June/July 2023 Issue

Page 22 June/July 2023 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN The Philadelphia Polo Classic, benefiting the Work to Ride program, returns to Fair- mount Park on September 23rd, 2023. The PPC will feature various activities, from luxury experiences to family-friend- ly fun. Watch America's #1 ranked polo player Nic Roldan, world-renowned polo dignitary Nacho Figueras, and Work to Ride's very own Kareem Ross- er face off for a championship title in an event like no other in Philadelphia! For more information and ticketing options visit www. philadelphiapoloclassic.org . Can't attend? You can still support the Work to Ride through a donation to the program. The WTR program is free to low-income, inner-city youth of Philadelphia. Keeping horses and associated costs places a large burden on their budget and fund-raising efforts. It is through generous donations that Work to Ride has been able to continue operations for almost 30 years. Your donation will make a difference. Visit www.worktoride.net to make a donation. Work to Ride Graduates Head to Harvard, North Texas Polo Teams students he’ll be competing with for slots on the team. “I’ll have to work for my spot, but I’m ready.” Perren is a second-genera- tion member of the WTR family. Her father played polo there and introduced her and her brothers to the horses at Chamounix. “We would come up here a lot and they (her brothers) were just not interested,” she says. “But for me, I saw horses as so much bigger than me, so much more powerful, and majestic. But they’re gentle. I feel like if your horse loves you, he will take care of you. So, to be around something that I can put a lot of love into and get a lot back, is like, it’s special to me.” Horses and polo provide a special connection to her father, she says. “We recently had our little scrim- mage—one on one. It was great.” The Road Ahead Both Perren and Gravesande are leaving their comfort zones to start the next chapter of their lives. They’re approaching the future with characteristic opti- mism. But there are nerves, too, as Perren says, about fitting in with a new team. “I was scared at first, because it’s (Harvard) such a prestigious school. I don’t know these girls and I was afraid it was going to be…mean. But from meeting them and just clicking with them instantly, we’re going to be like a sisterhood.” Gravesande agrees. “At first, I was very nervous, but there can be like a type of brotherhood between us. I’ll be far away from the people I grew up with and I’ll have to get to know them.” He says that he has already met several of the players at UNT and “we’re already friends. What makes a good team is friendship.” After college, both want to keep polo in their lives. “For my future, I’m still in and out about what I want to do,” Gravesande says, “but my hope is to get more connections in the polo world.” He is planning to major in Com- munications and minor in Film. Perren wants to be a po- lo-playing veterinarian. “I want to continue to play in college,” she says, and will be part of Harvard’s varsity team. “I want to play all my four years and then into my adulthood. Because I’ve found something that I love. Polo is something that I don’t mind wak- ing up every day and going to do.” Even as they graduate from WTR and head for college, they remain committed to the program, the people, and the mission of WTR. They’re hoping the new are- na and all the capital improvements planned for Chamounix will bring even more kids into the equestrian world. “I hope it brings in a new wave of people that look like us, able to carry on with what we’ve been doing and bring it more life than it already has,” Perren says. Inspired and Inspiring Lezlie Hiner’s vision of a safe place for kids to work and learn and ride horses and have big dreams has proved to be a life changer, a beacon of hope and a blueprint. “I started this later than Mo,” Perren says. “Watching him play—having somebody you can look to—it pushes you even hard- er. You can go as far as you want, depending on how much work you’re willing to put in.” “I agree with Alyssa, that it’s all about your mindset, too. If you’re in the mindset that says, ‘I’m stuck here and there’s nothing I can do,’ then that’s what it’s going to be. When you have a mindset like Alyssa’s and you have all these opportunities you can take advantage of, that’s when you know you’re on the road to success. You’re actually trying to do something to make a change.” “I decided within myself, no- body else could help you on this journey. It has to be something you want for yourself,” Perren says. Her advice to a younger kid—perhaps to a younger ver- sion of herself or Gravesande, is to be consistent. “Determine what it is that you want for yourself and don’t back down from it. Put in the hard work, and the rest will come to you naturally.” Gravesande says he was inspired by the older kids who mentored him when he first start- ed riding. “Even though they were hard on me, when I saw their skill levels, I wanted to be like that,” he says. “And the fact that when I would scrimmage with them, they would not take it easy. Sometimes I wouldn’t even touch the ball, but that’s what made me work harder and really try to push, because they didn’t just sit and say ‘Oh, let him score.’” “I say all the time that my inspiration is my dad,” Perren says. “And coming here, my peers inspire me a lot. Looking at riders like Shariah (Harris, a WTR and Cornell graduate) and Mo, they inspire me to be better. You think ‘I can do this, and I can bring some- thing special to the table myself.’” There’s an African proverb that says, “until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” In the world of polo, there have been few non-white players. The accepted rationale for that fact has been that the sport appealed to people who could afford the ponies, the equipment, the training, etc. And so, every story about polo looked pretty much the same. But the woman who started WTR saw something different. She saw that young people in areas of Philadel- phia that have been underfunded were as mesmerized by horses as kids in suburban Philadelphia. They had the desire, the capac- ity, the courage and everything but the horses. So, Lezlie Hiner carved a path, opened the barn doors, and inspired kids from the city to see life differently. (Continued from page 1) Support Work to Ride