Brig. General) Ralph J. Hospital (Field Artillery)	1946-1951
Colonel George S. Smith (Field Artillery)	1951-1954
Robert J. Kane '34 - Director of Athletics, and Patrick Filley - Assistant Director of Athletics	1954-1981
Laing Kennedy - Director of Athletics	1981-1994
Charles H. Moore '51 - Director of Athletics	1994-19-
Col. Van Deusen's daughter "Kitsy" married General Westmoreland.
(He was older than she, according to Louise Hospital)
78Finances and Support for Polo
In 1921-1942, when polo was under the auspices of the ROTC, all players purchased their own
equipment, mallets, helmet, boots and even paid some of their travel expenses.
Income from gate receipts, equitation fees for men and women, and profit from horse shows
was used for balls, arena surface upkeep and especially travel expenses, since many trips were made by rail
(New York City, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia). An Army officer "coach" nearly
always made the arrangements and accompanied and coached the team. Income from private mounts
kept at the Stable was used for feed, bedding and manure removal, and the excess went into the
Polo and Equitation account. All other expenses, forage, shoeing, and maintenance were paid for by
the Army ROTC program.
When the Army disbanded equine activities at Colleges with ROTC units in 1946 - 47,
Commandant Hospital and the ROTC office oversaw the care and feeding of the horses, maintenance
of the stables and Riding Hall and the supervision of the income and costs of the separate
Equitation and Polo programs and the boarding of private mounts from 1946 to 1953 (See
memorandum from Col, Ralph Hospital to Dr. S. J. Roberts 9/29/48).
1)	The Polo Squad or Team paid for the forage (feed) for 15 horses (7 private and 8
equitation). At that time it was $20/month/horse or a total of $300/month.
2)	Trips and expenses for Cornell and visiting teams were paid for by the Polo Squad (Club).
These were largely covered by income from gate receipts.
In order to meet these expenses, the Polo Squad or Team formed the Cornell Polo Club with the
captain of the team as President.
a.	All players purchased their own personal polo equipment. Saddles, bridles and
blankets in this period were supplied by Army surplus. Horses were not shod while playing
indoors.
b.	The services of the coaches and the referees were donated by S. J. Roberts, Frank
Page and others.
c.	Each member of the polo team or club paid dues of $100 ($50/term) and supported and
assisted in club activities to raise other monies so an assessment at the end of the year
would be unnecessary or minimal.
d.	Fund raising projects included the initiation and continuance of the annual Quarter Horse
Show every May, the parking of cars in the stable area at football games, the coat and
hat concession at large dances in Barton Hall, occasional grants from the University
Student Activity Fund, grant from the U.S. Polo Assoc, for transporting and caring for
polo ponies used in the Intercollegiates, picking apples in the Fall at the Cornell
Orchards (some of these went toward cider and hard cider from 1949 to 1955 when the
war veterans graduated). It was kept in Doc Roberts' barn. Intensive advertising of
polo games on radio and in papers and instituting broom-stick polo for fraternities,
sororities and other groups of students as part of the intramural athletic program. This was
played during regular polo games with a volley ball, brooms and equitation horses ridden
bareback.
e.	Over the years many polo horses were donated to Cornell for use in the Equitation and
Polo programs by polo players, alumni and other horsemen from Minnesota to New
Mexico to Florida. Most of these horses were played by the team. Unsuitable horses
79were sold and the income placed in a Horse Replacement Fund with the University. Old
or lame horses unable to be used in equitation were given to the Veterinary College
for humane euthanasia. This Replacement Fund was used to buy occasional needed
polo horses usually from dealers and trained by the better student horsemen and the
coaches.
f.	The Ithaca Polo Club was established that practiced once a week, and more often
during vacation periods (to keep the horses in shape). The $100 per term fees from
these 10 to 15 men helped considerably to cover the needed board charges. The
Cornell coaches, especially Frank Page, coached and supervised these polo sessions.
g.	The polo students took care of their horses and fed them after practice as well as caring
for their tack and moving the horses to rented pastures for the summer. (It was found
that horses could not play polo the year around and last for many years, so the renting
out of horses to neighboring polo clubs was discontinued.)
h.	Students bringing private polo mounts to Cornell paid the board on their horses unless
they turned them over to the squad for use by the team and in games.
i.	The care of the tack and horses were overseen by the coaches as part of student training
and for safety and humaneness. Extra feed or care was given to older horses.
j.	Travel expenses were greatly reduced by players travelling to nearer polo arenas, staying
with friends or in college dorms overnight and paying for their own meals and lodging.
Usually the polo team could travel in one automobile. Generally one of the coaches
accompanied the team on each trip, so the only expenses to the club was for gas and
oil or mileage expenses.
k.	The polo team and equitation program also received support from the Veterinary
College (Veterinary Clinics), Agricultural College (Animal Science and 4H Extension
program under Sam Sabin) and their farm service divisions, including Jack Briggs and
Ward Miller. For using the horses at the stable for clinical practice in trimming
hooves, passing stomach tubes, "floating" teeth, judging classes, clinical
demonstrations, worming, feeding and other experiments, the Dean of the Veterinary
College, W. A. Hagan, had the clinical departments treat lame or sick horses without
charge.
This responsibility for making polo a success and fun for students at Cornell rested largely on the
Polo Squad members under the supervision and support of the coaches and made for a close-knit,
esprit de corps that was a pleasure to work with. "Prima- donnas" either conformed or left the
squad, usually the former, because all squad members realized they had to actively support club
activities or polo at Cornell would cease.
It should be noted that in the overall support for the stables, horses, riding hall, and polo, the
equitation program for college students and townspeople was essential to help maintain the facilities,
provide pay for equitation instruction and the managing of the Equitation and Polo programs.
The polo "parties" regularly held after all home-games either in the lounge or the coaches'
homes made for good relations with visiting teams, but more importantly made all club members
and their girl-friends, who also worked for the club, feel and understand their close relationship to
each other and their goal to successfully learn, compete and maintain polo as a sport at a high level at
Cornell. This closeness of club members was also promoted by regular cleaning of tack and cooling and
feeding of their polo horses following games and practices. Even the varsity did this for JV and Frosh
80games as it was a total club commitment to the polo program.
The polo squad size consisting of about 15 to 20 members was dictated by the number of
horses available for practice and games. Thus, the numbers of polo squad members was limited to a
relatively small number of students and their "friends" who didn't ride but helped extensively. At one
time the assisting girls called themselves "The Slaves."
In a letter to Polo Alumni in October 1950 by the polo team Captain (Palmer), manager
(Brennan) and coach (Roberts), it was stated that the polo team was entering its third season as a self-
supporting sport at Cornell. In 1950, the varsity played 26 games, the JV squad 3 games and the
Frosh 2 games. Polo practice was 3 nights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with games on
Saturday. The team was better mounted than with the former Army horses. Later, about 1953, Frosh
practices were Mondays and Fridays. Varsity and JV practice was on Tuesday and Thursday and the
"old men" of the Ithaca Polo Club on Wednesday evenings. This permitted increasing the size of the
squad by about one-third thus being more satisfactory to the Athletic Department and the polo
finances!
In 1952-53, Capt. Edwin Sunderville '39, DVM of the ROTC, who was responsible for the Food
Flygiene-Meat Inspection course for veterinary students (given 2nd. Lt. status upon graduation), was
also responsible for oversight of the Stable and Riding Flail, and the Equitation and Polo programs (Dr.
Sunderville was the son of Professor Earl Sunderville D.V.M., Head of the Anatomy Dept, of the New
York State Veterinary College and Secretary of the College from 1909 thru 1944). In 1951, Col. George
S. Smith as Professor of Military Science and Tactics (PMST), or Commandant, was assigned the Cornell
ROTC unit. He had no sympathy or desire to maintain the Equitation and Polo Program under the
supervision of the ROTC officers.
Intercollegiates at Ox Ridge Hunt Club, Darien, CT
81Women's Polo at Cornell (Mid 1930's)
In 1932, the U.S. Women's Polo Association (USWPA) was founded. In the next 10 years, most
clubs (25) and members (300) were from the southwest and California. Mrs. Leone Hart was considered
to be the founding "mother" of womens' polo. She considered men will always dominate the sport
because they are better at it than women, but the latter will continue to enjoy it and their numbers will
increase.
In 1935-1937 under the auspices of the ROTC (Major Chas Ferrin, coach), a Cornell Women's polo
team was formed consisting of Ruth Sharp (Hamburg, NY), Alice (Nat) Colvocoresses (Phoenix, Arizona),
Anne Simpson (Lyons, NY), and Virginia Yoder (Watertown, NY).
This team played 2 or 3 games per year against the Wilkes Barre PA "Whipettes," a women's
team associated with the Wilkes Barre Whips at the 109th F.A. of that city.
Nat Colvocoresses '38 married a large red-headed graduate student in the College of Agriculture
by the name of Zorsch, an entomologist, and lived for many years in Washington, D.C., Omaha,
Nebraska and now in Pacific, MO. She was a "liberated" woman even in the 30's. Once when riding
against an inexperienced player in Cortland, NY (field just north of Homer, NY off Rte. 11) who stopped
on the ball, she yelled, "Get the hell off the ball! What are you trying to do, hatch it?" . . . (related by
John Leslie 12/83). Occasionally Nat would go out of a window at Balch Hall (a women's dormitory) at
night and join the fellows at Jim's Place on Stewart Avenue.
Ruth Sharp married Gordon Cairns, a graduate student in the College of Agriculture and
after spending a number of years at the Univ. of Maryland, Gordon became Dean of their
Agricultural College.
Anne Simpson '36 married Howard E. Babcock Jr. '39, a polo player, and they moved to Roswell,
New Mexico and managed the Chisholm ranch (purchased from Cornell Univ. by H. E. Babcock Sr.) and
Howard was Sheriff of Cochise County for many years.
Virginia Yoder '35 married a young instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell,
Herbert Briggs, who became a professor in the Dept, of Government and they resided in Ithaca
thereafter.
Women's polo ceased when Major Chas. "Chick" Ferrin, their sponsor, was transferred by the
Army. Also, after the Dean of Women decided polo was not a sport for women when some front teeth
of one of the players had been knocked out with a mallet (Face guards on helmets did not exist then).
Since 1972, women's polo teams were found in many colleges, Women's Intercollegiate
Tournaments and Championships have been held with U.S. Polo Association and collegiate approval
since 1976. Cornell and the Univ. of California have been fielding strong teams with the latter winning
in 1978,1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983. Cornell won in 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987,1988 and 1991.
However Cornell was in the finals of the Women's Intercollegiates in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.
The author by his upbringing and prejudice was probably a "male chauvinist" who did not
consider the contact sport of polo, where occasionally severe injuries could occur, and where physical
strength was frequently required, a suitable sport for women. Furthermore it had been his prior
observations (1935-1938) that women tended to take a "bump" or "elbow" very personally which
interfered with their concentration on the game. This may have unconsciously been one of the reasons
for his decision to "retire" in 1972. He will admit that, since that time with more women playing polo
and greater contact with them on the polo field, that they tend to make up for their lack of physical
strength and aggressiveness by using their heads to anticipate plays and this contributes significantly to
team play.
82The first regular Cornell women's polo team after the one in 1935-1937 was in 1973 under the
coaching of Dierk TerLouw and Irving Allen. The members were Holly Fuess, Julie Wilson, Tici Supples
and Dana Drennan. Ten years later, in 1983, Cornell was one of nine teams entering the Women's
Intercollegiate Tournament at Griffiths Park, Los Angeles, California. The others were University of
California (Davis), Colorado State, Skidmore, Stanford, California-Poly, Virginia, Connecticut and Yale
which indicates the rate and extent of the growth of women's polo in the present era.
Cornell Women's Polo- 1937- Arlene Coryell, Virginia Yoder, Nat Colvocoresses, Anne Simpson
83
Bibliography, Procedures, Trivia, Anecdotes, Memories.
