Equine Entertainment on the Mall

Competitors Show Off Strength, Coordination on Horseback

Visitors contemplating the grave majesty of the Mall monuments yesterday found their attention diverted intermittently by a sound more suited to a racetrack: galloping hoofs.

Just south of the Lincoln Memorial, on a stretch of grass as long and twice as wide as a football field, were about 40 horse riders, there to show off their skills in relay races.

Tourists gathered to watch as riders on the old polo field tested such abilities as picking objects off the ground from horseback and vaulting onto a moving horse.

"We were just out enjoying Father's Day and happened on this," said Yvonne Howard of Temple Hills as her 2-year-old daughter, Elise, and husband, Michael, watched a race. "It's pretty rare and odd, " Michael Howard said.

Equestrian games on the Mall aren't as out of the ordinary as people might think. Polo was big there before World War II, when officers from Fort Myer would cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge on horseback. Even generals George S. Patton and George C. Marshall liked to play polo there. After the war, the field was moved from a spot closer to Hains Point to its current location, where the Potomac Polo Club played weekly until about three years ago, said Joe Muldoon Jr., a past president of the club.

Yesterday's event was the first on the Mall for Mounted Games Across America, a national nonprofit group dedicated to promoting relay competitions. Developed to train mounted members of the military, the competition tests riders on a range of skills, including strength, balance, agility, hand-to-eye coordination and control. In some of the 30 races, riders must lean over the horse while galloping to grab an object off the ground and hand it to another rider.

"The balance they have to play these games is phenomenal," said Diane Hickok of Upper Marlboro, a mother and aunt of participants. "They really don't even think about riding."

Hickok, who organized the event, said when she was a girl, she would ride her bike by the Mall and watch polo matches on the field. When she started looking for a place to host a tournament, she remembered the field as an ideal spot.

"It was so large, and it was so spacious and playing in front of the Washington Monument in the nation's capital is an incredible experience," Hickok said.

The riders range in age from 11 to 41, although most are in their late teens and early 20s. The majority of the teams are from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, but some traveled from as far as Kentucky and South Carolina to compete.

"It's cool to be here in Washington, D.C., but it is especially cool to be riding here with the Washington Monument in the background," said Jordan Gates, 15, who came from South Carolina to compete with the Pink Spiders team.

Besides the backdrop of the Washington Monument and the Potomac River, riders enjoyed another unusual perk: fans.

Riders who compete usually do so in smaller venues, and not many people come to watch.

"I like it because it is accessible, and people like to be on the Mall," said Brian Hale of Bethesda, who grew up watching horse races in Lexington, Ky., with his family. Over a Father's Day picnic of fruit salad and sandwiches, he was happy to be able to introduce his two children, both under 2, to the sport. "I wish they would have more, frankly."

The riders, most of whom were female, took the opportunity to talk to the kids who had gathered to watch and let them pet the horses.

"The ladies were very nice," said Michael Howard, whose daughter talked to the riders. "Even though they are in a competition, they wanted to explain and educate and let her have a great experience."