thlete Portrait Campaign Debuts at Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals with Poster Sales to Benefit USET Foundation

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PHOTO CAPTION: Show Jumping Athletes Composite Poster. PHOTO CREDIT: Elma Garcia. This photo may be used only in relation to this press release.



Athlete Portrait Campaign Debuts at Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals with Poster Sales to Benefit USET Foundation

GLADSTONE, NJ – April 13, 2007 – Sixteen extraordinary images measuring 4’ x 6’ of High Performance athletes who compete in the Olympic sports of dressage and show jumping will hang impressively in the walkway of the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals, marking the debut of the Athlete Portrait Campaign created by Director/Cinematographer Elma Garcia.

Garcia created the campaign to serve a dual purpose of public relations and fundraising to benefit the USET Foundation. “My idea is to show the public the other side of these athletes,” Garcia explained, “to show the connection between the athlete and the horse, and to celebrate who these people are.”

For spectators, four Limited Edition posters from the Athlete Portrait Campaign will be available April 18-21 at the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals for a donation of $35 or more to the USET Foundation. These stunning posters are a special collector’s item and will not be found for sale anywhere else. After the World Cup™, the posters will be available through the USET Foundation website at www.uset.org only while supplies last. All proceeds from the sales of the posters will benefit the U.S. equestrian team athletes and their High Performance programs.

The dramatic posters from the Athlete Portrait Campaign feature close-up portraits of equestrian athletes dressed in ‘civilian’ attire posing with their famous mounts and include a short rider biography on the back. Autograph sessions with the athletes will be scheduled during the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals in Las Vegas.

Show jumping fans may select a 24” x 36” poster of Beezie Madden with Authentic, as well as an 18” x 40” composite poster featuring nine athletes and their horses – Lauren Hough and Casadora, Todd Minikus and Olinda, Molly Ashe and Kroon Gravin, Candice King and Coco Cabana, Beezie Madden and Authentic, Laura Kraut and Miss Independent, Margie Engle and Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold, Schuyler Riley and Ilian, and McLain Ward and Larioso.

Dressage aficionados may choose a 24” x 36” poster of Debbie McDonald with Brentina, as well as the 18” x 40” composite poster of six athletes and their horses – Steffen Peters and Floriano, Courtney King and Idocus, Guenter Seidel and Aragon, Debbie McDonald and Brentina, Arlene Page and Wild One, and Kristina Harrison-Naness and Rociero XV.

To create these outstanding portraits, Garcia utilized her skills as a still photographer to photograph the athletes with their horses in barns and arenas in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and California during 2006 and 2007 at her own expense. In addition to the show jumpers and dressage riders, Garcia also photographed athletes from three-day eventing, the third Olympic discipline. She purchased wardrobe for each athlete and brought David Michaud, a make-up artist from Los Angeles, to do hair and makeup. Garcia used a 20’ x 24’ black backdrop and natural light to illuminate her subjects. “The backdrop allowed all the energy and attention to go to the horse and rider and that connection,” Garcia explained. “That is another element that makes this campaign look so beautiful – it’s just horse and rider and the essence of who they are.”

Garcia noted that all the athletes were great models and excited about the Athlete Portrait Campaign. “All the athletes were fantastic and enthusiastic about this,” Garcia said. “They’re all extremely grateful to the USET Foundation and for them, it’s been great.”

Garcia brainstormed the idea for the Athlete Portrait Campaign in the fall of 2005 when she was at River Grove Farm in Hailey, Idaho, enjoying the month-long training session she had claimed as one of three high bidders at the 2004 Debbie McDonald Training Package Auction. Even though Garcia (and each of the other winning bidders) had contributed $80,000 to clinch the package at the auction – a benefit for the USET Foundation, she considered that a small price to pay for the experience of a lifetime. Garcia explained that she wanted to say ‘thank-you’ to the USET Foundation, McDonald, other athletes, and owners such as Peggy and Parry Thomas of River Grove Farm, by portraying equestrian athletes to the public in a different light while also helping to raise funds for the USET Foundation.