Experiences and Observations on 35 Years of Coaching
and Playing Polo at Cornell
1933-1972 - Autobiography, Cornell Polo and Coaching Philosophy
Although I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 5, 1915, most of my boyhood from first
grade through high school was spent in Hamburg, NY about 10 miles south of Buffalo, NY. My father,
James Flanders Roberts, was of New England stock (New Hampshire) although raised in Morristown, NJ
and had gone to Colgate and then Cornell Veterinary College, Class of 1912. My mother (Elizabeth
Johnston) was also of New England stock. She was born and raised in Boston, MA attended Wheaton
College and was teaching physical education at the University of Chicago under Alonzo Stagg when she
met and married my father. I was the oldest of four children, James F, one year younger; Charles J, 2
years younger; and Betsy, 8 years younger. When we moved to Hamburg, NY in the early to mid-
twenties, we lived in a large house at 24 Union Street, with a large barn on the lot only one block from
the center of the then-small village. With my father's interest in horses and both my mother's and
father's athletic backgrounds (the former, track at Cornell under Coach Moakley), horses were soon
stabled in the barn and daily or near daily riding in the neighboring country-side with neighbor children
and adults was routine from my 7th or 8th year onward. I have had horses in my "barn" or life ever since
except for about 3 years between 1943 and 1946 when for that brief "war" period I took up golf!
After graduating from the Hamburg High School in 1933, I applied to Cornell University in the
College of Agriculture and was accepted. The following year, I transferred to the College of
Veterinary Medicine from which I graduated in 1938. In college as an ROTC student, I took the
equitation courses, rode the Army horses and went out for the polo team under the coaching of
Major Chas Ferrin and Lt. E. 0. Hopkins. I was a member of the polo squad and team through 1937
(4 years) and captain of the team in 1936-37.
After graduation from Cornell, I accepted an instructorship at Kansas State College in Manhattan,
Kansas. This position was offered me through Dr. A. G. Danks, a young professor at Cornell who had had
this position for several years himself under the tutelage of Drs. E. R. ("Beanie") Frank and E. J.
Frick (Cor '17).
I had originally planned on entering veterinary practice. Although my father had graduated from
the Veterinary College,he had never practiced but had worked with several livestock companies in
Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo. When this job offer in Kansas came along, he suggested I
consult with Dean Carl Ladd of the College of Agriculture, a classmate of my father. With his advice that
I was young (22 years) and had graduated well up in my class, more "seasoning" in the clinics at Kansas
State might be desirable and valuable to me. Furthermore, I might find I liked teaching! Since the salary
was better than that offered most of my classmates and I wanted to get married, I accepted the offer
and went to Manhattan in June 1938.
My fiancee, Betty Jane Harris '38 of Watertown, NY, and I had gone together for several years
while at Cornell. Her father, John B. Harris, had been mayor of Watertown and his father had raised
Standardbred horses at Sacketts Harbor, most notably "Lucille," the outstanding stakes mare of 1907.
Her father owned a farm, was counselor for the Governor Flower family and had at one time purchased
horses from the father of Hadley C. Stevenson (my professor of medicine at Cornell), of Ogdensburg, NY
for the Flower family. Beejay and I were married December 28, 1938 in a severe northern New York
blizzard. Beejay has shared my life at Kansas State, Cornell and in Vermont. Beejay came from a Cornell
family, also with a father and three brothers who graduated from Cornell.
While at Kansas State we attended numerous polo games that included players like Willis
84Hartman, Pete Bostwick, Prince Midivani and others at Ft. Riley, 20 miles west of Manhattan where at
that time the Olympic team and 7,000 horses were stabled. The College was given a fine chestnut polo
horse with ringbone by Willis Hartman of Wichita, Kansas which I hacked for two years on roads around
Manhattan. Prof. R. R. Birch '12 of Cornell on a visit to Kansas in 1941 told me of the impending opening
of a junior position in the Department of Medicine and Obstetrics at Cornell occasioned by the coming
retirement of Prof. Denny H. Udall. He urged me to apply for it. I did and was accepted, so after four
years of teaching in the clinics at Kansas State from 1938-1942 and receiving my M.S. degree, we moved
to Ithaca.
In the fall of 1942, I was asked to coach the Cornell Polo team, since officers in the ROTC were
not able to do so. With the onset of World War II, the Army horses were removed from Cornell in
1943-1944. Polo did not return to Cornell until 1947 when Col. Ralph Hospital had the Army horses and
equipment given to Cornell and the Equitation and Polo program, under the auspices of the ROTC, was
reinstituted.
From this time on to 1972, when I retired from Cornell, I served as a professor in the New York
State College of Veterinary Medicine and coach of the polo team. From 1947 to 1955 the ROTC had
oversight of the stables, equitation and polo. After that time, the Cornell University Athletic
Department, under Director Robt. J. Kane, was responsible for the equitation and polo programs. These
programs had to be nearly self- sustaining then as well as at the present time. This required the polo
squads to work together closely on advertising polo games, putting on horse shows and other activities
to raise money to buy some equipment and provide travel expenses, as well as buying occasional new
horses and paying for the forage and pasture of 15 to 18 horses used for polo. We were fortunate to
receive over the years usable gift horses for polo from alumni or polo boosters who were not Cornell
graduates. Each season extending from September 14th to May 1st a total of about 26 varsity and JV
games were played. About 8 to 10 of these were "away" games. The season culminated in the
Intercollegiate Tournaments in mid- March in the New York City area. All games at Cornell were on the
"split-string" basis, with visiting teams having their choice of strings. This made games more even
because each horse would thus play for each team. This procedure was extended to the Intercollegiate
contests from 1947 onward. Prior to that time, "split strings" were not customary with college or Army
or National Guard teams. Also, the intercollegiate tournaments, even though sponsored by the U.S.P.A.,
85followed my and other collegiate coaches' recommendation that allowed teams to substitute freely
between chukkers or periods. (Such free substitution is not permitted in other U.S.P.A tournaments).
The Captain of the Cornell team was the Polo Club president and other acting officers were the
Publicity Manager, the Manager of the team and Secretary of the club and the Treasurer of the Club
who was responsible for all moneys taken in by the Club and team. The spectator admission moneys and
the polo club dues were turned in to the Athletic Department to pay for feed and bedding and
miscellaneous costs. The only funds under my control was the Horse Fund kept with the University
Treasurer and used only for the purchase of horses. These funds came from the sale of gift horses
unsuitable for either polo or equitation. Often older polo ponies were put with the equitation program
or if they were lame or too old they were humanely euthanatized at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The latter also cared for our lame or injured horses. New ponies needed for the next season were
purchased in the Spring of the year and schooled and played by the coaches during the late spring and
summer months so they could be placed in the polo string the following fall and promptly start to play.
Nearly all polo games were against college, private or alumni teams. I made it a practice to
substitute freely in games (and sometimes Cornell was beaten by a few points for this reason).
However this provided needed experience for beginning and developing players. Furthermore I
observed over the years that keeping games competitive and the score fairly close made a more
interesting and exciting game for spectators. The weaker opponent appreciated Cornell's "kindness" by
not "rubbing it in" if we had the superior team.
The varsity in practice would frequently play against the coaches, Dierk TerLouw, Bill Tutton,
Frank Page, graduate alumni (Law, Vet, Medical Graduate Schools) and myself to provide more
competition against better teams than usually provided by constant practice against the JV squad. Since
during my tenure freshmen could not play in the varsity or JV games, they practiced with the J.V's or
varsity depending on their prior experience and skill. This, together with the practice of some other
college teams in other leagues than the Ivy league of playing freshmen and graduates, caused some
problems in some years in the Intercollegiates sponsored by the U.S. Polo Association. This problem has
since been corrected by guidelines laid down by the Intercollegiate Tournament Committee of the USPA.
My basic philosophy in coaching polo at Cornell, since most polo squad members had never
played polo before, was to select Freshmen "athletes" in other high school sports in so far as possible.
The first few months were then occupied by teaching these polo neophytes the polo seat and
techniques of riding and handling the reins, the legs and finally the mallet and various strokes. The
latter were practiced frequently on the wooden horse in a polo cage. After these fundamentals had
been achieved then the "game" of polo was taught with its infinite variations but with its classic
essential patterns that must be followed in team play. Being a professor, players were handed
informational, "xeroxed" coaching material to study and memorize. "The Do's and Dont's of Polo" I
prepared were most useful in this regard.
My further philosophy, developed over the years, was that polo was a game, not a "war."
Winners of the game were usually those that played hard, bumped hard, but thought and used their
brains and played together. "Hot-headed" players or those not in control of themselves or their horses
shouldn't be in the game. The referee was always right. No one ever argued with him. No one ever
abused a horse or hit it with a mallet but could push it along with blunt spur and whip if needed. The
best players were those that were good horsemen, good stickmen, and kept their "cool," played hard
with teamwork. The most important polo equipment other than the horse is between the "players
ears". No one should ever eat a large meal or drink an alcoholic beverage before playing polo.
Because of my upbringing, position as a professor and respect for Cornell University as an
86institution, I insisted on the student polo players being clean shaven, with a proper neat hairdo and
clean presentable clothes on trips and public appearances. They had to conduct themselves, insofar as
possible, as gentlemen on the field and off as long as they were representing Cornell. If a student didn't
follow the above, I would speak to him about it and if correction didn't occur, I'd assign him the poorest,
or next to the poorest horse, in the string and possibly not take him on the next trip and the point would
be made! I also insisted that there be no "prima donnas" on the squad, even if they brought their own
horse to Cornell which few did because the upper half of our string were excellent arena horses. If the JV
or freshmen were playing, the varsity would be grooms and "hot walkers" and vice versa. The girl friends
and female horse lovers who often worked and helped with the polo horses helped at games and
activities and attended the parties. The care of the ponies was paramount. If his horse wasn't cared for
properly the student might well be dropped from the squad. Also, if a club activity was undertaken, all
squad members had to be there to help unless on a trip or specifically excused. At times, these
restrictions and requirements upset certain players but made for a good "group feeling" for the squad. I
tried to apply these penalties with judgment and uniformity.
Frank Page, Doc Roberts, Bill Tutton
As an observation I noted that young students 17 to 20 years of age, although bright and
intelligent, often were not emotionally mature. Whereas by the time they reached 21 to 23 years of age,
they had greatly matured in judgment, ability to play "smart" polo and to control themselves and their
actions. This difference between Freshmen and Sophomores and some Juniors and the Seniors and
graduate students was very obvious in the polo players I coached and counseled.
These students were at Cornell for an education, and this took unquestioned precedence over
playing any game including polo. If grades or examinations were not satisfactory, the students had to
drop out of polo practice and even most club activities. Following all games, we had a party or get-
together in the lounge, at my or one of the coaches homes or a nearby restaurant. This "fifth
chukker" is essential to a group feeling and interchange between teams and backgrounds that is
needed by college students and especially visiting teams to make them feel welcome and willing or
glad to return and treat us in a similar manner when we played away.
I also found out early that in making a polo schedule, only teams that were sure to keep their
commitment to play and be on time were asked. This was also impressed on the Cornell team that
when we promised to play somewhere, we were there well ahead of time no matter the problems or
87difficulties. There is nothing worse than to plan on, advertise and schedule a game and have the
invited team fail to show or call at the last "minute" and say they can't be there. Such teams weren't
invited again!
In 1952 a likeable, friendly and good Western rider, Albert Mitchell came out for Frosh polo.
After I had accepted him as a member on the squad, I found out he was enrolled in the two-year Special
Agriculture Course which was not a 4-year curriculum and students in the course were not eligible to
play varsity polo representing Cornell. Young Al assured me he would work hard and get above a 75%
average in his studies and be able at the end of his first year to transfer into the regular 4-year
Agriculture College. We kept him on and when we scheduled a JV game in October 1953, he asked if he
would be playing as his father was to be in Ithaca at that time. He played and did well. After the game,
Mr. Albert Mitchell, Senior was introduced to me. I recognized him then, as a member of the Cornell
Board of Trustees, in fact, its Chairman. Young Albert had never mentioned his illustrious parent who
was "Mr. Hereford" in the south-west as the owner of the very large, successful Tesquiquiti Ranch in
northern New Mexico.
