Horse Wellington!

We've been coming to South Florida for years and never thought of any part of it as being horse country.  For us, being from the north east, New England has always been the place to find horses... until last month.

Out of the blue, for the last year or so, the town of Wellington Florida has come up several times in conversation. We had never heard of it before and never really thought about it.  It's less than an hour's drive away from our place but was never on our radar.

Then we found out that an old friend of ours from New York was starting to winter in Florida with her horse and when we asked where exactly she was staying she answered "Wellington of course!"

It turns out, this was the second winter that she and Napoleon (her Thoroughbred) were spending the winter down south. So that was it, the final straw....Wellington had come up too many times recently not to go check it out. And now we'd have our own personal tour guide to show us the highlights and give us the inside track on the place.

Well we were shocked. As we drove into the town, we noticed that even the city's 'welcome' sign boasted of it being an Equine Community. What?  In South Florida?

Not being horse people ourselves, it never dawned on us that horses could be snowbirds too. It seems that thousands of horses from all over North America winter in Florida just like we do. Snowbird horses, who would have thunk?


As we were shown around town by our personal guide, we marveled at the extent of its equine-ness.  Barns and ranches everywhere and not a Gap or or J.Crew to be seen. The only stores in this town are tack shops, saddle shops and riding clothes stores. If you think you've seen all of the gear in Ralph Lauren's Polo boutiques - nope, it's a whole new world.

The Polo Club and grounds are breathtaking, as large and impressive as Santa Barbara, but actually nicer. There are viewing and concession stands, and the week we went was the US Open, a yearly-held event attracting some of the top players around the US and on loan from around the world.

We spent as much time shaking our heads in disbelief that this exists in Florida as we did watching a quick chukker (these are the periods of the match, there are 6 in a match and each is only 7 minutes long).  The riders have to change horses after each chukker - it is fascinating to watch the riders quickly dismount, hand the reins of their horse off to a waiting groom, and grab the awaiting fresh horse, hop on and trot back onto the field.

It was crazy listening to the thundering of the horses hooves as they ran down the field towards us in an angry gang. Once we even had to get out of the way as the horses and riders galloped towards us - they can't exactly stop exactly at the border of the field, so much momentum!  Might be a good reason to buy a stadium seat next time.

We walked across the parking lot to the Equestrian side - well, we started to walk, but a passing golf cart stopped and gave us a lift, a courtesy even to a casual visitor. I felt a little guilty when the driver stopped the cart after about 30 seconds and announced we had arrived. The entrance sported a grand fountain, replete with cement horses "prancing" in the fountain.

There is a wide pedestrian path with riding rings on either side. On the right we saw the Hunter/Jumper rings - these are discerned by the bushes, shrubs and flowers placed at each jump, to replicate bushes, shrubs and flowers in the woods that one might encounter if riding through the countryside. Again, what is so impressive was that there are many of these arenas at Wellington, I don;t think these people have to wait very long for their turn at the ring - there are plenty to go around.

We kept walking, and on the left, as we walked over a bridge, was the main Jumping arena. There must have been 500 seats - that must be exciting to watch a high-level competition with so many spectators.

More tack and clothing shops dot the path, and soon you are standing among dozens of Jumper rings, these are easily identified because the posts and bars that comprise the jumps are bare - except for painted stripes and bright colors to help the riders tell one jump from the other in their planned path.
 

 The day we were there there they were having a competition, and we marveled at the skill these riders showed as they deftly managed these huge horses over these high jumps!

Our friend explained that some of these riders are teenagers, sent here by their parent's for the season to hone their skills, perhaps to land a spot on the Olympic team - they have tutors, apartments and hopefully, the advantage over less-fortunate riders who have to sit out the cold winter.  We would pass a horse, and as beautiful as it was, found it a little nutty to comprehend that this animal cost over $100,000 and double that for care and training over it's lifetime.

On a quick inside note, our friend let us in on a little scandal in Wellington - Dressage has been banned from the public rings and arenas. Dressage is the style of riding you might have seen that doesn't involve jumping, the rider wears a top hat and showcases the rider's skill in controlling and demonstrating the horse's different gaits in a smaller ring.

No one is sure why this style has been voted out of style by the Wellington powers-that-be, but perhaps they will invite them back soon - it's a beautiful sport to watch.  Our friend's horse is a former race horse, so it is amazing to see this powerful animal being controlled inch by inch, step by step, when deep down in his memory he has thundered down the track, seemingly uncontrolled.

We cannot urge you strongly enough to visit Wellington - if you ever use the West Palm Beach airport, it's only 10 minutes further west, on the same road.

As those in the know say: "Polo up!"