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back on his horse and rode back to the finish line, robe billowing
behind him. Meanwhile Dr. Boeseke continued to struggle into a
pair of pink pantalettes and a skirt of Kelly green.
Then came a polo match that caused quite a ripple of
excitement. The women’s team made its first appearance in a mixed
polo period. Miss Dorothy Tweedy, Miss Ruth Peabody, Charles
Dabney and E.J. Boeseke, Jr. formed the Red Team. Miss Katherine
Harvey, Miss Lorna Tweedy, Graham Miles, and Frederick W.
Leadbetter formed the Blue.
The
Morning Press
reported, “The feminine poloists showed
excellent horsemanship, skill, and courage and will in all probability
play an important part in polo during the coming season.”
America’s entry into World War I saw a commensurate
reduction in polo activities as the nation turned its attention to
more pressing matters. In spring 1919 there began a slow return to
normal.
A few years after the Bartlett Field opened, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert C. Cox
purchased a portion of the former San Leandro Ranch. Cox was an avid horseman
and was said to own the largest training rink in Canada. He laid out and seeded a
polo field on his land in 1923, which was purchased by E.J. Boeseke, Jr. in 1925.
The ranch was now called Ennisbrook, and Boeseke added stables containing 150
stalls as well as housing for hired hands. Later, Boeseke sold to a private syndicate,
which leased the fields to the Santa Barbara Polo Club.
Fleischmann’s Field
Arriving by private rail car in 1911, Max C. Fleischmann, the yeast mogul,
showed up in Santa Barbara with a string of polo ponies for a competition at the
Santa Barbara Polo Club. Liking what he saw, he decided to establish a residence
here, but World War I intervened. After the war he continued to visit Santa
Barbara and play in polo matches. In 1919, he purchased 23 acres off Lambert
Road in Carpinteria where he established
Edgewood.
He continued to add acreage
to his estate until he had enough land for a small shooting range, a 6-acre corral of
wild deer, and a practice polo field.
Determined to add his name to the growing number of polo fields in Santa
Barbara, he purchased land near Serena and began construction of his own field
and country club headquarters in 1923. A newspaper of the day said that polo was
faltering in Santa Barbara because of inadequate facilities for ponies, grooms, and
players. Fleischmann hoped to elevate these facilities and improve the image of
local polo.
(left) Players and ponies use matching blankets (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
(above) Mallets and man taking a break from the action on Fleischmann Field (Courtesy
Santa Barbara Historical Museum)