At this time, the problems facing the equitation and polo programs, which were of an
administrative and athletic nature, were becoming serious since the ROTC unit had no authority or
reason to continue to sponsor or supervise them. The author acquainted Mr. Mitchell, Senior with our
predicament and asked if he could use his good offices to discuss with President Deane Malott the need
for the equitation and polo programs to reside in the Athletic Department under Director Robert Kane.
This he did, and soon the author was asked to meet with Bob Kane. We had a long conversation in
which I assured Mr. Kane that maintaining polo would not cost his Department a large amount of
money and that the Equitation Program was desirable for both men and women students. The latter
program should pay for itself and a Director of Equitation should be assigned as an instructor and
responsible to Mr. Kane. Mr. Charles Lent of the Athletic Department was mentioned as being suitable
for this position. I further assured Mr. Kane that if he would budget $3,000 per year for polo, I would
personally assure him that we would never exceed $2,000 except in a dire emergency.
Meanwhile, our Polo Program would continue under the supervision of the Athletic Department
with polo being nearly entirely self-supporting with me, a professor, as an unpaid coach, as in the past
five years. This arrangement was consummated and the Polo Program continued and even expanded
slightly to accommodate more students, up to 30, by maintaining 18 horses used for polo and paying
the Athletic Department the forage and feed costs on the basis of X number of dollars per mouth. This
"arrangement" with some minor modifications was mutually satisfactory from 1954 until the author's
retirement in 1972.
As an addendum, it should be noted that Mr. Albert Mitchell, Senior in appreciation of young
Al's progress and development at Cornell and his great interest in polo, donated several thousand
dollars to reroof Stable No. 1 that was badly needed in 1953. Besides his help in transferring the
Equitation and Polo Program from the ROTC Department to the Athletic Department in 1954, he
donated 10 young Quarter Horse fillies and two older cow ponies to Cornell, but that is another
interesting and amusing story to be related later.
Albert Mitchell, Jr, developed into a fine polo player and was elected Captain of the team in
1955-1956 that won the Intercollegiate Championship for Cornell for the first time since 1937. After
graduation, Al was manager of the Tesquiquiti Ranch, herded cattle with a helicopter, raised four
sons, several of which attended Cardigan Mountain Prep School in Canaan, NH in 1973, near where I
practiced with my brother from 1972 to 1993, where we got together and reminisced on our old
times.
88Mitchell-Malott-Roberts "Episode" --1956
Just before we moved the Veterinary College in 1957 from its original site on the central
campus, I received an urgent call from President Deane Malott's office that he wanted to see me at
once. I hastened to Day Hall and President Malott's secretary said for me to go right in his office. Dean
Malott greeted me with the question: "Roberts, why did you turn down the gift of 10 Quarter Horses
to Cornell by Mr. Albert K. Mitchell?" (Chairman of the Cornell Board of Trustees.)
Before I could gather my wits, the President stated in no uncertain terms -- "Gifts to Cornell
are never turned down!!"
Then he gave the opportunity to explain that:
1.	We had no stable or pasture in which to put them (Dean Malott replied Cornell had
many barns and pastures).
2.	So I told him the College of Agriculture or Veterinary College had no such available.
Dean Malott - "We'll see about that!"
3.	The Polo Club did not have sufficient funds to keep 10 horses for 6 months to a year
while breaking them
4.	These were Quarter Horse fillies that were 2 years old and had run "wild" in pasture and
didn't even have any halters and no training. There were only three people on campus that could
possibly take on the job of breaking and training these fillies. Dean Malott - "Humph -- out of 10,000
students and staff there should be plenty to help." I informed him he came from Kansas where many
cowboys existed, while in Ithaca I only knew of three (Page, Mitchell and myself) who could be
considered— but I had talked to Al Mitchell Jr. (Captain of the Polo Team) and he had talked with his
father about the problem of breaking these fillies. Since it was now Fall of the year, the ranch hands
would "break" these fillies and as 3 year olds, send them to Cornell so we could finish their training.
This solution was received well by the President and he calmed down and walked with me to the
door as his Executive Assistant Walt Heasley came in. Deane Mallott told Walt about the Mitchell gift
and said - if Walt would break one filly, he the President would break another — and I replied "If they
could do that, I'd personally break the remaining eight fillies." The President guffawed and ever after
that whenever we met, he called me by name and inquired concerning polo and the horses. On one
such occasion we met in the Union Station in Chicago. We found out we were on the same train to
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (he to a meeting at General Mills and me to a veterinary lecture at the
Minnesota Veterinary College). He invited me to have dinner with him in one hour in the dining car
which I did with pleasure. We remained on friendly speaking terms the next 20 years!!
89Cornell Student Equitation and Polo Clubs and Horseshows
Prior to 1930, equitation and polo was essentially a function of the Reserve Officers' Training
Corps program with ROTC training required for students the first two college years. In the late 50's or
60's ROTC training ,as a requirement for graduation for men students was eliminated by the Cornell
faculty, administration and trustees. However, the equitation and polo functions of the ROTC essentially
ended in 1941-1942 with the onset of World War II and the shipping of Cornell ROTC horses to Rest and
Recuperation (R&R) camps in the northeast. Although horses were brought back to the Cornell Stables
in 1946-1947, they were not part of the ROTC program since the Army had eliminated the cavalry and
the horse-drawn Field Artillery. However, as indicated earlier in this history, the ROTC brought back and
assumed oversight of the equitation and polo programs from 1946 to 1954-1955 when the Cornell
University Athletic Department became responsible for and assumed oversight of the equitation and
polo programs.
From 1946 to 1972, women could elect to satisfy the physical education requirements by
enrolling in the regular equitation classes. With men these classes were also optional and some men
enrolled to get basic instruction in equitation before trying out and entering the polo training and
practice programs.
The Cornell Women's Riding Club was formed in February 1930 and the Cornell ROTC (Men's)
Polo and Riding Club of 120 members was formed in October of 1930. Its first president was W. D.
Hamilton '31. These clubs under the auspices and with support of officers of the ROTC program. Using
the ROTC horses received training, were able to ride with supervision on the trails especially along
Cascadilla and Fall Creek and the dirt roads east of Ithaca. These clubs paid dues of $5 to $15 per term
and the latter club made and installed sideboards for the polo field on upper Alumni Field.
The first Cornell Horse Show, a Cornell tradition from the end of World War I to World War II, was
held in 1920. These shows were held in the late spring on upper Alumni Field. They were organized by
the ROTC and student clubs and initially featured saddle seat, jumping and other classes for the ROTC
students and those that had taken the initial two-year course of ROTC training. A few local horses
owned by Ithaca townspeople and ROTC officers were also exhibited in the initial years of the annual
spring horseshows.
The horseshows in 1929-1931 were enlarged. More classes were added, outside horses (other
than Army) were attracted and planned for. Following the horseshow a polo game was a regular feature.
These much larger and better managed shows were designed to raise funds for the Cornell Polo team.
By 1939, more than 50 valuable, outside horses from all over New York State and neighboring states
entered the show. A highlight of the show for a number of years in the mid and late 1930's was the
exhibition rides by Troop C of the New York State Troopers of the Sidney barracks. Over two thousand
people attended each of these Cornell horseshows during this era. Following the horseshow, a Polo
dinner was held at the Ithaca Hotel and a Polo Ball was held that evening in Willard Straight Hall. In
1932, the Cornell Horse Show became a member of the Association of American Horse Shows (Cornell
Countryman '31, 8, May 1934). On the cover of the official program (1934) was the picture of Major C. S.
Ferrin riding "Ike" his favorite hunter and show mount.
The annual Cornell ROTC Horse Shows each May were held for many years either on Upper
Alumni Field or in the ROTC Riding Hall in inclement weather. They were not as large, with added polo
games and exhibitions as in 1931-1934. With the onset of World War II, no horseshows were held from
1942 through 1947 and thereafter. Since intramural sports had taken over all of Alumni Field polo
practice there ceased. However, smaller horse shows put on by the polo club and the equitation courses
were held in the ROTC Riding Hall several times a year.
90In the early 1950's and for about 10 or 12 years, the Polo Club had a large Quarter Horse show in
May in which about 100 or more horses from the midwest and northeast were shown and judged. These
were highly successful shows for raising money for the Polo Club, but had to be discontinued because of
increasing competition from outside shows and the earlier examination period for students.
During the 1960's a number of pony and horse "pulls" were held in the Riding Hall during the
vacation breaks at Christmas and Easter that benefitted the polo team. Also during this period, an
annual Rotary-4H Show each spring was established.
With the building of the larger John T. Oxley Arena in 1972, 3 to 6 local shows or training shows
for local or nearby horsemen were put on by the Polo Club during the winter months. These attracted
many horses because of the increased interest in equitation and the development of other nearby riding
centers which had small or no arenas in which to ride and show their horses.
The Cornell Polo Club, over the years from 1920 on, was formed by the players and interested and
supportive students and faculty. The officers elected were usually the Captain of the team as President
and the manager as secretary-treasurer. Freshman and later women squads were included, and some of
the latter served as officers. This polo group or club had parties following games to which members and
guests were invited as well as the opponents. These parties and common goals of support for polo at
Cornell made this a close knit, hard-working group that was always available to man horseshows, pony
or horse pulls, special fund raising projects such as parking cars for football games, coat and hat
concessions at big dances in Barton Hall, tacking and untacking and caring and feeding of horses,
cleaning of tack, policing the riding hall and spectator gallery and numerous other chores. It was a
pleasure for the author (coach) to work with such a diligent, conscientious, ambitious, smart and caring
group of students that indoctrinated new classes into the club and its activities. Over the years, a
tradition was built in this manner. Returning alumni who played the varsity at Cornell 2 or 3 times a year
further developed this group feeling for maintaining polo at Cornell.
Toronto Polo Club, Mike Sifton, Tommy Gayford & Donnie Bolton vs
Frank Page, Dierk TerLouw & Doc Roberts
911922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943-1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
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1962
1963
Intercollegiate Indoor Championships*
Townsend Trophy
1922-1974
Princeton (Stabler, Hall, Fleming)
Yale (H. Baldwin, Dean, Muir)
Yale (H. Baldwin, Muir, Hewitt)
Yale (H. Baldwin, Hunt, Muir)
Yale (Barrett, W.F.C. Guest, Muir)
No game
P.M.C. (Whitehurst, Bower, Jones)
Harvard (T. Glynn, E. T. Gerry, Forester (Tim) Clark)
Princeton (Firestone, Lemp, Wm. Post II)
Yale (L. A. Baldwin, J. P. Mills, J. C. Rathborne)
Yale (L. A. Baldwin, Mike G. Phipps, J. P. Mills)
Harvard (McGuckin, Davis, Nicholas)
Princeton (Sullivan, Kemmerer, W. F. Thomas)
U.S.M.A. (C. Combs, H. Estes, A. H. Wilson Jr.)
U.S.M.A. (C. Combs, H. Estes, A. H. Wilson Jr.)
Cornell (S. J. Roberts, C. C. Combs Jr., Thos. Lawrence)
Yale (A. L. Corey, Jr., Collister Johnson, C. M. Wooley Jr.)
U.S.M.A. (T. J. Christian, W. W. West, F. W. Boye)
Princeton (Paul Miller, Edw. C. Rose Jr., Jules Romfh)
Princeton (Jules Romfh, Edw C. Rose Jr., Robt Osman)
Yale (D. Wilhelm, J. H. Daniels, R. Johnson)
No games.
U.S.M.A. (G. Edwards, Neil Ayer, T. Hoffman)
Miami (J. R. Evans, J. Mather, R. Knight)
Miami (C. Bernard Jr., J. R. Evans, P. Heise)
Miami (C. Bernard Jr., J. R. Evans, P. Heise)
Miami (C. Bernard Jr., J. R. Evans, P. Heise)
N. Mex. Mil. Inst. (Wm. R. Crawford III, Rube Evans, Jack Dean)
Yale (Malcolm Wallop, Leverett Miller, J. A. Hannah Jr.)
