Karen Polle might not be a household name yet – the appellation may not spontaneously spring to mind when thinking of the cream of the crop in the show jumping world – but give her time. Not everyone can claim to have jumped clear in their senior team debut, after all. In six years, she and her 14-year-old gelding With Wings have grown up together, progressing from low junior jumpers to winning five-star grand prix.
Born in Tokyo and raised in the United States, the 24-year-old holds dual citizenship and three years ago began competing for her mother’s homeland of Japan. Her breakout year came in 2015 with victory in the $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix, defeating a host of jumping’s elite, including 2017 World Cup winner McLain Ward. Last July, the Yale graduate became the first Japanese rider to score an international win at Spruce Meadows. After successfully clinching week nine’s grand prix qualifier/grand prix doubleheader at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, Karen headed to Europe for spring training with her coach, Rodrigo Pessoa. She returns to Calgary in June for the Spruce Meadows summer series, where she hopes to repeat and improve on her historic results of 2016 and keep that Japanese flag waving.
How did you get started with horses?
There was a really small barn near my family’s country house in New Jersey that we would pass by every weekend. One day, when I was seven, I said to my dad that I wanted to try riding and he organized a lesson for me the following weekend. I had absolutely no idea that show jumping even existed! I remember that for my first lesson, I didn’t have any boots with heels, so I wore shiny patent leather rainboots. I started taking lessons once a week, then twice a week, and it went from there to competing in equitation, junior hunters, and jumpers.
Can you identify a turning point in your career?
The most significant turning point for me was probably in 2010 when I won individual and team gold medals at the USEF National Junior Jumper Championships at Penn National. At that moment, I started to think that if I worked really hard, I could win more.
Were sacrifices made along the way?
Absolutely. Training and competing takes a lot of time and energy, and there’s a lot of travel involved. In high school and college, I missed quite a bit of school for horse shows, and I didn’t get to spend as much time at school and with my friends as I would have liked. My whole family is extremely supportive of me, and their schedules and plans have changed around countless times due to my training and competition schedule. They’ve sacrificed a lot for me. I know I’ve missed out on a lot of fun experiences, but in the end I wouldn’t change a thing. Because With Wings is a once-in-a-lifetime horse, I made a conscious choice to put my training and competing with him first whenever possible. All of my horses – not just Wings – have made my sacrifices completely worth it.
Life must be pretty hectic for you; what is a typical day like?
After finishing college in December, I’ve been able to ride pretty much every day, which has been really great. I usually start riding around eight a.m. I like to start early in general, and especially in Florida, where I try to beat the heat. I currently have three horses and they each get ridden six days a week. Depending on the time of year and their individual fitness programs, I may ride one or two of them again in the afternoon each day. After I’m done riding, I usually work a bit with my barn manager to discuss anything that needs to be organized for the horses. Then I go work out.
What do your workouts entail?
I usually work out four or five times a week and I do a mix of Pure Barre, Pilates, lifting weights, and yoga. It’s important for me to mix up how I work out so I don’t overdo it or get bored. Changing it up also helps target different aspects of my fitness. I generally eat pretty healthily, but I really like chocolate and I have to have some form of chocolate every day. Beauty-wise, I don’t do anything special, but I always, always wear sunscreen, even on cloudy days.
To reach the top in this sport you must be ultra-competitive by nature, but is there another ingredient that gives you an edge?
I think there are two. First, I never gave up (when I look back sometimes, I still find this very surprising, because I went through some really tough times in my riding) and second, my horses and I have a great team behind us that make all of this possible – my family, but also of course my barn manager, my trainer, our vets, our farrier … the list goes on!
How would your friends and family describe your character?
That’s really hard to answer … I think they would say that I work hard and that I’m determined. They know that I set high expectations for myself and that sometimes I can be pretty intense. I hope that they would say that I’m nice and caring, too!
If life hadn’t taken you where it has, what profession would you have pursued?
I would have done something in business. I would have liked to study business at school, but Yale doesn’t offer any business majors, so I majored in economics instead. I also really enjoy chemistry and biology, so a career in something science-related would have been interesting to me, too.
Where is your favourite place in the world?
That’s a tough question – either home in New York City or Tokyo.
Where would you most like to go that you haven’t been?
On an African safari.
Where did you last go on vacation?
My family goes on vacation every winter in Saint Martin in the Caribbean. This past year we went during Thanksgiving break.
What’s on your playlist?
Whatever is on the radio or on the top of the iTunes list. I tend to get sick of songs pretty quickly, so I like to constantly have new songs to listen to.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Cookie dough from Cookie Dough Café. It’s cookie dough that you can eat out of a jar. I like to add some extra chocolate chips. It’s delicious.
If you were having a dinner party and could choose four guests, living or dead, who would you invite?
Well, first we would need a chef, because I can’t cook! I like Italian, so maybe Mario Batali. My sister Erica has to come, and then I’d invite two friends. But if they couldn’t come, then I’d invite Sofia Vergara and Kerry Washington. Kerry Washington went to my high school.
Money or medals for Karen Polle?
Medals. What’s most important to me is the achievement that earned the money or the medals, and I think medals are a more concrete way of remembering your successes.
Do you have a burning ambition?
To be the best at something.
If you had a life lesson to share, what would it be?
Have fun and stress less.
If a genie were to grant you three wishes, what would you wish for?
Happiness, good health, and that Wings and I could compete together forever.
Fast Facts About Karen Polle
DOB: July 25, 1992
Hometown: New York City. Horses are stabled at Double H Farm in Ridgefield, CT.
Training bases: Wellington, FL (winter) and Brussels, BEL
Parents: Father, Gregg Polle, is an investment banker who met his wife, Hiroko, in Tokyo where they both worked for the same company.
Nickname: KP
Trained with: Ian Millar, Paul Schockemöhle, Mario Deslauriers, Todd Minikus, Scott Brash, Rodrigo Pessoa.
Top String: With Wings, 14-year-old Dutchbred gelding by Larino x L. Ronald
Achievements:
2015 – 1st Hampton Classic Grand Prix
2016 – 1st CIBC Cup Spruce Meadows
2017 – 1st $380,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix; 1st $130,000 WEF Challenge Cup Rnd 9; 3rd $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix
