Polo is the oldest of all equestrian sports. It was first a training game for ancient cavalry units. It was a miniature battle to these warlike tribesmen. The original name of polo is “chogan”. From it’s Iranian origins in Persia in the 6th century BC, it spread to Constantinople, and then eastward through Afghanistan, China, Japan, and finally in to Tibet and India in the 13th century, where it flourished. The word “polo” comes from the Tibetan word “pulu”, the willow root from which polo balls were made of back then. The first published description of polo in the English language is in Sir Anthony Sherley’s book, ‘Relation of His Travels Into Persia’, written in 1613.

The original manuscript of this book is currently in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. The first European polo club was formed in 1859. Although the military introduced polo to Europe, it soon became popular with everyone from university players to the nobility. Polo arrived in America in 1876, as the first clubs were formed in New York. The United States Polo Association was founded in 1890 and standardized the set of American rules of play while polo clubs popped up all across the country, including in Texas.

Midland has played polo since this “tall city” was just a small, dusty cowtown called Midway. Here, polo has had a heavy cowboy influence. Its roots are firmly grounded in the sandy West Texas soil, and are planted by ranchers and oilmen. The individual responsible for bringing polo to Midland was Jay Floyd. When Floyd was a young man in the the early 1900’s, polo players from the east would frequently come through West Texas to buy polo pony prospects. Floyd was an excellent horseman and played polo on his Texas A&M collegiate team. Returning to Midland after graduating from college, Floyd set up a polo pony breeding program at his family’s ranch and his equine business soon flourished. A dry lakebed on the ranch served as the first polo field in this area. Other ranchers soon became interested in the sport.

Frank Cowden, having been bitten by the “polo bug” while attending New Mexico Military Institute, had played against the famous 7th Calvary team at Fort Bliss, TX returned to Midland and became an active member of the Midland Club. The group moved to the fairgrounds in 1938. In 1953, Carton Beal arrived from California with six head of top polo ponies. Beal joined together with Toby Hilliard, Gus White Sr. and Jr., and Jimmy Stimmel then formed the Midland – Lamesa Polo Club. In 1956, Midlanders Keith Somerville, Jimmy Ritchie, Cable Bruce Jr., Buddy Bade, Bill Ellis and Togo Julian joined the group. They called themselves the Midland Dusters.

In 1960, Hilliard, Ritchie, Stimmel and Beal along with Bobby Holt, Hap Sharp and George Landreth put up an arena north of town and started playing “indoor” or arena polo. By 1964 this group, along with Jim Hall, Ronnie Hissom, and Willie B Wilson, got together and founded the Midland Polo Club. In June of 1965 these founding members, under the driving leadership of George Landreth, started purchasing and planning the present facility. The Flying Galindo family consisting of Chango, Mario, Carlos and Hector came to the forefront in the 1980’s and put Midland on the map for producing high-goal players. Midland Polo Club also developed a respected reputation of being a facility to acquire outstanding polo ponies through the breeding and training efforts of world renowned 8-goaler, Bart Evans, BTA’s Straight Legs Ranch and Wilson Ranch.