Amy Phillips Penn
Diosa: One Mare's Odyssey on the Planet Earth
The true adventure of a polo pony's journey from Florida to California, in search of a safe place to live. Her love of life culminates in a plea to protect our phenomenal planet.
Diosa is as close to black as the sun allows. She has been awarded a "Best playing Pony Award," at the prestigious Palm Beach International Polo Club in the women's tournament. The press loves Diosa. She has appeared in the Palm Beach Post, the Sun Sentinel, and of course in the New York Post's infamous Page Six, where all legendary women usually land.
Amy Phillips Penn is a former syndicated society columnist ( New York Post and Palm Beach Daily News.) She has contributed to CNN, national magazines and many equestrian and polo publications. She knows that Diosa can tell her own story better than she can.
They both hope that you will enjoy their journey.
Of course, I did it on purpose. Polo ponies know all the rules of the game, and we love to
win, win, win.
Coincidence, my tail.
Besides, there are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason.
Polo ponies get to travel all over the world. I’ve been to Argentina, Florida, (where I
won a Best Playing Pony Award at the Palm Beach International Women’s Tournament) and
California.
We moved from Florida because we went through too many hurricanes. A horse doesn’t
like to see the roof of her barn fl ying around her paddock, or watch her nice full water troughs
rolling faster than a high-fl ying yearling down the fi eld.
When we made plans to move to California, Th e Brave One, who is a very courageous
barn cat, wrapped herself around my leg because she knew something bad was coming. She
was right; it was another huge hurricane, but this time we got out in time and headed for Santa
Barbara, California.
Th e Brave One couldn’t come with us, because we were in such a hurry, but she’s okay in
Florida. I’m sorry she got soaked in the hurricane—cats just hate being wet. I’m sure she was sad
and scared to see our barn destroyed, but she isn’t called Th e Brave One for nothing.
I wish she could’ve come to Santa Barbara with us. She could have followed us into the
hills, through the lemon orchards, and onto the beach, where I got to swim with the dolphins.
When we play polo in Santa Barbara, the referee blows her whistle and tells the blue team
to go toward the ocean and the white team to go toward the mountains. Don’t you just love
California? It has everything—beaches, mountains, desert, snow, and it even has me. Everyone
loves Santa Barbara because it has one of the best climates all year-round, lots of sun, very little
humidity, and it rarely gets uncomfortably hot. Plus, for horses, it has a very short fl y season.
I really don’t like fl ies, and fl ies really do like me.
I love America. I’ve been lucky to see so much of it playing polo. Th at’s the fun part. Th e
part that I don’t like is running away from hurricanes and other scary weather. I love to run, run,
run, but not because I’m scared. I like to run because I’m happy.
We left Florida when we heard that another hurricane was coming. I’ve been through two
already and a horse can only take so much. We’re getting way too many hurricanes.
I know that everyone’s trying to take better care of the planet so that things don’t get any
worse, but I hope that they hurry. Horses are happier when they have people who love them,
brush them, pet them, and take care of them. Th en we can make people happier, because we
whinny when we see them. Th en they feel special, and we can go for long rides through beautiful places and explore the world together.
