AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – Michael and Andrea Groubert have been training polo horses at their Canfield farm for years and have sold the animals to buyers across the country.
The Grouberts have also presented benefit polo events throughout the region, although never in the Mahoning Valley.
That will change Aug. 2 when the United Way Polo Cup takes place at Chipper’s Practice Range, 2105 S. Canfield Niles Road (state Route 46) in Austintown.
The golf driving range will be turned into a polo ground that day to raise money for the charity. The Grouberts are assembling two teams for the match with players from several states. The family-friendly event will include food trucks, a bar and pregame activities.
Doors will open at noon, with the match at 2 p.m. A polo match typically takes between 90 minutes and two hours.
Tickets for the event are $25 (free for children under 10). Tents for eight people can be rented for $500. To learn more or buy tickets, click HERE.
Polo hasn’t been seen in the Valley for decades, Andrea Groubert said. She wants the United Way Polo Cup to become an annual event.
The fundraiser began to take shape over five years ago, when the Grouberts first approached the United Way. The Covid pandemic forced the cancellation of that attempt.
“We had done many benefits around northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania for various organizations over the years, and we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to do one in our own area?” Groubert said.
The couple, who owns Willowbrook Polo Farms on South Turner Road, not only train polo horses but also play the game.
“My husband has been playing for over 40 years,” Groubert said. “We travel to a winery in Virginia every weekend for matches. Thousands of people come to watch.”
The Canfield area is home to several horse farms, and Groubert said polo used to be played regularly in the Valley.
“The sport has been disbanded in this region for quite a while,” she said. “But in the 1970s and ’80s there were teams in Canfield, Poland and Salem.”
In polo, players on horseback use a mallet with a long handle to score by hitting a ball into a goal. The playing field is 300 yards long and 160 yards wide. There are four horses on each team. The referee is also on horseback.
For the Aug. 2 event, the playing field will be set up at the far end of the driving range. Spectators will park in the grass near the tee area and walk to the playing field.
The Grouberts are both Canfield natives who knew each other when they attended Canfield High School. Both grew up riding horses.
Today, both are also school teachers – Andrea in the United Local district and Mike in South Range.
They buy horses from several tracks – including Mahoning Valley Race Course, Thistledown, Bellterra, Presque Isle and Mountaineer – and train them at their farm.
Groubert explained how they got into the polo horse business.
“We had bought horses from the Austintown track but were not happy with some of them,” she said.
They put out feelers to see if anyone wanted to buy them for polo and found takers.
“Boom, a business was born,” Groubert said.
They are still buying horses for clients – some as far away as California – and training them to play the sport.
It takes about three years to train a horse to play polo.
Not every horse has the physical and mental attributes for the game, according to Groubert.
“The first thing we look for is personality,” she said. “They need to think quickly and react quickly because it’s like hockey on horseback. It’s fast, and there’s a lot of action. You have eight horses looking for a ball [that is 3¼ inches in diameter].”
A polo horse also has to be quiet and willing to learn.
“Some are afraid of the ball,” Groubert said. “When I get [a newly purchased horse] home, I’ll drop a ball at their feet and see if they jump away. If it does, it might not be suitable.”
In time, the animals actually learn the game and do not have to rely solely on the rider to guide it.
“The horse does see the ball and goes for it,” she said. “It learns the position. For instance, if I want to hit the ball that way, and my teammate behind me sees it, his horse will [also] see that and will change directions.
Pictured at top: Andrea Groubert, co-owner of Willowbrook Polo Farms in Canfield, at Chipper’s Practice Range in Austintown. A benefit polo match will be played at the range Aug. 2nd