N. Mex. Mil. Inst. (Buzz T. Easterling, Fred Rice, Jack Dean)
Cornell (A. Mitchell, C. Saenz, A. Santamaria)
Cornell (Camilo Saenz, H. Fred Rice Jr., A. Santamaria, M. J.Geronimus)
Yale (G. T. Weymouth Jr., P. Jackson, Michael Poutiatrine)
Cornell (Pablo Toro, Peter Baldwin, Stan Woolaway)
Cornell (Ben Baldwin, Peter Baldwin, Stan Woolaway)
Yale (R. Jones, Jarrett Vincent, W. Welch)
Cornell (J. Morse, Ben Baldwin, F. Butterworth III, P. Baker)
Cornell (J. Morse, J. Reynolds, F. Butterworth III, J. Walworth)
Cornell (J. Morse, Pat Dix, Paul Mountan)
921964	Yale	(Thos. Walden, Alan L. Corey III, Raymond D. Guest Jr.)
1965	Yale	(Thos. Walden, Alan L. Corey III, Adolphus B. Orthwein Jr.)
1966	Cornell (Guillermo Santamaria, James Greenwell, Peter Orthwein)
1967	Yale	(Steve Orthwein, Sandy G. A, Carden, Paul Whitbeck, Peter	Gerard)
1968	Yale	(Steve Orthwein, Sandy G. A. Carden, Paul Whitbeck, Peter	Gerard)
1969	Yale (Wm, Brown, Alan Harris, Jim Brandi)
1970	Yale (Wm..Brown, Alan Harris, Jim Brandi)
1971	Yale (Reed Oppenheimer, Alan Harris, Peter Ambrus, Jim Vlasic)
1972	Conn. (Duncan Peters, Wm. LeRoyer, Rick Voss)
1973	Conn. (Duncan Peters, Tom Goodspeed, Rick Voss)
1974	Conn. (Duncan Peters, Tom Goodspeed, Rick Voss)
Note: Since 1935 when Cornell first entered the indoor intercollegiate championships thru 1972:
Cornell won 9 titles 1937, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966
Yale won 12 titles 1938, 1942, 1953, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971
USMA - won 4, Princeton won 2, Miami won 4, New Mexico Military Institute won 2, University of
Connecticut won 1. (In 3 years, 1943-1946, no tournament played.)
From 1955 through 1972
Cornell was in the finals 14 times (8 wins)
Yale was in the finals 15 times (9 wins)
Virginia was in the finals 4 times (0 wins)
Connecticut was in the finals 1 time (1 win)
The Cornell Polo Teams' Record (in the National Intercollegiate Tournaments
Sponsored by the U.S. Polo Association)
(Blue Book Records through 1995)
Men's Team (for the Townsend Trophy) 1934-1995
In the finals (24 of 56 years): 1937, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966,
1967, 1968, 1969,1974, 1976, 1983, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995.
Winners (10 of 56 years): 1937, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1992.
Women's Team (1976-1995)
In the finals (16 of 20 years): 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988,
1991, 1992, 1994, 1995.
Winners (7 of 20 years): 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991.
93Excellent Polo Players (U.S.A.) (2 or more goals by handicap)
from College Ranks up to 1972
Cornell
Earle 13. Hopper, '17
John Hertz, '21
Richard H. Baldwin, '34
John C. Lawrence, '36
Thomas Lawrence, '37
S. J. Roberts, '37
C. C. Combs, '39
Arthur B. Christian, '39
H.D. (Bud) Hopper, '43
Albert A. Strauss, '49
Jack Morgan, '49
Chas Gandal, '49
Fred Palmer, '51
Willard I. Emerson, '51
H. Fred Rice, Jr., '54
Robt. M. Diener, '53
Jack Frohm, '52
Robert Schless, '53
Bennet M. Baldwin, '61
Peter D. Baldwin, '59
Mark Gerard, '56
Stanley Woolaway, '59
Nathaniel Grew, '60
Michael Andrew, '60
Dierk M. TerLouw, '60
Robert Steurzebecker, '54
James Reynolds, '62
Jan Suwinski, '64
James R. Morse,'63
Paul Mountan, '64
Richard Fredricks, '64
Theodore Brinkman, '66
Dale Chambers, '67
John Walworth, '62
Ira R. Weisenfeld, '66
Terry Young, '64
Douglas Antczak, '69
Peter Orthwein, '66
Patrick Dix, '63
Frank S. Butterworth III, '62
Wm. Leslie, '72
James Greenwell '66
Yale
Frank Butterworth Jr.
Winston F. C. Guest, '27
Wm. Muir,'29
J. C. Rathborne, '31
J. P. Mills,'31
M. G. Phipps, '31
A. L. Corey, '38
Raymond R. Guest, '28
H. Baldwin, '25
Philip Iglehart, '30
Stewart Iglehart, '35 (?)
Peter H. Dominick, '37
Bayard Dominick, '37
Jay K. Secor, '35
W. B. Rand, '36
Northrup Knox, '50 (?)
Collister Johnson, '37
George C. Haas
C. M. Wooley, '38
Wm. T. Ylvisaker, '48
Malcolm Wallop, '53 -(father at Yale 20's)
Leverett Miller, '53
A. L. Corey, Jr., '65
George T. Weymouth, '57
Jarrett Vincent, '60
Adolphus B. Orthwein, Jr., '65
Stephen Orthwein, '68
Alan Harris, '71
C. A. (Sandy) Carden, '68
Raymond Guest, Jr. '63
Peter Grace, '33 (?)
Mark Frohm, '76 (?)
Louis E. Stoddard*
J. Watson Webb*
94University of Virginia
Zenas Colt (?), C. Heath Manning (?) R. Reimenschneider, '58 Arthur Norden, '71, Brad Scherer, '78 Wm.
W. Ylvisaker Robert Rhinehart, '62 Wm. S. Parrish III, '62 Lyle Graham, Reed Graham, Donald V. (Doo)
Little, Jr. Frederick Petersen, '60
Princeton University
Wm. Post, '30 Jules Romfh, '41 Arthur Borden, '29, Paul Miller, '40, Edw. C. Rose, Jr., '41 (PA??) Robert
Eisner, '37, Russell Firestone, '32, John Lemp, '33, W. B. (Ben) Johnson, '37
Harvard
Thomas Glynn, '29, Forrester (Tim) Clark, '29, T. Gerry '29, Albert Dillingham, '31, A. T. Winmill, S.
(Skiddy) Von Stade Jr., '37, Jay Romfh, H. G. Dillingham, '41, Thomas Hitchcock, Jr.***,
Devereux Milburn ***
U. S. Military Academy
George S. Patton (General) W. W. West, '39, A. H. Wilson, Jr., '37, Neil Ayer, '47**
University of Connecticut
Wm. T. LeRoyer '72, Duncan Peters, '74, Thomas F. Goodspeed, '74, Frank S. Vita, '72
Pennsylvania Military College
J. Pickering, '31, Wm. Fergus, '30, James T. Wilson, '34, Wm. H. Nicholls, Jr., 29 (?) Warner Jones, '43,
James Spurrier, '43
Miami University
J. R. Evans, '50, P. Heise, '50, C. Barnard, Jr. '50
New Mexico Military Institute
W. R. Crawford III, '52, Jack Dean '54, Jack Shirley, '37, Buzz Easterling, '53, Donald V. Little, John Pflug,
Allen P. Scherrer, Stanford, '53
University of California
R. Wm. Walton, '78, F. D. Walton, '78 Ronald Tong, '65, Dr. Robt. G. Walton, David Ellis, George C.
Sherman
Xavier
John Sieber '76, Robert Sieber '76
York University (Canada)
David Offen, '80, Clifford Sifton, '80
Others, Miscellaneous
Wm. R. Linfoot, Colo. State, Wm. Sinclaire, Williams, '49 ?, Russell G. Corey, Penn, '67
Wm. George, Wash. State, '66, G. Marvin Beeman, Colorado State '57 ,Allan P. Scherer, Stanford '53
Foreign Students
Alberto Santamaria, Cornell, '56 Camilo Saenz, Cornell, '56, Wm (Guillermo) Santamaria, Cornell '66
W. Beveraggi,Grad, Harvard '49, Christian Bleier, Cornell '72
* After graduation helped start polo at Yale in early 20's
** Neil was a nephew of General George Patton, the only cadet to take his own horses to West Point.
*** Attended Harvard but did not play polo there except at the Myopia Club in S. Hamilton, MA.
95College Polo Players of Note Through 1972
Activity (postgraduate)
PhD's-	Michael Andrew, Cornell
Governors	Douglas Antczak, Cornell Dan Sharp, Cornell (University of Florida) (Ph.D., Colo State) Malcolm Wallop, Yale - Wyoming.
Senators -	Malcolm Wallop, Yale - Wyoming Peter H. Dominick, Yale - Colorado
Representatives -	National - Richard L. Ottinger, '50 Cornell - NY (1968-1984) State - Roy S. Flawley '43, Cornell, NY
Army Generals -	Robert Taber - Cornell George S. Patton - USMA
A. H. Wilson (Jingles) - USMA Others (?) from Arizona Colleges
Trustee of Univ.-	David Poliak, '39 Cornell
Only 10 goal Arena players
W. F. C. (Winston) Guest '26 Yale
Clarence C. (Buddy) Combs '37 Cornell
Only 10 goal outdoor players
	Thomas Flitchcock, Jr. N.l. G. (Mike) Phipps-Yale Stewart B. Iglehart - Yale Devereux Milburn - Harvard J. Watson Webb - Harvard ?
Much work with U.S. Pony Clubs -
Michael Andrew - Cornell
Peter Orthwein - Cornell
S. J. Roberts - Cornell
96U.S. Polo Association Officers
from the College Ranks*
1983
Officers - Wm. Sinclaire, Donald V. Little, Allan D. Scherer.
Honorary Governors - Elbridge T. Gerry, Northrup Knox, Wm. T. Ylvisaker.
Governors at large - Adolphus B. Orthwein Jr., Richard Riemenschneider.
Arena Polo Committee - Peter D. Baldwin, Thos. F. Goodspeed, Rodgers Rinehart Jr., Daniel M. Scheraga,
Michael Sifton, George Alexander Jr.
Communications Committee - Patrick Dix, Allan D. Scherer.
Finance Committee - Donald V. Little.
Handicap Committee - Donald V. Little, Jules M. Romph, Allan D. Scherer, Wm. Sinclaire.
Intercollegiate Committee - Gerald W. Hilly, Thomas B. Glynn, Thomas F. Goodspeed, Daniel
M. Scheraga.
Interscholastic Committee - George Alexander Jr., Daniel M. Scheraga, Clifford Sifton.
Rules Committee - Patrick Dix, Richard Riemenschneider.
Prior USPA Officers to 1983
Chairman - Northrup R. Knox '66-70, Wm. T. Ylvisaker, '70-'75, Wm. Sinclaire, '8083.
Vice Chairman - E. T. Gerry, '46, '47, Thomas Hitchcock Jr., '38, '39,
Wm. T. Ylvisaker, '66-'70, Northrup R. Knox, '70, '71, Wm. S. Farish III '71-73.
President - Wm. Sinclaire, '76-'80.
Vice President - Donald V. Little '75-'83, Wm. Sinclaire 73-76.
Secretary and Treasurer - Donald V. Little, Allan D. Scherrer, Wm. Sinclaire, E. T. Gerry,
Adolphus B. Orthwein, Wm. T. Ylvisaker, Northrup R. Knox, C. Heath Manning.
Board of Governors - E. T. Gerry '36-'51, Thos. B. Hitchcock, Jr. '36-'45, Stewart B Iglehart, '36-56,
J. C. Rathbone, '36-'40, Michael G. Phipps '41-'50, Zenas C Colt, '47-'54, Alan L. Corey, Jr., '48-'65,
Philip P. Iglehart, '52-'68, Frank Butterworth Jr., '55-'67, Northrup R. Knox, '56-76, Wm. T.
Ylvisaker, '55, '60, 75-79, Thomas Glynn, '60-71, C. Heath Manning '61-77, Wm. S. Farish '66-
71, Raymond R. Guest Jr., '67-71, George A. Weymouth '68-72, Donald V. Little, '69-75,
Wm. Sinclair; '69-71, Adolphus B. Orthwein, 72-76, '80-'83, Patrick Dix '77-'81. '83-'86, Allen D.
