September 22, 2025
Provided Image/Archer and Buchanan Architecture
The inaugural Philadelphia Polo Arena Championship will take place at the new McCausland Arena (rendering above) on Saturday.
Work to Ride, the Fairmount Park organization offering horseback riding and polo lessons to city kids, will celebrate the opening of its new arena this weekend with an inaugural competition.
The equestrian group raised $15 million to build the McCausland Arena, which includes a barn, indoor and outdoor competition spaces, pastures, a mezzanine and a tie area. That project was completed in June, and crews will finish work rehabbing the existing stables in the coming days.
The 45,000-square-foot space will allow for year-round programming and expand the number of youths that Work to Ride can support. Kareem Rosser, the executive vice president of Work to Ride, said the organization will also be able to rent out the space for horse shows and events as another form of income.
"It just really gives us the ability to just grow our impact and impact here in Philadelphia because we can now do things during the winter months and year-round," Rosser said. "But I think the exciting piece is for us, as a nonprofit, is being able to become a little bit more self-sufficient by generating new revenue streams in the new space."
To celebrate the opening of the facility, Work to Ride will host the Philadelphia Arena Polo Championship on Saturday from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. — a slight twist on its annual Polo Classic event. The Polo Championship will feature two matches of arena polo, which is played indoors, features a different ball and has three players per team compared with four for outdoor polo. Both matches are ticketed separately and proceeds support the organization's programming.
The competition will star current and former Work to Ride program players. During the event, attendees can also take tours of the new building and check out food trucks and vendors.
"It'll be a day where we can celebrate this huge milestone, that being the new facility, but it's also an opportunity for people to watch polo who never watched polo before," Rosser said.
The event temporarily replaces the annual Polo Classic, which is typically held outside at Edgley Field in September. Rosser said the organization was unable to put on two events at the same time while getting the facility open and opted to prioritize an indoor event this year in the new space. But he plans to bring back the Polo Classic in its full capacity next fall as part of the city's semiquincentennial celebration for America's 250th birthday.
He also plans to bring back the Polo Championship, although he said it might not be held in September again.
"We're hoping to make this an annual thing where folks continue to get to enjoy our event," Rosser said.
