By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

A rainstorm Memorial Day weekend forced postponement of a polo demonstration in Hays to tomorrow, Saturday, July 11, at 7 p.m. the Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex, 1376 Old Hwy 40.

The Mariposa Polo Club in Liberal will stage an exhibition game east of the Fort Hays State University soccer complex. Admission is free and attendees should bring their own chairs.

The event was in connection with the “Polo on the Plains” exhibition at the Ellis County Historical Society in Hays, sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council as part of the Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition Hometown Teams.

The heritage of British livestock breeders in eastern Ellis County led to a taste for the sport of polo well into the 20th century.

According to ECHS Executive Director Don Westfall, the Hays Polo Club played at the Golden Belt Fairgrounds, where Fort Hays State University Lewis Field is now located.

His research showed the team also traveled, playing area teams in Fairport.

“I know when the Hays Polo Club went to play Fairport on one occasion, I guess they got there earlier than when they were expected…that’s why the cowboys were still working on the ranch with the Hays Polo Club got there,” Westfall said.

“So the cowboys had to get themselves together rather quickly–they just rode in from their work location. That was the game where they used pitchforks for mallets and gourds for balls because they had not really gotten all their equipment together yet.”

Westfall discovered the Hays Polo Club also traveled as far away as Tulsa, Oklahoma, for matches.

There are currently two polo teams in Kansas, Mariposa Polo Club in Liberal and the Fairfield Polo Club in Wichita.

Find out more about polo in Hays with Westfall and Mike Cooper of Community Connections.