Scherer, '79-'80, Stephen Orthwein '81-'85, Richard Riemenschneider, '83-'86.
Undoubtedly many other officers graduated from colleges not known by the author.
He apologizes to them for not including them in the above very incomplete listing.
Cornell Graduates.
97Participants in Youth Programs in Polo (up to 1972)
Polo Training Foundation and Polo Short Courses
George C. Haas Jr.
Robt. Skene
Wm. Linfoot
Michael Andrew S. J. Roberts
Daniel Scheraga
Robert Steuerzebecher (4H Polo and clinics especially NY State)
Col. A. H. Wilson Jr.
Dierk TerLouw (Toronto Polo Club)
Herbert Pennell
Gerald Hilly (Intercollegiates)
George Alexander (Interscholastics)
Thomas F. Goodspeed
Thomas Glynn (Intercollegiates)
Allan Scherrer
Wm. W. West
Doc Roberts and Dell Carroll at Brandywine, PA
98VARSITY vs. COACHES: AN ODE TO DOC
by Mike Andrew, B.S., Ph.D.
T'was a hazy April evening, with a rain about to fall,
And it smelled of mouldy saddles in the Cornell Riding Hall.
Page was there at seven with a shine upon his boots,
And his red face was hardened into the expression of a mute.
"How ya doin' Frank," came a friendly student's cry,
But the joy soon disappeared as Frank stared him in the eye.
He chewed once on his seegar and gave a ruthless smirk,
Then he walked on down the aisle and grunted once at Dierk.
The boys tacked up the ponies and made a lot of fun,
As to how they'd show the coaches and really make 'em run.
They'd sandwich Billy Tutton and pull him off his hoss,
And elbow short old Frank just to hear him yell and cuss.
As for Doc - they'd turn around him and go the other way,
While he was getting ready for the next to the last play.
It was eight-ten even when Doc strode through the room,
With his face fixed downward in a manner spelling doom.
He snapped a six-pound mallet and a whip of barbed steel,
And his spurs were five inch spikes from a carborundum wheel.
His forearm bulged with muscle from massaging many a cow,
And his eyes could not be seen beneath the wrinkle of his brow.
He never gave a chuckle as he was often wont to do,
The boys cleared the aisle and he quickly passed through.
The teams lined up together - a silence filled the hall,
Instead of the 'Spangled Banner', they played the 'Funeral Pall'.
The whistle no sooner sounded and the ball reached the floor,
When Tutton drilled it firmly and it went clean through the door.
The boys soon got it started but Frank was sitting there,
With a look upon his face that would freeze a Frigidaire.
He backed it at the scoreboard and hit a number two,
It had barely stopped rattling as the goal went whistling through.
The boys then countered to the other end of the hall,
But Doc stroked it firmly into the corner of the wall.
The ball caught the angle and caromed 200 feet,
Where it quietly settled down for Tutton to complete.
Now the boys rallied gamely and they rode a pace all night,
But t'was clear to all who witnessed that it was a futile fight.
They tried in vain to show Doc all the polo they had learned,
And the outcome might have differed if the second man had turned!
Note: This was prepared in 1 1/2 hrs over our garage on Danby Road, Spring 1972.(SJR)
99Cornell Polo Song*
Score a goal for old Cornell boys
Drive that ball right down the hall
And if a Yalie's in your way,
Drive the bastard thru the wall.
Second man over the ball will turn boys
Turn that pony inside out.
Polo at Cornell is hell boys
You can hear "Doc" Roberts shout.
Drive your elbows in their ribs boys
Show them that you've got fight
And if you happen to miss that ball
Curse it with all your might.
Aim your pony at your adversary
Give him a great big slam.
Polo at Cornell is hell boys
'Cause we don't give a damn.
Derf Remlap - 1960
Tune - Sing a Song for Cornell boys.
The Fifth Chukkar
1972- Doc & Beejay Roberts
Just how do we reciprocate
For friends, for songs, for parties late
For winning games to celebrate
For losses too, wherein we won
With friendships that were well begun
God bless you each and everyone
And now we are going to change the scene
To a country town, Beejay's house is a dream
Doc's barn sets above a meandering stream
To the polo "gang" both old and new
Spring, summer, fall, and winter too
In any old season we'll welcome you
Please visit us at Woodstock, Vermont
We'll gladly greet and put you up.
100The Quechee Polo Club
Michael D. Andrew* (April, 1992)
It was somewhere up near Woodstock
in the Green Mountain Scrub
That they formed an institution called the
Quechee Polo Club
They took a farmer's field and said t'would
hasten up his crop
Twenty years later he still finds the
hay too short.
For coach and moral leader, a legend
came to rest
He was known to all as Doc. Simply put -
the best.
He brought along the horses, the whistle
and the ball
And with him came Bee Jay, who mattered
most of all.
She had hosted more polo parties than
her Majesty the Queen,
And laughed at better jokes
than most had ever seen.
She'd heard Fred's raunchy songs a hundred
times or more
And loved each polo player who stepped
through her door.
She became the Quechee timer and the
announcer's source of facts;
The party organizer and purveyor of
the snacks.
But most important clearly,
she was always there for Steve
Her parting grieves us dearly and
her spirit never leaves.
Now the Quechee polo players are a
motley sort and mixed.
the line-ups change so quickly that the game
seems, almost, fixed.
Always there's Leninski who will talk you
off the play
While his hired guns swoop in to
steal the ball away.
There's Bixby on the Black,
you can count on him for two;
And Randy, if he's there on time
will surely play a few.
And the oldest polo players
that lately have been seen.
John Leslie, Lester Crossman
and even' old friend Zene.
They come from every corner to
share a game with Doc.
It's not the score that counts
but the game that means a lot.
The Ump, on close inspection, isn't
humanoid at all!
He's a scarecrow dressed in stripes
with a basket and a ball.
He rides a circus pony and has spurs
upon his foot
His helmet covers straw, and his whistle
has no toot.
The announcer rattles lies of ratings
and national acclaim
He carries on for hours without the
slightest trace of shame.
And farmers from the highlands
come down to see the show.
They've never seen real polo,
so how are they to know?
Now the visitors score first.
its a formal friendly fact.
But the tide will surely turn
when Doc comes in at back.
No matter that the years have claimed
their ever steady toll
A straighter, cleaner stroke
has never struck at goal.
Yes time has marched along
and better battles fought,
But it's a fool who doesn't turn when
Doc takes that backshot.
101DEDICATION CEREMONY
Cornell University Equestrian Center
(Pine Tree Road, Ithaca, NY)
February 20, 1988
by Stephen J. Roberts, Cornell '38
(Professor and Polo Coach, 1942-1972)
I am pleased and honored to have been invited to take part in the dedication of this outstanding
equestrian and polo arena and stable on the Cornell campus after being closely associated with these
Cornell athletic activities for the past 55 years.
Early Equestrian and Polo History
Domestication of horses and their use for travel, hunting, agricultural work and sports goes back
several thousands of years. Polo is the most ancient of recorded games played with a stick and ball
originating before the Christian era 500 B.C. in Persia and spreading to China, Japan and India.1 The word
polo comes from the Tibetan word "pule," a willow-wood from which the balls were made. By 1850,
polo was well-established in northern India and readily adopted by British Cavalry garrisons and brought
to England. In the 1870's, the Hurlingham Polo Club of London was the center of English polo which was
then played on small ponies or horses 14 hands (56 inches) in height (hence the origin of the term "polo
ponies"). This Club devised the rules for the size of the outdoor field and the game that have remained
nearly constant for more than 100 years.
Mr. James Gordon Bennett, a sportsman and son of the publisher of the "New York Tribune,"
after a visit to England, introduced polo into the United States in the late 1870's in the indoor arena at
Dickel's Riding Academy on the corner of 39th and 5th Avenue, New York City, with ponies imported
from Texas. The sport spread rapidly and early polo clubs were formed at the Polo Grounds on 156th
Street in New York City, Meadow Brook Club on Long Island, Myopia Club in Boston, and clubs in
Newport, Rhode Island, Philadelphia and Buffalo.
The United States Polo Association (U.S.P.A.) was formed in 1890, and has since been the
governing body for polo in this country. From 1900 to 1942 both outdoor and indoor (arena) polo
became a very popular sport in the cavalry and field artillery units of the U.S. Army and National Guard
establishments.
The first collegiate polo team was formed at Harvard in 1882, with the first all-collegiate polo
contest played between Harvard and Yale in 1907. The present intercollegiate championships for men
was established and sponsored by the U.S.P.A. each spring since 1922 (except for 1927, and 1943-1946).
The winner receives the coveted John R. Townsend Trophy. As an indication of the growing popularity of
the sport, over 40 colleges fielded teams, at one time or nearly continuously over the past 66 years, with
from 4 teams in the initial tournament to the present 20 teams, requiring eastern and western
elimination tournaments before the finals. Since 1976, the U.S.P.A. has similarly established and
sponsored the yearly National Women's Intercollegiate Tournament with nearly the same number of
entries as the men.
Cornell Polo Teams (1919-1988)
Polo was played informally at Cornell on ROTC horses by students and ROTC officers from 1919
through 1933 on upper Alumni Field in the Fall and Spring. During the winter months, practices were
held in the Judging Pavilion behind Wing Hall. In 1934 when the first Cornell ROTC Riding Hall was built
at the ROTC Stables on Dryden Road, the student polo team, coached by ROTC officers such as Major
C.E. Boyle, was recognized as a minor Cornell sport with a regular schedule of games against collegiate,
102National Guard and private club teams.
Since 1934, the Cornell men's polo team has won nine (9) Intercollegiate Tournaments and
consistently finished in the top three places along with arch-rivals Yale and the University of California
in tournaments comprised of 8 to 18 teams. In recent years, since 1976, the Cornell Women's teams
have performed exceptionally well, winning five (5) of the 12, including the last 4, National Women's
Intercollegiate Tournaments comprised of about similar numbers of teams.2
Oxley Equestrian Center, Cornell University
During the past 55 years, hundreds of Cornell students have been instructed in polo and
equitation and become proficient in these sports and continued them in subsequent years, after
graduation. In that period, 15 former Cornell polo players have been awarded 5 goal ratings or more
by the U.S.P.A. including Michael Andrew ('60), father of the current Cornell captain, and Dan
Scheraga and David Eldredge, former and current polo coaches at Cornell. One player, Dr. C. C. Combs
('39), was given the highest arena handicap, 10 goals, an achievement only realized by one other
player in the history of the sport.
Fortunately, these equestrian, recreational activities, which are addictive, can be followed for
many years after college as demonstrated by most equestrian graduates including myself. Devereux
Milburn, a legendary polo figure of the early 1900's said, "Once a polo player, always an enthusiast."
Winston Churchill has been quoted as saying, "The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a
man." This quotation has been borne out by the fact that in my over 25 years as a polo coach at
Cornell, I never had a player succumb to stress or have a "nervous breakdown"!!
Cornell Riding Halls
The original Cornell ROTC Stables, housing about 90 horses, were built on Dryden Road across
from the Heating Plant in 1919 from lumber salvaged from the World War I Aviation Ground School and
Mess Halls that had been erected on Hoy Field. Because of Ithaca's harsh winters, equitation, polo and
field artillery instruction with horses could only be given in the Fall and Spring on trails over Cornell's
farm land and on upper Alumni Field. Plans for a Riding Hall at the Stables were developed and a drive
for private funds begun in 1932 by Major Ralph Hospital of the Army ROTC and Robert E. Treman ('09)
of Ithaca. Because these were Depression years, only $25,000 could be collected. But with the
fortuitous assistance of Paul A. Schoellkopf ('06), who was Chairman of the Western New York Federal
Works Progress Administration (WPA), 63 men supplied with $25,000 worth of supplies constructed the
103first Cornell ROTC Riding Hall, 90 feet wide and 198 feet long, that was dedicated in 1934.
After World War II, the Cavalry and Horse-drawn Field Artillery units were terminated.