“They’re very beautiful. I’m very proud of them,” Garcia said of the Athlete Portrait Campaign images. “To me it’s a privilege to be able to use my gift in a positive way for the love of photography and the love of horses and the love of athletes. It’s fantastic! It’s what it’s all about.”

The posters from the Athlete Portrait Campaign available to the public at the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals are a Limited Edition and once they are sold out, they will not be reprinted. These stunning posters are a special collector’s item and will not be found for sale anywhere else. After the World Cup, the posters will be available through the USET Foundation website at www.uset.org only while supplies last.

The non-profit United States Equestrian Team Foundation supports the competition, training, coaching, travel and educational needs of America’s elite and developing international, high-performance athletes and horses in partnership with the United States Equestrian Federation. For more information about the USET Foundation or to make a donation, please call (908) 234-1251 or visit its website at www.uset.org.

An Interview with the Crown Prince

HRH the Crown Prince of Pahang started riding and playing polo in 1974. he and his immediate family were still living in Kuantan then, but his father sent the two boys to Pekan each weekend for riding lessons. ‘Every Saturday and Sunday, without fail, we had to arrive there by six am. My grandfather would be waiting for us in the paddock. Sometimes we didn’t even sleep because we were so excited’.

The boys had to learn to ride competently before they were given their own ponies, or allowed to start playing polo. Their first ponies were not a great success: ‘They were really wild ponies. We were sent into the jungle to fetch them, and we couldn’t ride them at all. So we sent them to Pekan for the senior players to train them, but they didn’t get anywhere either! Then my pony tried to bite my grandfather’s hand when he was offering it a carrot, so that was it. The next morning they were gone!’
The rebel jungle ponies were replaced with more suitable mounts for TM and his brother to learn on – two grays, retired polo ponies from the late Sultan of Johor’s stable. The boys used to enjoy riding them on the beach and then, after six months, when they had learnt the basic skills in the saddle, they were allowed to play their first chukkas.
Next came the other important aspect of horsemanship – learning to care for their ponies. ‘We kept them at the back of the house in Kuantan. That saved the driving to Pekan. We had to take care of them and did the grooming and mucking out! Then we went to England for our studies. During that time my father bought us our first proper polo ponies – mine was called Apache. My first chukka was played in front of my granddad. He would always give us the last, ‘sunset’ chukka after the main games had finished – that was how we learnt’.
As he told the story of his early polo career, Tengku Mahkota was reminded of the day his grandfather died. ‘On that day, he gave me his favourite horse to play, Sylvester. He seldom gave that horse to anyone, except my father. I only learnt later, many years after his demise, that as he watched us on the field, he told one of his men: ‘My two grandsons will take polo far’.

‘We took off from there. My dad started bringing horses from Argentina. Until then we had always bought horses from Australia and New Zealand, and the quality there in those days was very different from now. My brother and I have played many tournaments overseas. When we were at school in London, I had Prince Charles on my team. We played as the Pahang team in the Windsor Cup at the Guards Club. Prince Charles played 4, I played 1, and we had Charles Beresford and Howard Hipwood with us. I also played in the high goal tournaments in the UK for many years – the Queen’s Cup and the Gold Cup. I was privileged to play with some good players – Peter Merlos, Howard Hipwood, Tommy Juarante and Memo Gracida. I have also played a bit in Argentina, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany (during the recent world cup), the USA, Hawaii, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia.
‘Some of the best moments were playing the Queen’s Cup. This was solid stuff – 22 goal polo – against people like Ellerston and Dubai, who had some of the world’s best players on their team, like Adolpho Cambiaso, Gonzalo Pieres and the Heguys. Not many teams have that kind of power. They are very intelligent players; it’s not easy playing against them. They have much more experience than me, because they have played so much more high goal polo than I have. That experience is something you cannot compare with what we have.
‘When I play with the top professionals, they treat me like any other player. I like them to treat me like that, not as a patron. I enjoy myself more by committing myself to the team, not just banking on the professionals to do everything.
‘Two things keep me interested in polo these days. First, through polo I can keep myself really fit. Second, I want to see the young players, especially in Pahang, develop and able to play well. Now that we have lost our best player, Shariman, I am putting a lot of effort to see one or two more players come up to take over Shariman’s place. And of course I am still waiting for my sons to pick up the sport – Amir, who is 20 , Hassanal, who is 11, and the two youngest, Muhammad and Ahmad, who are only 9 and 5 years old’

