J4 Lovers of the Horse 



POLO IN CANADA 



AXCIEXT a game as Polo is, it has not as yet taken what miglit be called a very 

 enijjliatic hold upon Canatla. It made its appearance in the West somewhere 

 around 1889, when some officers and young Englishmen took the game uj) and 

 established teams at High River and Calgary. (Iradually more teams were organized, 

 amono- them one each at Sheej) Creek. Cochrane and Pincher Creek, the advance guard 

 being usuallv voung Englishmen who had gone in for ranching. Before long Can- 

 adians took kindly to the game and at this time Alberta alone can boast fourteen strong 

 teams. 



Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, at present Commander of the Royal Canadian 

 Dragoons, was one of the earliest to exhibit a penchant for the game, and when, in 1900, 

 he found himself in Winni})eg, he at once proceeded to organize a club there. Unfor- 

 tunatelv, this clul) was not of long duration, but a couple of years ago another clul) was 

 formed in the Prairie City, and this year it is pro])osed to hold a tournament, if not on 

 as aml)itions a scale as the l)onspiel held in the winter annually, at any rate in a manner 

 more liberal, and even generous, than has characterized any tournament in Eastern 

 Canada. Teams are also to be found at Qu'Appelle, Indian Head, and one or two 

 dIIh r |.!;h(> in Manitoba. The Western clubs have held a tournament anmuUly since 

 the introduction of the gaTue. Xi'w l)lood is continually going in and. the country 

 being well adapted for the sport, young men of the territory soon acquit themselves 

 well and, as we have seen on several occasions, have rather the best of their friendly 

 rivals in Ontario and (^uei)ec. On several occasions teams from Alberta have visited 

 Toronto and Montreal and the high standard of play shown by them has greatly 

 helped the game in Eastern Canada. As regards ponies, the majority used are from 

 our own Northwest, and although some have been imported the native-born have 

 usually proved the l)('st. 



In 1901, Colonel Lessard, C. P.. then commanding the Royal CaTiadian Dragoons, 

 determined to organize a club in Toronto, and having a pronounced disposition to put 

 his ideas into practical and businesslike (^tfect, proceeded to the west in search of the 

 ref|uisite jXHiies. He returned with al)i)ut thirty, which were s])eedily taken u|> by 

 gentlemen who had l)een attracted liy the new game. As in all matters involving 

 equestrianism, the Hunt Club immediately fell in with the Colonel's views and formed, 

 if not a numerically strong branch, at least an association that made up in entiuisiasm 

 anv deficiencv in numbers. Mr. .1. Kerr Osborne became the liist President of the 

 Toronto Hunt Polo Club, and Colonel Lessard. Ca|)lain. 



In the same year Montreal organized a club, with Lieutenant-Colonel Meighen 

 as President and Doctors C. Simard and Mignault as strong suj)j)orters. Mr. Alfred 

 O. Peardmore was kind enough to present a cup for play between the Montreal and 

 'J'oronto Clubs. This comjjetition has taken place annually since 19()'2, Montreal 

 having won the trophy twice and Toronto four times. In 190;! the Toronto Club 

 oriranized an International Tournament, and presented a tronhv to be known as the 



