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Maya It was late fall, 2004 and we were at our local Hunter/Jumper Association local awards banquet. We had been met there by Laura Chess, one of our boarders/ campers for many years. Laura was home for the weekend after spending the fall at Michigan University, where she was enrolled as a freshman. "I finally did it Amy," Laura began. " I freed up my summer plans so that I can work at camp" "Great!" I thought. Laura was always an asset. She was a hard worker, had a great sense of humor, many different camp type skills.....just the kind of person I look for when I am searching for Camp Counselors. "And," She began with a meaningful look to her stare, "I am bringing a new program to camp with me...........POLO!!!!" Polo? Polo? Surely Laura must be kidding. She knew our camp. Knew our horses. Knew our campers. Knew our program. The idea of 8 horses and riders galloping, turning, wheeling back and forth for an hour was not something that I would undertake or approve quickly. It could be dangerous, hard on your horses, gosh, I could think of a million reasons why Polo was not in our future. Laura worked on me slowly and over the following months she convinced me not only that Polo could be played and taught slowly and at a rate that would work for our program, she convinced me that Polo could be an exciting new asset to our Camp. Finally, Chris and I agreed to Polo being added as a new lesson for 2005 under one condition: Laura had to find me 4 free horses that could not only be used for her new horse heavy idea, but for general riding classes as well. Not only free, they needed to go home after the summer. Laura, to my amazement eagerly agreed. That was in February. By May I was on the road to Ann Arbor, MI to pick up not 4, but 5 free polo horses (well, at least 5 free horses) for the summer. The 5th came with a catch. She was definitely free, but she was not only for the summer, she was for life. That horse was Maya. As the only horse in the group that had actually PLAYED polo, I couldn't say no. Maya was born, raised and trained in Argentina specifically for Polo. In fact, up to her time coming to live at Cedar Lodge, Polo is all she had ever known. Sadly, as time has gone by, those quick gallops and turns have taken a toll on Maya's legs and she is no longer capable of competing in a polo match. Fortunate for her, Maya had owners that appreciated the gem they had, and would prefer to send Maya to Cedar Lodge where she can still lead a useful, productive, happy life, rather than selling her to somewhere that she may not be safe and/or happy. So Maya now lives at Cedar Lodge. She has a notched ear, that only she knows the story of and in fact, that is pretty much all we know about her. Besides being a very good beginner polo pony, she is a excellent beginner riding horse! In her short year at Cedar Lodge she has quickly become a favorite. I think it is safe to say that accepting Polo as a new Cedar Lodge Program was a win, win situation. Thanks Laura!