Fortunately, in 1946 and 1947, Col. Ralph Hospital was again Commandant of the Army ROTC at Cornell.
He intervened with Army Headquarters in Washington, DC and with the help of his close friend General
Ike Eisenhower, Cornell was given 50 former Army ROTC horses and a large truckload of saddles,
bridles, blankets and halters from the Pawling, NY Rehabilitation Center. This reestablished equitation
and polo at Cornell under the Army ROTC with the excellent former stable manager, Sergeant Frank
Page who helped coach polo and referee games for the next 25 years. He became a major factor in the
further development and success of the polo and equitation program at Cornell.
In 1953, the ROTC commandant terminated his responsibility for this program. But through the
close cooperation of President Deane Malott, Chairman Albert K. Mitchell of the Board of Trustees and
Mr. Robert Kane, Director of Athletics, the equitation and polo program was placed in the Department
of Athletics. For the next 20 years, Instructor Charles Lent supervised the equitation program. The polo
team members, through gate receipts, horse shows, dues, and other activities, financed over 80
percent of the polo program.
The first Hall well-served equestrian and polo activities from 1934 until 1970, when major
repairs and an increase in size of the area were accomplished by a significant donation from Mr. John
T. Oxley, a polo enthusiast, of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Boca Raton, Florida with the help from Mr. Dolph
Orthwein of St. Louis to build a stable and added support from Mr. John Ben Snow and Cornell polo
alumni. This second Riding Hall, the John T. Oxley Arena, served the expanding equitation and polo
program from 1972 to 1987, when further needs of the Cornell Athletic Department necessitated the
termination of the Arena and stable area on Dryden Road.
All Cornell equestrian and polo alumni are most grateful to Cornell University, the Department
of Athletics and its Director Laing Kennedy and contributing alumni for constructing this new, superb
facility that we are dedicating today and which will serve many future generations of Cornellians,
teams from other colleges, and preparatory schools as well as local and regional equestrian activities,
and the agricultural and veterinary college's functions of teaching and research for the benefit of
horses and their owners.
For the past 50-some years, Cornell Polo has been a major focus of my wife, Beejay, and myself,
(both Class of '38), as a coach, player, advisor and close friend of "generations" of students including
fathers, sons and daughters who have played polo here at Cornell. We have "kept in touch" and
followed the careers and families of many of our "boys" and "girls" with pleasure, satisfaction and
pride. They epitomize for us the closeness, respect and tradition of the community and strength of
Cornell. Our lives have been enriched and enhanced by our joint experiences and memories of many
fine outstanding persons and experiences, such as the dedication of this Center this afternoon.
^'American Polo," 1929, by Newell Bent, The MacMillan Co., New York City.
2 U.S.P.A. Yearbook, 1987, 120 N. Mill Street, Lexington, Kentucky
104Memorial Service for Frank H. Page (3/27/08 - 12/23/87)
(Saturday, 2/6/88, 4 pm in Sage Chapel, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY)
It is a privilege and honor to be part of this service in memory of Frank Page, a unique
individual, with a down-east Maine upbringing and accent; with an Army indoctrination resulting in a
respect for himself, his appearance, a deep sense of responsibility and correctness in the performance
of all his undertakings; with a loyalty and devotion to the Cornell and Ithaca communities; and with a
genuine love, respect and caring, despite his gruff and tough attitude and expressions, for his many
friends and acquaintances. For these many exemplary character traits, Frankie ("Sarge") Page had
become a living "institution," nee "tradition," over the past 55 years at Cornell to be frequently
recalled by "generations" of students, professors, deans, staff persons and area residents. It is highly
fitting that this service, arranged by his local friends, be held to formalize and make more permanent
the memory of the life and times of our long time friend, Frank Page.
I came to Ithaca and Cornell in the early 1930's as did Frank, and we have been close friends
and worked together from that time until our retirements in the early 1970's. A brief summary of a
few of his activities in the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's and 1960's are illustrative of Frank's character,
breadth of interests and his devotion to his friends and community.
Frank (Sarge) Page was a complete horseman who worked with horses for his lifetime. Fie
could quietly and competently understand and train horses and ponies for riding, driving, jumping
and polo. Seeing Frank and his Army buddy, Dave Henderson, stage a chariot race on Schoelkopf field
on Spring Day in 1937 when the day's theme was a "Roman Holiday" was an unforgettable sight,
especially when his team of spotted horses, excited by the crowd, ran away and circled the field
several additional times. He couldn't stop them, even with his feet braced on the front of the chariot,
until he had driven them into the chute at the north end of the Stadium.
Frank took excellent care of the Army and private mounts at the Cornell ROTC stables, including
mounts of Dean M.P. Catherwood and Mrs. Livingston ("Daisy") Farrand, the President's wife. On a
number of occasions I had the pleasure of riding with that wonderful extrovert "Daisy" who rode her
favorite Army mount, G3, which Frank took personal care of, groomed and saddled, since the
President would not permit her to ride alone on the Cornell trails. In the late 30's, this mount became
incurably lame and old and was buried on Kite Hill with a military ceremony, including a Rifle Squad,
supervised by "Daisy" and Frank.
Corporal, and later Sergeant, Page instructed ROTC underclass students, including all veterinary
students, as per orders from Dean W.A. Hagan, in cavalry and field artillery tactics. He was also
responsible for training, with Army personnel and students, "green" Army remount horses sent to the
ROTC stables.
In his "free time," Frank helped ROTC officers in the 30's and 40's, and later myself, coach the
Cornell Polo Team as well as train and show private mounts, show horses and jumpers of
horseowners in the Ithaca area including Bill McMillan and Mrs. Lou Durland.
In all the many years Frank worked with horses, he treated all of them with respect, kindness
and patience. At no time did he ever abuse or mistreat either an animal, or for that matter, a student
or a subordinate. He was one of the most generous, forgiving and patient persons I have ever known -
- that is except for Beejay, my wife!
Frank Page was a man with many talents; the most important of which was securing prompt
and substantial assistance for the ROTC Stable from his "network" of local contractors, the
Department of Military Science and Tactics, the Veterinary Large Animal Hospital and Ambulatory
105Clinic, the Farm Management Department of the College of Agriculture, the Department of Physical
Education and Athletics, across the road help from the Cornell Carpentry, Tin, Plumbing, Electrical
and Painting Shops, and others. Fie did this with little or no cost to the Stables AND without
disturbing the respective Chairmen, Department Fleads or Foremen or Directors. As a young
professor I absorbed much from Frank Page about how to get things done within the University by
cooperation and with minimal loss of time or objections.
Frank Page on Vain
In this manner, "Pagy" successfully accomplished stable and riding hall repairs, fencing,
pasturing of horses at Stan Warren's farm, shoeing of the horses, veterinary care of the horses, caring
for horse trails along Cascadilla and Fall Creeks, land reclamation and development around the Stables
and Riding Hall with cinders from the Heating Plant and fill from campus construction sites. He even
convinced Mr. Albert K. Mitchell, a Trustee visiting Cornell, whose son was on the polo team, to pay for
the replacement of a badly leaking roof on #1 Stable!
Although Frank Page was not a religious man, I never knew him to go to church, even when he
106was married, except on one occasion when we attended the Jewish wedding of Norm Brand, the polo
team manager to his wife "Mime" in Liberty, NY. On that occasion, Frank did agree to take off his usual
fedora and wear a yarmulke. Although he had an elevated sense of honesty and principles, he did on
frequent occasions preface his remarks by using the name of the Lord's son and say good-by with the
phrase, "See you in church!"
* /
Frank Page falling at Skaneateles, NY in 1982
Except for yearly visits to his family in Maine and occasional horse-trucking or polo- playing
trips, Frank was closely wedded to the Cornell campus and Ithaca. Lt. General Robert Taber, a
farmer's son from Newfield, NY and a member of the Cornell polo team (Class of 1939) saw Frank
during World War II when he was assigned to transporting U.S. Army mules over the Burma Road to
China. Bob Taber stopped and spent some time with Frank and reported that in all of his experience,
he had never seen such a homesick Army sergeant!
Sergeant Page had a close mutual rapport with all students. Many of them on a return to
campus after graduation looked him up and reminisced over former times. Fie was respected by them,
yet he had a definite empathy with them. On a number of occasions when they were highly
discouraged, often to the point of leaving Cornell, he would tell them how lucky they were compared
to himself who never was able to get a college education and he encouraged them to work harder, get
counseling and "stick it out," which most of them did! His most loyal student friends over the years
were those students who lived at the stables in "Hotaling Hall" and worked there under Frank's
supervision. One of these was Dr. Jay Georgi, now a professor at Cornell, another was Rick Rusk, a son
of Dean Rusk, the former U.S. Secretary of State, and many others such as veterinarians Jim Morse and
Paul Mountan.
When Sarge Page refereed polo games, which was nearly weekly for a period of 30 years, no
student ever successfully argued or remonstrated publicly with him or he would be told promptly
107and emphatically to keep quiet or be expelled from the game. One such notorious and troublesome
Yale polo player was so warned by Frank before the game and played the entire game, one of the
best of his career!
Frank Page was an important factor in the development and reputation of polo at Cornell from
1933 through 1973 by providing instruction in equitation and helping in the coaching of polo for
hundreds of students, mostly men; establishing and coaching the Ithaca Polo Club of local
businessmen who played in the ROTC Riding Flail during the winter and on fields on West Flill in the
summer, and assisting with and promoting the development of polo clubs in New York State in
Cortland, Skaneateles, 'Elmira and Waverly, Unadilla, Albany and Albion, and in Basin Flarbor,
Vermont and Toronto, Canada. Many of the members of these clubs were former Cornell graduates.
Frank was an excellent horseman and rated polo player himself and played in many games and
tournaments in the Northeastern and Midwestern states and Canada until 1982 when he suffered a
severe spill and knee injury.
Frank Page was an expert in loading and trucking horses around the country and often trucked
Cornell's horses to the Intercollegiate Tournaments in New York City during the 1930's, 40's, 50's and
60's. During the 1937 Tournament when Cornell was not highly favored to win, Frank indulged in his
considered, skilled and usually successful betting or gambling. Fie took $400 from the Yale and West
Point grooms. In subsequent years he often related this remunerative venture.
Sergeant Page as stable manager and "custodian" of the ROTC Stables, and after 1953, the
Cornell Athletic Department's 40 to 50 horses, cooperated and worked closely with professors and
students especially in the Colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. Using the Cornell horses,
he assisted Prof. Harold Williams judging teams of College and 4H students; Dr. Harold Hintz in his
early nutritional studies on developing a completely
pelleted feed based on energy studies of horses
performing at different levels of work; Drs. Sid Nusbaum
and Leroy Coggins in developing a highly accurate blood
test for swamp fever or equine infectious anemia caused
by a retrovirus similar to that causing human AIDS; and
the veterinary college clinicians to train students in
restraint, trimming hooves, floating teeth, diagnosing
lameness and developing an oral paste wormer now
widely used for the treatment of equine parasites.
I, and most of you partaking in this Memorial Service,
could cite many more incidents, occasions, happenings and
recollections, but in closing, Frank Page was a one-of-a-kind
individual who had no detractors or enemies, a wide
number of acquaintances and friends, an outgoing,
energetic, optimistic, yet highly pragmatic personality and
presence that for over 50 years made Cornell and Ithaca a
better place to live and work. Frank will be recalled and his
life "celebrated" at many future gatherings of those who
knew him. To borrow from Bob Hope, Frankie — "Thanks for
the memories!"
Steve and Beejay Roberts
108Brief Polo Autobiography of Stephen J. Roberts, DVM, MS
for nomination into the U.S. Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, 2/9/96
1.	Born August 5, 1915 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in western New York
State and rode horses from childhood.
2.	From 1934 to 1937, I was on the Cornell Polo Team, Captain in 1937. (Team
was coached by officers of the ROTC Program on field artillery horses). Cornell won its first
Intercollegiate Championship (Townsend Trophy) in 1937.
3.	In 1942, I became Assistant Professor in the Veterinary College at Cornell
University. In 1943 the ROTC Program gave up coaching polo.