INTERNATIONAL MOUNTED GAMES EXCHANGE IN AUSTRALIA

Since I started playing games seven years ago, I dreamed of aking the United States Pony Club International Games Team. After years of preparation, I was notified in October, 2004, that I as one of five members chosen for the 2005 International Games Team traveling to Australia.
On March 27, 2005, I met up with the complete 2005 team, onsisting of Brett Calhoun, Drew Sargent, Kassi Nicopolous, Carson Rutledge, and myself, along with our coach, Beth Lough, and chaperone, Linda Caddel, at the LAX airport. Finally, we were on the plane taking us to Sydney, Australia. Fifteen hours later, we piled into two cars and headed “home.” I was caught off guard when we started driving on the opposite side of the road, but after three weeks, I got used to it. We met the Australian team when we got there, and then we had our first
training session. I ended up getting into a handoff collision with Carson that first session, and I was worried I wouldn’t recover in time for the competition. Fortunately, I recovered enough to ride.
After the week of training, touring, white water rafting, and doctor visits, it was time to leave Sydney and fly to Adelaide for the official start of the tour.
At the airport, we were met by the Canadian, Great Britain, and New Zealand teams. Despite never knowing each other, we all seemed to really hit it off from the start. Then we piled on the bus that would be our mobile home over the next two weeks and headed to a potluck dinner. From there we were split up between our host families.

Over a course of six days in Adelaide, we managed to play Polocrosse, camp, have one of two training sessions, visit the Woodyard Activity Centre, Victoria Harbor, and shop! At the activity centre, we did ropes courses, rock climbing, and abseiling. It was a lot of fun, incredibly entertaining, and even tiring. At Victoria Harbor, we got to go kayaking and to the oceanarium. I even
got to pet a shark! Next it was off to Kangaroo Island, where all the teams camped together at an old school. While on the island, we
got to visit a sheep dairy and a sheep shearing demonstration, visit a eucalyptus company, and possibly the highlight of my trip: I got to see and pet kangaroos and koalas! Then, before I knew it, the five days on the island were up and we headed back to the mainland. Our next and final stop was Gawler. While there, we visited a gorgeous farm, Lindsay Park, which is one of the largest, most successful racing and breeding facilities of South Australia.
We also visited a place called Bungaree Station, a large sheep plantation establishes from absolutely nothing. Then, one day, we got to spend a day of shopping in downtown Gawler. Later
that night, all teams were invited to the official opening of the Gawler Horse Festival, where I had a microphone and
platform to thank the mayor of Gawler for inviting the teams.
Finally, we mounted up and paraded around the ring for opening ceremonies. Words can’t describe the way I felt walking around the ring, representing the USA, and all the excitement of the crowd was overwhelming. Before I knew it, we had finished the first race.
After that, everything was a blur. One by one, we finished the races, winning some, losing some, and coming in some
incredibly close seconds. For the majority of the competition, Australia narrow1y led the USA. In the end, our efforts fell short and our best wasn’t quite enough. USA fought hard to the end and finished a very respectable second place to host Australia. Then a
very emotional group of riders hugged and congratulated one anothere. Before I knew it, we were saying goodbye. If I could do it all again, I would in a heart beat. The trip was such a great experience, the chance of a lifetime. I now have friends around the world, best friends from around the US, and memories that will last a lifetime. I was so proud to be a part of Team USA 2005. To all the games players out there, ride hard and dream big! There is
nothing you can’t accomplish if you set your mind to it!

Polo Wicklow

POLO WICKLOW GETS A NEW PRESIDENT

The Polo Wicklo w committee and Oscar decided last weekend that it was time we had a new president, after a lot of discussions we have finally come to a decision and Sean Reynolds has been appointed as our new President. Sean Reynolds has been a member of Polo Wicklow for the last 8 years and is one of the main supporters of Arena polo in Ireland making him the ideal candidate for the job. Mr Reynolds has also been a representative of the club playing in the USA last year in the annual Ireland v USA match in Newport and Yale. Congratulations Sean and Good Luck!! - I’ve heard Oscar isn’t easy to work with but if you need help check out parrottraining.com!!!

