NEWS

There is often a high turnover of horses in polo, with ponies staying in strings for only a few years before being sold on or switching hands. But sometimes when a partnership works, it works, and that has certainly been the case with Jared Zenni* and his flashy 14-year-old black mare Tormenta. Purchased from Gillian Johnston’s G-String breeding operation when she was just six years old, Zenni has owned the mare for eight years and she has helped take him from a fresh faced 1-goaler at 14, to a powerful 5-goaler at age 22. She has grown with him through the years, adapted to his changing needs as a professional player and is proof that teamwork makes the dream work. One of his first serious polo ponies, she remains a favorite in his string even now, when he is playing the highest level of polo in the United States—the U.S. Open Polo Championship®. A strong and powerful horse bred for polo by one of the top American high-goal breeding organizations, she is a champion on the field and a sweetheart off it. We spoke to Team USPA* member Zenni about his longtime favorite mare who has taken him from enthusiastic kid to a professional rising through the ranks to become one of America’s best.

What is Tormenta’s breeding?
“She was bred by Gillian Johnston and she’s out of Diana and by Truman. Her grandmother was called Prince Charles, she was a mare who Cacho Merlos tried to buy off Gillian to play in the Open, so she’s got really great blood. There are two or three sisters from Diana that are playing now with Coke. Truman is a stallion that Coke has been using for a while now, one of their main ones.”

How has she changed in the eight years that you have had her?
“She started off super chilled out and easy with this amazing mouth and so calm. Then a couple of years after I got her she became a little stronger and started running more and had more power. She just came in to her own. G-String bred her, broke her and trained her, but some green horses take a little longer to really mature. I think they tried her, to see what she was going to be like, and maybe because at the time she wasn’t running so much, they thought that it would be best to sell her and put some more focus on another one—I got lucky and picked up a machine! I think the biggest part of what helped her get to the next level was figuring out how she performs best. I usually try to have her a little on the lighter side, weight wise. She’s a big powerful horse and if she’s too heavy she can get a little slow, but if she feels light and has air in her lungs, she feels a lot more agile and I find she goes a lot better.”

What are her strengths?
“If I have to choose a couple best qualities in a horse it would be power and a good mouth and she has both of them. She’s super fast and she goes really firm to the plays. She’s tough to move once she’s committed, so if you have a 50/50 play or you’re losing the play she’s one of those mares that will help you win it. She can run past even if the person thinks they have you beat.”

What makes her stand out from the others in your string?
“She’s probably one of the fastest in my string, certainly top three. But the best thing about her is when you have a play that you think you’ve lost, and just when the other guy thinks he’s beaten you she’ll suddenly turn on the power and take over—those are the kind of horses that I really like. I have a few, but with her speed and her heart she wins a lot of plays and once you have someone beat there’s no way they’ll run around you! She has so much heart and she’s so tough in the ride off. I mean, she’ll go through a brick wall for me if I ask her! She’s always been one of the best in my string and she still is one of my best.”

How do you feel when you’re playing her?
“Whenever I get on her I feel like I play better. I have a lot of confidence on her because I’ve been playing her forever. I’ve had her for eight years so I always know what she’s going to do and how she’s going to play and she knows what I’m going to do. We just know each other really well which I think makes for a great team.”

Where on the field is she in her element?
“Although I play wherever the team wants me, lately I’ve been playing more at the back. The type of horses I like for that position are the ones that are really firm and that go really hard so that people can’t get through you easily. Also at back you need horses that have good lateral movement at speed so that if someone hits a back you can get to it quickly and she’s perfect for it.”

How has she been going this season?
“She’s going really well at the moment. She’s actually having one of her best seasons. I usually play her in the second chukker, and then she comes back in the fifth or sixth, or maybe as a spare. She’s been playing three minutes in two chukkers all season."

Have you won any awards with her?
“She hasn’t won anything yet and I feel bad because she deserves it and I’ve never managed to get her Best Playing Pony.”

What is her temperament like?
“When the guys are tacking her up she’s always trying to bite them. I guess she knows what’s going on and she can get a bit sassy, but she’s had the same stall since I first got her because my groom loves her and always puts her in the first stall. Once you get on her she’s so calm. You can push her to 100% and play her full speed and then when you stop she’ll just stand and not move.”

What are your plans for her future?
“My plan for her in the next year or two is to take her to Argentina. I really want to play her in the Classification Tournament** or maybe in the Cámara de Diputados Cup. I also want to take some embryos*** from her in order to breed her while she’s still playing.”

Do you have a favorite playing memory on her?
“A few years back I was playing the 14-goal in Kentucky. It was the finals of the Crab Orchard Invitational. Tormenta had played the first and fourth chukker and was a spare for the sixth. We were up by one with a minute and a half left and we had a 60-yard penalty. I went and got her to hit the penalty and hit it high and down the middle for the win!"

*Jared Zenni is a member of Team USPA. Team USPA is a USPA program designed to enhance and grow the sport of polo in the United States by identifying young, talented American players and providing mentored training and playing opportunities leading to a pool of higher rated amateur and pro players and the resultant giveback to the sport of polo.

**The Tournament that determines who plays in the Hurlingham Open and Argentine Open.

***Embryo transfer refers to a process of assisted reproduction in which embryos are placed in a surrogate mare in order to breed top horses while they are still competing.