4.	I became the volunteer (unpaid) coach of polo at Cornell from 1943 to 1972
except during the War years 1944-1946 when the Army removed the horses from Cornell.
a)	In 1947 with the aid of a Commandant of the ROTC program ,Gen.
Ralph Hospital, we secured horses and restarted the Cornell polo program.
5.	During the 26 years I was coach, we were in the finals of the Intercollegiate
Tournament 14 years and were Collegiate Champions 8 years.
a)	During those 26 years, we played not only 10 Collegiate and
Scholastic teams but also private clubs and National Guard teams.
b)	In the late 1960's, I and my assistant coach, Dierk TerLouw, made a
number of trips to Toronto at the request of Michael Sifton and the Toronto
players to help them establish polo there.
c)	In the early 1970's, we formed and coached a group of Ithaca,
New York men and graduate students at Cornell that has continued to the
present.
d)	In 1963, Mr. George Sherman, Al Parsells and I met at the
Meadowbrook Club on Long Island and revised the Arena (Indoor) Polo
Rules for the USPA that have remained largely the same since.
e)	During those 26 years at Cornell, I had the privilege of coaching and
playing with about 150 to 200 fine young men, some of whom are sill actively
playing and promoting polo today. (Example -- Peter Baldwin, Peter Orthwein,
Pat Dix, Mike Andrew, Butch Butterworth and many others including students
from Hawaii and Columbia, S.A.)
6.	In 1972, I retired from Cornell and went into veterinary practice with my
brother in Vermont. In 1974, with the help of several older Army and Collegiate polo
players, we established the Quechee Polo Club that is still active today.ln 1993 we sold our
veterinary practice and I was remarried to Ruth Shipman (as I lost my wife, B.J., of 53 years
in 1991) and moved to Southern New York State (Bath, New York).
a)	On leaving Vermont, the four Polo Clubs of Vermont - (Quechee,
Stowe, Sugarbush and West River) and the Maine (Down East Club) honored me
by presenting to me a fine polo saddle (that I'm still appreciatively using).
b)	Since 1993, I have been serving on the USPA Veterinary and Rules
Committees.
1097.	In 1979, I was honored by being inducted into the Cornell Hall of Fame and in
1991, the Cornell Polo Wall of Honor. This latest honor by the US Museum of Polo and Hall of
Fame was enormously appreciated, even cherished.
"Doc" S. J. Roberts
110Cornell Polo Rides On Article from the Cornell Countryman 1994
"ONE THING THAT HASN'T CHANGED is the success of the team," said David Eldredge, '81,
Cornell polo's head coach.
How far back does the success of the Cornell polo team go? At least back to 1937 when Cornell
won its first National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship Tournament. Cornell's men's varsity squad has
won the Intercollegiate title eleven times since the Cornell Polo Team was founded in 1934, most
recently in 1992.
"It was the thrill of a lifetime," said Trevor Wells'94, a member of the 1992 championship team,
of winning the title.
Women's polo was officially started at Cornell in 1972, even though women were playing long
before that. Since 1972, the women have been National Intercollegiate Champions seven times, in 1979,
1984-1988, and again in 1991. Despite adversity, tough competition, a lack of money at times and the
loss of horses at other times, the Cornell Polo Team has survived and succeeded.
Polo was played at Cornell even before it was a varsity sport. Beginning in the early 1920s, polo
was played at Cornell by the ROTC. officers and select students. It was around 1934 that polo was
officially considered a collegiate sport at Cornell. The Athletic Department recognized it, but it was still
organized through the ROTC. program. Army officers coached the team and, in 1937, Cornell won its first
National Championship.
Playing on the team in 1937 was Stephen J. Roberts '38, who would soon become Dr. Stephen J.
"Doc" Roberts, professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell and polo coach for 30 years, from 1942 to
1972.
It was Roberts who saved the polo team from dying in 1946. Since college polo was mainly run by
Army campus programs, many polo programs were simply dropped after World War II when the United
States Army divested itself of horses. The polo program at Cornell was going to be ended like the rest.
Roberts, with help from influential friends in the Army and at Cornell, would not let this happen.
Visiting Army camps in the northeast, Roberts picked up already trained ponies to be used for Cornell
polo. Many people associated with polo have said that Roberts should be given a great deal of credit for
reviving college polo after World War II.
Roberts began riding horses when he was six or seven, but never played polo until arriving as a
student at Cornell. "That is how it often is" Roberts said.
"Usually only about 50 percent of the Cornell players have ever played before. A good athlete can
usually play polo," Roberts said. This statement could almost be considered a philosophy of Cornell polo.
"If a person has athletic ability, they can learn polo quickly," agreed Eldredge. "Two students
once ended up starting during their senior year, and they had come to Cornell never having played
before."
It is only seldom that an experienced player comes to Cornell. "If they spend too much time
playing polo in high school, then they don't have the grades to get into Cornell," said Roberts.
For most players the game is learned at Cornell. "We make our polo players," said Eldredge.
"We'll take people who have ridden before, and we teach them the game of polo. We've been very
successful at that."
The backgrounds of Cornell coaches definitely gives Cornell an upper hand in polo. "The coaching
up here is amazing," said Wells, who is from Maryland. "Cornell does things right. They've got great
111instructors."
Roberts began coaching at Cornell in 1942 after winning the National Championship in 1937.
Eldredge began riding horses at the age of three and followed in the footsteps of his father and brother,
who both played Cornell varsity polo before him.
Through Cornell polo, family connections and connections to the past can be found. Reflecting on
his days of playing, Roberts said, "There were only six or eight of us on the men's team. We'd practice on
Tuesday and Thursday and then have a game on Saturday."
It is much the same today. The varsity squad practices on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and has
games on the weekends. The intercollegiate squad today consists of 36 undergraduates, eighteen men
and eighteen women. The squad is then broken down into varsity and first-year teams.
The number of players has changed over the years, especially the number of women players.
"Horses are a women's sport," said Roberts. "Women often attend schools for horse programs."
"There are definitely more women riders today," Eldredge said. "At tryouts we usually have 30 to
40 women try for nine slots. And there are about twelve men trying out and if six have ridden before I am
amazed."
Eldredge thinks that the lack of male players is probably due to general changes in society. In the
past men came from farms, where they had ridden horses, but that is no longer common. Also, the
popularity of other sports such as football and basketball have taken away from polo, Eldredge said.
"Those sports are a lot more accessible. For polo you need barns and pastures."
This often leads to the belief that polo is only a rich man's game. The Cornell Polo Team is a self-
supporting, nonprofit organization. The University provides the arena, but the money for just about
everything else must come from someplace else.
"Each year the 36 students must raise $35,000," according to Eldredge. The students pay dues
and hold fund-raisers, such as horse shows and phone-a-thons. A large number of donations and gifts
come from alumni, and the alumni are also often the source of horses. Almost all of the polo ponies are
donated.
Years ago, the players also had to work to earn their money. In those days, the students worked
at football games and helped park cars, on horseback. "In depression times we would pick apples at the
Cornell orchards to earn money," said Roberts.
All of this working together is one of the reasons the polo players become a very tightly knit
group. "It's team work all the way through the system," Eldredge said. "Team work is one of the
prerequisites of Cornell polo."
Wells knows that team work helps Cornell to win. "Three guys who are very good, but rely on
team work and know each other well can beat a team has one terrific player and two average players,"
he said.
The other premise of the Cornell team, according to Eldredge and agreed on by Wells: "This is a
game. It's not life or death. Yes, there's competition, we want to do well, but we are here to have fun."
Having fun and playing as a team held Cornell polo together over the years. This is evident now,
just as it was in when Jane Keith Kiersch wrote about the polo team in the Cornell Alumni News. "It is
noteworthy that this team and coach with a lack of some of the other Cornell teams' hoo-rah, has quietly
but firmly established the university's name in top brackets of a most demanding sport." This statement
was true in 1937 to 1963, and is still true today. by Margit K. Feury '94
112Coaching
At the funeral services for A.A. Stagg, Rev. Myron Hurell
"Competition is the life of sports, and Mr. Stagg was highly competitive. Competition, however,
in his view was not for the purpose of beating someone down, but for bringing the best out of every
player.
"He sought to win, but this was always secondary to the creation of excellence. The playing field
was the training ground for the kind of life which would accept only its best, and which would demand
the full excellence of which man is capable."
Why Be a Coach - Bud Presley
Menlo Park, California. Sports Illustrated, Jan. 1996 excerpt.
"Coaching can be discouraging at times," he told a clinic recently, "but far more often it is deeply
satisfying and rewarding. Youngsters are naive, they are variable, they are sometimes obstinate and
incomprehensible, but they are also warm, flexible, loyal and incurably optimistic. They lift us up when
we are down, they deify us when we and all our peers know that we have feet of clay, and they
constantly reaffirm our faith in the innate goodness of man.
"No matter how much we give of ourselves to our kids, we can never match by half what they
give us in return. We tend to bellyache and despair at times. Some of us are petty and belittle our
fellow coaches, and all of us by necessity are a little insane. But we should count our blessings because
we in the coaching profession are the most fortunate people on the face of the earth."
From Response of S.J. Roberts on Being Inducted into
the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame, 1979
"Abelson stated - 'Few students are aware of their own potentials or are in command of
themselves.' Athletic teams and contests provide students invaluable lessons in dedication,
practice, sociability, physical skills, team work, discipline, maturity, poise, cooperation, the ability to
struggle together for a goal, to win or lose gracefully, to refuse to accept defeat and to develop a
positive attitude toward life. I have known very few athletes with a negative attitude. As President
Kemeny of Dartmouth stated - 'the life of negativism is a very empty life.' The athletic experience
at Cornell provides those participating students the greatest opportunity to explore and develop
their potentials and to achieve control of their drives and emotions. "We, inductees to the Cornell
Hall of Fame owe an enormous debt to Cornell and greatly appreciate this fine recognition."
1979- Dick Schultz and Doc Roberts at his Cornell Hall of Fame induction
1 13DO'S AND DONT'S IN POLO ARENA
S.	J. Roberts
DO'S
1.	First man over the bail keep going until or unless play changes.
2.	Second man over ball always turn at once.
3.	Number 1 get the jump on your opponent on throw in.
4.	Number 1 watch ref's hand and arm and get the ball.
5.	Number 1, if opposing No, 1 gets the bail stay with him and hook or ride him out.
6.	Number 1, if ball goes by you on throw in, cross over to offensive side at once.
7.	All men hold mallets down on off side at throw in and in melees.
8.	Number 2 — watch and stop ball on throw in. Control of ball at throw in essential for team to win,
If ball goes by No. 2 on throw in, No. 2 get to back at once.
9.	Number 3 — on throw in, if ball comes back to you hit it or take opponent out.
10.	Number 3 — always go in the direction the ball is traveling and make back shots.
11.	If you want man ahead of you to leave the ball, say "leave it".
12.	When teammate says "leave it," under no circumstances hit the ball, but see that you take your
opponent out.
13.	On defense always get between opponent and the wall.
14.	On defense, when you have ridden by your goal, circle back, don't stand there.
15.	Talk it up constantly. Let your team mates know what you are doing and where you and the ball
are.
16.	If you are sure of a back shot, yell turn before you hit it.
17.	If you can't get the ball, take or bump out your man.
18.	Stroke the ball lengthways of the field — "The goals are at either end" — don't stroke the ball
crossways of field.
19.	When backing the ball, back it away from the approaching ponies, toward largest "open" side.
20.	When a ball stops in a corner, one man in the corner, one man toward goal and one man up the
hall on the wall. Rotate toward goal on offense, away from goal on defense.
21.	Always be in position when moving out on the ball to ride your opponent out if necessary.
22.	When you start down line of the ball, move and move fast.
23.	Number 1 — always push or ride out every play with your opposing No. 3 — never let him get set
for a shot.
24.	Number 1 — stay with your opposing No 3 when he comes down hall on offense, but don't be
sucked in on the defensive scramble.
25.	Number 1 — stay on fringe of defensive melee to prevent opposing back from driving in and to
be ready to move on offense as soon as ball is passed to you.
