Horses OK following mishap at polo field

The team of Clydesdale horses that pull a wagon at polo matches in Lakewood Ranch each Sunday will be back in action this weekend at the Sarasota Polo Club, following a mishap in which horses were spooked and broke away from the wagon itself.

Polo Club manager Rebecca Gutierrez said a leashed dog got away from its owner, spooking the horses after the game. The front two horses eventually broke away from the wagon, and polo players and others worked to calm and free the remaining two horses. Gutierrez called the incident “a freak accident,” and said all four horses involved are OK. No bystanders were injured.

“I seriously doubt it will ever happen again,” Gutierrez said. “The only thing that got damaged was the wagon itself. (The horses) are absolutely fine, except one has a one-inch cut on its shoulder.

“For a while, it got a little hairy but all of them are fine because of (owner/driver) George Alexander and they polo players who jumped in to help,” she said.

Gutierrez said the Polo Club is taking measures to prevent the incident from happening again.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].