Tiamo Hudspeth with Angie. The horse was recently sold to Agustin Arellano.
It’s a passion A love for horses guides polo horse trainer By Gwen Rizzo
T
hrough hard work and dedication, Tiamo Hudspeth has worked her way up from nothing to having a career as a talented polo player and respectable horse trainer
The old adage if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life doesn’t quite hold true for Tiamo Hudspeth. Horses and polo are her passion, but she has put in more hard work than most to create a successful career out of it. She says she got her work ethic from her mother, who also encouraged her to follow her passion. That passion developed at an early age while growing up in Maui, Hawaii. Her grandfather, who died before she was born, was a racehorse trainer so her mother had grown up around horses. It soon became apparent Tiamo had 36 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
inherited the horse gene. When she was 6, an aunt purchased a group of lessons for her as a Christmas gift, feeding that obsession. She continued to take lessons for a few years. When her parents divorced, her mom did everything she could to keep the lessons going but eventually, she just couldn’t afford it anymore. Her mom asked the trainer if there was a way to continue the lessons, but she was told it wasn’t possible. After a few weeks, the trainer called to say someone, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed to sponsor Tiamo fo two lessons a week,
summer camp and extra activities the barn offered. In return, Tiamo had to help out at the barn almost every day. “Yeah, it was amazing. I wish I knew who they were. I am so thankful,” said Hudspeth. The trainer took Tiamo under her wing. Even at such a young age, she had her helping saddle break horses and took her to hunter jumper shows. “They would be just like, hang on. I was so little, I feel like the horses didn’t even notice I was up there,” said Hudspeth. “That was pretty fun.” The trainer’s husband played polo so