11426.	Number 3 — be conservative, but do not be afraid of "going thru" when you are on line of ball.
Talk to your No, 2 and he will cover.
27.	Always think ahead — anticipate next play or two.
28.	Keep track of number of opponents and own team ahead of you. Always get to your man, don't
trail him, If one or two opponents and none of your team ahead of you, move up to be with 1st
man.
29.	Start fast and hard. Most games are won the first chukker.
30.	Play each and every game as hard and as smart as you know how.
31.	If you don't know what to do in any situation, you're always safe or right if you pick an opponent
and bump or ride him out.
32.	If you've outmaneuvered or ridden off an opponent, keep him "in a pocket".
33.	Stroke a ball hard when driving toward opponent's territory. Don't dribble around your own
goal.
34.	If a ball is going to hit wall and bounce back, check your pony and don't ride over ball as it comes
back towards you.
35.	Line up fast for throw in.
36.	Have equipment ready to go when referee blows whistle. Don't start period half prepared.
37.	Treat pony assigned you as if it were your own. (It is.)
38.	Every member of the squad must show up for every practice unless he notifies the coach and is
excused.
39.	At home games, every member is expected to be there at 7:15 - 7:30. Every member is expected
to stay after every game until all tack is cleaned and all horses put away.
40.	All blanket circingles are applied just behind withers and tightened securely.
41.	Boots or bandages are put on every horse before scrimmages and games.
42.	All injuries to horses are reported to coach and the member is expected to follow recommended
treatment carefully until the injury heals.
43.	All damage of broken tack is reported to one of the coaches so repairs can be made
immediately.
44.	All horses should be groomed carefully before and especially after each practice.
45.	During winter, all hot horses should have a blanket thrown on them inside out and fastened in
front of shoulders while being walked in stable.
46.	Check tack, saddle, bridle, before playing.
47.	If you fall off, curl up and hit on shoulders if possible, After you hit ground, curl up and lie quietly
until horses have passed.
48.	If tack broken, call time at next whistle. If dangerously broken, call time at once. Tell captain and
referee.
49.	If can't bump opponent to prevent back shot, get your pony in way of ball.
11550.	When stroking ball, keep your eye on ball, especially on a back shot.
51.	Practice all near side strokes so can do well.
52.	Stroke ball forward from point opposite pony's point of shoulder.
53.	Stroke ball back from point opposite rider's heel or back of saddle.
54.	When stroking ball under neck of pony, lean way forward, when under tail, lean way back.
55.	Get stroke in groove, keep elbows stiff and near side on off side shots.
56.	Lean and twist body greatly for near side shots.
57.	Be willing to do more than your share of work for horses and club.
DON'TS
1.	Don't carry the ball in front of your own goal.
2.	Don't hit into the legs of your or another's pony. Don't stroke the ball beneath your pony.
3.	Don't carry your mallet up in the air.
4.	Don't cross hook.
5.	Don't turn your pony in big circles.
6.	Don't hit your pony with a mallet.
7.	Don't give your pony too much water after practice.
8.	Don't put your pony away hot.
9.	Don't switch tack or pieces of tack without permission.
10.	Don't practice riding off when you are exercising or stick and balling.
11.	Don't put your tack away dirty.
12.	Don't leave your brush in the manger.
13.	Don't let your martingale, blanket strap or reins hang on the ground while walking pony.
14.	Don't cross the line of the ball in front of approaching player.
15.	Don't lean out and try to hook a back shot.
16.	Don't hang onto your horse's mouth.
17.	The back should not meet rapidly moving ball head on.
18.	Don't turn or stand on ball. If you don't know where ball is—move.
19.	Never ride over the quarters of another horse.
20.	Don't ride so close to your team mate ahead of you that if he misses you cannot hit the ball.
String out!
21.	Number 1 — don't stay on the defensive, goals can only be made on the offensive. Your back
and No. 2 are defensive men.
22.	Don't fight your pony, try to find the way to get the best game out of him.
23.	Don't lose your temper.
11624.	Never ride parallel to or go by your own man.
25.	Don't be a ball hawk-. Play team work and anticipate constantly.
26.	Don't bump a man and, because you're on a faster horse, slide over in front; pull up and stay with
him.
27.	Don't hook a mallet before a stroke is begun.
28.	Don't hook a mallet above level of horse's back.
29.	Don't hit ball hard within 20 yds. of the opponent's goal.
30.	No stick and balling of ponies in hall except at regular practice sessions.
31.	Don't play on saddle that is resting on withers of horse — get blanket pad or another saddle.
32.	Don't take full swing at ball in melee or close quarters.
33.	Never argue with or talk back to referee, the coach and captain do that.
34.	Don't use your elbows, use your shoulders in riding off.
35.	Don't keep going in circles — move up and down hall.
36.	Don't lean into "underthe neck shots" — keep your chin out of the way, bump the opponent.
37.	When defending a goal on a foul shot, don't stroke at ball coming toward you, stop it with mallet
held in line of travel.
38.	Don't turn over line of ball after a back shot, turn away from the line of the ball.
39.	Don't let horse run over ball, use legs and other aids and ride horse, stop horse straight
especially on the wall.
40.	Don't go straight to ball lying dead at wall, If possible go to wall either side of ball (8-10 ft.) and
come down wall on ball.
41.	Don't play with broken or "ringer" mallet. If lose mallet in game, get another one at once.
42.	If ball bounces up in air above ponies' back or higher, don't swing at ball. If use mallet poke at
ball to stop it. Former is dangerous use of mallet.
43.	Don't ride with loose girth, don't ride with saddle resting on or near horse's withers, use blanket
or other saddle.
44.	Don't strike at opponent's mallet, hook it — striking is a foul.
117Summary of the Final Games for the Years 1937 Through 1972
of the National Intercollegiate (Arena) Championships
The Cornell Polo team became a recognized minor sport in 1934 after the construction the
Cornell Indoor Riding Hall. The Intercollegiate Arena National Title games for the Townsend Trophy
began in 1922. From then to 1937 Yale and Princeton, with occasional wins by Harvard and
Pennsylvania Military College, predominated. The U.S. Military Academy had won a series 31 games
without a defeat from 1935, 1936 and 1937 when Cornell defeated them for the championship in 1937.
Cornell Winners of the Townsend Trophy as Intercollegiate Champions (1937-1972):
1937 —S. J. Roberts, C.C. Combs Jr., Thomas Lawrence (over U.S.M.A.).
(1943 to 1946 — no games played).
1955	--Albert Mitchell, Camilo Saenz, Alberto Santamaria (over Yale).
1956	--Camilo Saenz, F.H. Rice Jr., Alberto Santamaria, Mark Geronimus (Gerard) (over Yale).
1958	—Pablo Toro, Bennet M. Baldwin, Stanley Woolaway (over Yale).
1959	-Bennet M. Baldwin, Peter D. Baldwin, Stanley Woolaway (over Univ. of Virginia)
1961	-James Morse, Frank S. Butterworth III, Patrick Baker (over Yale).
1962	-James Morse, Frank S. Butterworth III, John Walworth, James Reynolds (over Yale)
1963	-James Morse, Patrick Dix, Paul Mountan, Jan Suwinski (over Yale).
1966	-Guillermo Santamaria, James Greenwell, Peter Orthwein (over Yale).
The Cornell Polo Teams in the Finals of the National Arena Championships for the Townsend Trophy —
but Losers in that Game:
1964	-Paul Mountain, Patrick Dix, Charles Bachman, Chas. Hotchkiss (lost to Yale).
1965	-Richard Fredericks, James Greenwell, Peter Orthwein (lost to Yale).
1967	-Peter Orthwein, Guillermo Santamaria, James Greenwell, Theodore Brinkman (lost to Yale).
1968	-Peter Orthwein, Daniel Ladd, Douglas Antczak (lost to Yale).
1969	-William Armstrong, Daniel Ladd, Douglas Antczak, Paul Wilson (lost to Yale).
1970	—Daniel Ladd, Carlos Gutierrez, Christian Bleier, Wm. Leslie (lost to Yale).
1956 Intercollegiate Champions- Rice, Santamaria, Saez, Geronimus
118Stephen J. "Doc" Roberts, who as an undergraduate, led Cornell's polo team to its first national
championship and then, as a veterinarian, coached the team to eight national championships, died in
Bath, NY, Jan. 21, 2005, of heart failure. He was 89.
Roberts coached the Cornell polo team between 1947 and 1972, and his teams participated in 14
national championships, winning eight in 25 years (The winning years: 1955, '56, '58, '59, '61, '62, '63 and
'66.). He was the captain of the team when he was an undergraduate.
He developed innovations in intercollegiate polo that remain to this day. To balance the
competition of the sport, Roberts introduced the concept of "split strings" at the intercollegiate level.
Visiting teams no longer have to transport their own horses to distant matches. Instead, the home team
provides mounts and the horses are exchanged between chukkers.
As a Cornell professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and veterinarian, he authored over
150 scientific articles and a classic textbook in 1956, Veterinary Obstetrics and Genital Diseases, which
was published in three editions -- the final one in 1986. He was among the early Vet College faculty
members to advocate a research component in faculty appointments, now a common practice.
Roberts served on the Judicial Council of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA),
and he was a charter diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists. He was an associate editor
of the Veterinary News and provided years of service to the Cornell Veterinary Alumni Association. He
received the prestigious national Borden Award from the AVMA for his research on cattle disease, the
Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Veterinary Medical Society and the Salmon Award.
Born in Indianapolis on Aug. 5, 1915, Roberts grew up in Hamburg, NY, where his father, James
Roberts, Cornell D.V.M. 1912, practiced veterinary medicine. Stephen Roberts earned his doctor of
veterinary medicine degree in 1938. While a student at Cornell, he enrolled in the ROTC field artillery unit
and captained the polo team to its first national championship in 1937.
In 1938, he moved to Manhattan, KS, where he taught veterinary medicine and earned his Master
of Science degree. In 1942, he joined the faculty at Cornell. He was named a full professor in the
Department of Large Animal Medicine, Obstetrics and Surgery in 1946 and served as chairman of the
department twice: 1965-66 and 1969-72. Roberts retired from Cornell in 1972 to go into private
veterinary practice in Vermont.
Roberts is survived by his wife, Ruth Shipman Roberts, of Bath, NY.
Published in the Cornell Chronicle, February 3rd, 2005.
Stephen Roberts, who coached Cornell University's polo team to eight national championships
and helped make the sport accessible to those without enough money to transport their own mounts,
died in Bath, NY, on Jan. 21, 2005. He was 89.
The university said the cause was heart failure.
As an undergraduate, Roberts, who was known as Doc, was captain of Cornell's first national
champion polo team in 1937. After joining the Cornell faculty as a veterinarian in 1942, he served as polo
coach from 1947 to 1972.
During that time, the team won 8 of its 14 appearances in national championships. Roberts
introduced the concept of split strings at the intercollegiate level, requiring home teams to provide
horses so visitors did not have to transport their mounts; the horses were exchanged between chukkers,
or periods.
I 19Roberts also wrote numerous scientific articles and a veterinary obstetrics textbook. He retired in
1972 to go into private practice in Vermont.
Born in Indianapolis, Roberts grew up in Hamburg, NY, where his father, also a Cornell graduate,
had a veterinary practice.
Roberts is survived by his wife, Ruth Shipman Roberts; his daughter, Gail Roberts, and son, Stephen
J. (Laura) Roberts Jr.; two stepdaughters, Barbara Shipman and Betty Joy (Paul) Marsh; a brother, Charles
Roberts; a sister, Betsy Roberts; three grandsons; and three great-grandchildren. His first wife, Betty
Jane, died before him.
Published in The New York Times, January 29th, 2005
120Polo has been played at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York since
1919 when it was part of the ROTC
department and has been a varsity
sport there since 1934. Stephen J.
“Doc” Roberts played for the Big Red
from 1933 to 1937 when he was named
captain of the first national champion
team. He then went on to coach the
Cornell Polo team winning eight na-
tional titles before he retired in 1972.
Doc, in his own words, shares the
history and stories of this great sport
at the institution that was founded on
the principal that “any person can find
instruction in any study”.
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