Durham Charity Polo Ball 2025/6

The Durham Charity Polo Ball: A Winter’s Tale

31^st January, 2026

On the 31^st of January 2026, members of Durham University Polo Club shed their muddy polo boots for heels and polished Oxfords; quite literally for those participating in pre-ball chukkas only hours before.

Joined at Wynyard Hall by members of university polo clubs such as Edinburgh, Oxford, UCL, Nottingham, and Exeter, the evening began with a welcome drink and meeting the evening’s most esteemed guests: the ponies. Fabio and Vanesa travelled up from Dart Polo Club in Lincolnshire, our home turf, to greet all guests outside the Hall. It is difficult to imagine a more fitting way to celebrate Durham Polo than with the ponies themselves, who have always been the centre of our Club; from bearing with us as we learn how to hold a mallet, to running off with us as we get too confident.

This year’s theme, A Winter’s Tale, is quite obviously inspired by Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The play begins in tragedy and is resolved in comedy, as marked by the seasons. Guests were welcomed to incorporate the theme into their dress, such as wearing a sprig of holly or evergreen, and order of the evening cards were included within menus that set out the night in acts. I was also inspired by a watercolour illustration from artist Niroot Puttapipat (Himmapaan) depicting Act V, Scene III; which led to most of the social media design and inviting a live portrait artist to Wynyard for the night. GirlUponTyne Illustration was able to paint guests in watercolour, providing a beautiful keepsake.

Of course, we couldn’t help but remind our guests that they were indeed at a polo ball…

Stirrups were table numbers, and the staff at Wynyard found a statue of a horse in one of their private rooms that they kindly let us use as our entrance hall display.

The evening continued over a long candlelit dinner. With 300 guests in total there was a lot of catching up to do between familiar faces and alumni. After a small microphone issue… this was then followed by a speech on the Club’s ‘year so far’ from 2025/6 Club President, Amy Bell, and a note on the charity from myself. The beneficiary of our raffle and auction was the Household Cavalry Foundation.

To many, the Household Cavalry is immediately recognisable through its ceremonial presence in central London; their routines are watched by millions of visitors to London every year. But they are not just a ceremonial unit; they have fought in most of the British Army’s major campaigns or peace-keeping missions throughout their history, adapting continuously to the demands of warfare, whether mounted or armoured, from the Napoleonic wars to the Gulf. The charity supports its serving soldiers, veterans, their families, and of course, the welfare and retirement of their horses - who remain central to the regiment’s identity.

These horses, known as ‘Cavalry Blacks’, have shown fortitude and bravery every bit as heroic as that of The Household Cavalrymen who rode them. Many thousands lost their lives; of 550 horses sent to fight in the Boer War, ‘Freddy’ was the only one to return to Windsor. Today the days of mounted warfare are behind us, but the horses still mount guard in London, and play their part at the very heart of many British ceremonies and traditions.

The Foundation also supports the regiment’s people at a time of profound change. The military life is changing rapidly, and a lack of soldiers (most dire I am told by Giles Stibbe, Director of the charity, since Autumn 1914) and horses, and the practical realities of maintaining both, has led to fundamental changes in how the Household Cavalry functions.

By supporting the Household Cavalry Foundation, we helped to ensure that those who give their working lives in service, both soldier and horse, are supported with dignity, care, and respect, even after their active duty has ended.

I am really pleased to write that the raffle and auction raised over £4,800 for the Household Cavalry Foundation. Thank you to our wonderful guests and sponsors for supporting it so generously.

Highlights from the raffle and auction include:

3 Mallets from Emita Polo

2 Tickets to Polo in the Park

A Framed Copy of ‘Polo I’ Watercolour by Brazilian Artist Daniel Bota

A Voucher for Any Pair of Dubarry of Ireland Boots

A 6L Bottle of Whispering Angel

A Pair of Hermes Stirrup Irons

A Signed Copy of Polo by Jilly Cooper

A Private Polo Lesson with Women’s 2-Goal Pro, Danielle Blackwood, from Dart Polo Club

A 1-Night Stay and Breakfast for 2 at Gisborough Hall Hotel

A 3-Night Stay for 2 at The Frontline Club, London, Paddington

And of course…

A Date with the heavily sought-after 2025/6 Club Captain, James Dunford: starting bid 75p.

As is traditional, after the auction, the evening became rather less civilised. The band drew guests onto the dance floor with a highlight rendition of ‘What’s New Scooby Doo?’ before the DJ carried celebrations into the night. Candles were taken from tables to replace phone-torch-waves, resulting in a rather beautiful scene for the early hours; something at first worrying to my carefully thought-out evening plan, but reminding me of the wonderfully unpredictable vivacity of students.

The Winter’s Tale is an exploration of jealousy, forgiveness, and rebirth. Perhaps fittingly, the Polo Ball is its own kind of annual renewal; bringing together beginners and experienced players, friends old and new, and everyone else kind enough to celebrate university polo with us. University really is one of the only affordable times to get involved with this sport.

Unfortunately, the spirit of rebirth did not quite extend to changing Durham's luck at SUPA Winter Nationals 2 weeks later, where DUPC suffered a rather more tragic ending podium-wise.

The evening ended, as the best celebrations often do, with little thought for the time, but for me, with much thought on a mysterious number of missing stirrups and rather fewer candles than we started with.

Beatrice Lockhart Smith

Ball Chair 2025/6