THE HUNT LEAVES FROM POLO WICKLOW

The Bray Hunt had their second annual meet at Polo Wickl ow last weekend, 68 people tacked up their horses and ran after the hounds jumping the big ditches of the Wicklow countryside. While all this was going polo continued in the arena as normal. All the hunting crowd then came into the clubhouse for the famous ‘Beef Stew’ made by Wendy Herbst while watching their days hunting on the full size screen in the clubhouse.

A WEEKEND OF SPANISH PYJAMAS

The Spanish Team arrived last weekend to take on the 3 Irish teams, winning on Friday by 5 goals against, Siobhan and Mickey Herbst and Sean Reynolds, they took on Derville Hoey, Ronan Murphy and Joe O’Connell on Saturday to loose by 3 goals. The final day was the Spanish Team, Stefan Spengler, Jorg Be cke and Jan Schonlau taking on the Irish Team of Joe O’Connell, Mickey Herbst and Robert Patton, Ireland won by 5 goals. On Saturday night we had the joint birthday party of Siobhan and Mickey. Everyone had to dress in Pyjamas, there were toothbrushes and hair curlers everywhere while everybody danced the night away in their bedclothes! We also had a special friend and professional musician, Stephen Ffrench Davis, playing the Piano and a group of Latvian Dancers teaching us how to do their traditional dance.

KIKI QUARLES VAN UFFORD IS BACK ON A HORSE

After a frightening accident last year out hunting Kiki had extreme injuries to her back and was given the prospect of spending the rest of her life in a wheelchair. With a lot of love, support and determination she has now given us the incredible news that she’s back up on a horse. Kiki came over to Ireland with a group of Dutch people, organised by Andy Burgess, to learn polo at the beginning of last year. Six months later she returned on the Dutch polo team fighting it out against the Irish. It was 2 mo nths later that she had this awful accident. As Kiki is now well on her way back to full recovery we hope to see her back here battling it out for the cup again. Well done Kiki!!!

POLO WICKLOW TAKE HOME THE PAKISTAN CUP

Last weekend Polo Wicklow took part in the final tournament of the season in the All Ireland Polo Club, Phoenix Park. Siobhan, Micky and Carlos teamed up with Mario Giles to play for the most wanted Pakistan Cup, covered in Blue and Turquoise Jewels, this was the Cup that everyone aimed for. After and easy win against Oakleaf on Thursday (3½ - 14), Polo Wicklow were set to take on, one of the favourites of the tournament, Nurney captained by Bill Roe. Polo Wicklow and Nurney were very equal throughout the game, with only half a goal in it awarded to Nurney for Handicap, the crowds were kept at the edge of their seats. With only 20 seconds to go and Polo Wicklow down by half a goal, a centre hit was awarded to Polo Wicklow. With nothing to loose, Mario sent the ball up to Carlos, who placed perfectly, finished it off with the m ost incredible ‘under-the-neck-shot’ straight into goal, 7 seconds before the buzzer. In the final, Polo Wicklow faced Tyrone, captained by Eamon Laverty, one of the most successful teams of the season, with equal handicaps there was always the chance of a 5th chukka. Throughout the first 2 chukkas, Tyrone had the edge on Polo Wicklow, but in the 3rd chukka Carlos came out on his best pony, Malteser, and took the field by storm scoring 3 field goals, leaving Polo Wicklow up by 3 goals going into the final chukka. With Tyrone’s professional, Jose Souto (famous for coming back from nothing in the final chukka to win) taking off at the beginning of the chukka to score 3 goals, making it 6 all, the crowds didn’t know who to cheer for. Once again, Carlos was on form and with only 30 seconds on the clock, Polo Wicklow was awarded a 60yard Penalty, Carlos cantered up slowly and with a full swing sent it flying through the centre of the posts. The 2 teams lined up at the centre and Souto broke away with the ball, thankfully Carlos stopped him only to be backed up by the rest of his team, and finally the final bell went, 7 -6 to Polo Wicklow, who last won the cup in 2002.