Horses and Polo in Their DNA
By Susan Duffy

Members of Wine Country Polo and northern California polo aficionados are very familiar with Richard Mansfield as a fierce competitor on the field and a congenial and self-effacing individual off it. What you may not know is that polo and horses were part of his family for generations. His grandfather, William S. Tevis, was recently inducted into the polo Hall of Fame and is credited with “keeping the sport alive in California in its difficult rebuilding years.” He played with statesmen, stars and nobility and was influential in the development of polo clubs throughout the state.


“Willie” Tevis was born in 1891. His paternal grandfather was Lloyd Tevis, one of the founders of the Pony Express. When Willie’s family moved to Burlingame their ranch had eighteen stables with stalls for eight horses in each. He loved horses and in 1922 published a definitive primer of horsemanship entitled The Horse that is still available today. The front photo in the book shows an exuberant young Tevis jumping no-hands, no bridle, no saddle.

Tevis served in both world wars and during this time interest in polo in the United States waned. Credited with the revival of the sport are Joe Rizzo and Phil Iglehart in New York, Pete Bostwick in South Carolina, Stewart Iglehart in Florida and Willie Tevis in California. Tevis helped establish the Eldorado Polo Club in 1957 in southern California and served as the President of the San Francisco Polo Club for 56 years. He played with teams throughout California; Pebble Beach, San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs.

The Polo Player’s edition credits him with getting teams from Great Britain, Mexico and Costa Rica to play in California in the post war years. He was a team member with many of the legends of US polo. In 1929, he along with George Moore, W. Averill Harriman, Tommy Hitchcock, won the Pacific Coast Open Championship.


Will Rogers was known to stop by to visit Tevis and in his DailyTelegrams v. 4 refers to him as the “iron man of the age for his horse racing and endurance feats.”

According to the 2014 President’s message of the Tevis Cup; “In 1923 Will Tevis in San Francisco, using four polo ponies in relays rode 200 miles over a measured track in 10 hours, 3 ¼ minutes to establish with official timing probably the fastest riding time in history for that distance.” Tevis’ interest in endurance riding resulted in the establishment of the Tevis Cup in 1954 which he named for his grandfather, Lloyd Tevis. The Tevis Cup trophy is awarded to the person who completes the 100-Mile One-Day course in the shortest amount of time and whose horse is in sound condition and "fit to continue." The Tevis cup was first awarded in 1959. Coincidently, the first person ever to win the Tevis Cup was Nick Mansfield, Richard Mansfield’s paternal grandfather.

In 1940 Tevis purchased 2,500 acres of land between Bolinas and Olema on the Pt. Reyes peninsula called Lake Ranch growing it to more than 4,000 acres. He incorporated Lake Ranch and some other peninsula properties to form the Tevis Land and Livestock Company, which operated the property as cattle range during the 1940s and 1950s. Here too he had a polo field. The property is now part of the Golden Gate Recreation area.

In later years he travelled to Palm Desert, and according to many, helped to make it the “polo capital of the Western world.” His friends and associates fittingly dubbed him “Mr. Polo.” He retired to San Francisco where he died in September 1979.

In 2014 William S. “Willie” Tevis, Jr. was nominated for and received the Posthumous Inglechart Award. At the awards ceremony in Feb. 2014, in which he was inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame, his contributions to the sport were outlined. The trophy reads:

William Tevis dubbed, the “Iron man of California”. Born in 1891, “Willie” was a colorful character who played polo for over sixty years, reached a respectable 6 goal handicap and was an active proponent in keeping the sport alive in California in its rebuilding years. Highly regarded for his superb skills as a horseman, he helped launch the famous 100 mile endurance ride known as the “Tevis Cup". Richard accepted the award on behalf of his family.

So next time you are watching one of the polo matches in northern California and Richard Mansfield is skillfully maneuvering horse and ball on the field, remember that Willie Tevis is watching his grandson with love and pride, and cheering him on.