April 2022 Issue

Page 20 April 2022 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN BLACK’S LIVESTOCK -The Next Pasture - Where the grass is always green, lush & stirrup high Individual Horse & Pet Cremation Standard Mortality 24 hour service available John E. Black: 610.220.5262 Matthew Hoffman: 610.656.3258 Office: 610.584.4482 Fax: 610.584.9111 BLACK’S LIVESTOCK P.O. Box 662 Skippack, PA 19472 www.nextpasture.com Email: eschfence@gmail.com - Fax: -- WHOLESALE & RETAIL Phone -- By Suanne Bush Polo. It’s not just for New- port anymore! Think polo and a cheesesteak, or polo and Rocky, or polo and the Reading Terminal Market. Think polo in Fairmount Park. The First Annual Phila- delphia Polo Classic will be held there on September 24, 2022. Save that date. “I’ve been dreaming of this day and this event for a very long time,” explained Kareem Rosser, a decorated polo player, an author, a financial analyst and a gradu- ate of Philadelphia’s legendary Work to Ride (WTR) program. “I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in other events around the world, but to be able to bring something like this to my own hometown and to be able to do it with an organiza- tion that changed my life; that means so much to me, it’s very special.” WTR is the iconic eques- trian program in Fairmount Park, founded in 1994 by Lezlie Hiner. The non-profit has been a lifeline for young people in Philadelphia’s under-resourced communities. The program offers young people—ages 7 to 18—riding lessons in exchange for their commitment to work Nacho Figueras, Councilman Curtis Jones and Kareem Rosser, along with two of the WTR polo ponies. “It almost brought tears to my eyes to walk into that barn,” Figueras said. It was his first visit to Philadelphia, after working with Rosser on various fund-raising efforts throughout the years. Photo credit: Suzanne Bush Move Over, Newport…Polo is Coming to Philadelphia! (i.e., shovel manure, among other important duties), to keep their school grades up and to return after graduating from the program to mentor other youngsters. At a March press confer- ence at Chamounix Equestrian Center—home of WTR—Ross- er and Nacho Figueras joined Hiner, City Councilman Curtis Jones and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell to announce details of the Polo Classic, which will raise money for WTR, and to celebrate WTR’s many success stories. Figueras is one of the world’s most accomplished polo players, in addition to being a model and actor. He is a longtime friend of Rosser and supporter of WTR. “I first met Kareem in 2006,” Figueras said. “I met him and a couple of the kids in the WTR program in Virgin- ia. Lezlie was there with her ‘children,’ being the wonder- ful person that she is, helping all these amazing children in Virginia watching us grownups play polo. It’s a moment I will never forget.” He and Rosser look at the Polo Classic as the beginning of a new chapter for both Philadelphia and WTR. “We set as our goal to play polo in the park in Philadelphia,” Figueras said. “We would love for the people of Philadelphia to get involved.” AMiracle on Chamounix Drive Commissioner Lovell praised WTR’s programs and its founder. “There’s no one like Lezlie Hiner,” she said, “we’re so grateful for what she has been able to do, this miracle that she has created here.” She noted that this will be the first time polo will be played in Fairmount Park. “It’s beyond our wildest dreams. When you know the organization behind it—this small, scrappy, incredible, extraordinary organization that has always punched above its (Continued on page 25)