19th Annual Event Highlights Colorado’s History & Horse Culture
June 26, 2023 (GLENWOOD
SPRINGS, Colo.) – History and tradition were alive and well at the Devereux
Polo Cup tournament earlier this month at the Stout Ranch south of New Castle,
Colorado. UC Ranch Properties™ – the premier ranch division of Kansas City,
Mo.-based United Country Real Estate – was one of the event’s two title
sponsors.
Featuring the largest
selection of ranch properties for sale, and a vast national network of experts
in ranch, farm and land real estate, UC Ranch Properties is all about the local ranch expertise of its members and
the broad national marketing reach for listed ranch properties.
At the polo
tournament, the brand’s team was well represented. It included Gary Hubbell,
managing broker of Hotchkiss-based United Country Real Estate | Colorado
Brokers & Auctioneers,
his wife Doris, their son Jake, agent Spencer Jordan and broker associate Dan
Vigeant. The elder Hubbell is also an Accredited Land Consultant (along with
Jake), auctioneer and UC Ranch Properties affiliate. He and his team of 11
agents sell ranches, farms, wineries/vineyards, hunting land, country estates,
and luxury homes across Western Colorado.
“Spencer Jordan
was the man who connected us with polo,” Hubbell said. “He is one of my agents,
and his father Leighton Jordan was instrumental in founding the Saratoga, N.Y.,
polo club and the Greenwich, Conn., polo club. Spencer invited us to a couple
of matches and we were hooked!”
Now in its 19th
year, the Devereux Polo Cup event represents a sport originally established by
Walter Devereux, who first came to Aspen in 1883. He built wealth through
several patents on smelting silver ore, and then turned his eye to Glenwood
Springs, 40 miles northwest of Aspen on the Roaring Fork River.
In 1885, Devereux
spent $125,000 to buy the land surrounding the world-famous hot springs in
Glenwood Springs. He built the Hot Springs Resort and the Hotel Colorado above
it, then brought electric power to the town with a hydro turbine from the
Colorado River. He needed a good manager to handle all these operations, so he
hired Hervey Lyle, an accomplished polo player. Devereux and Lyle founded the
Glenwood Polo and Racing Association, which hosted its first polo matches in
1890.
More than 130
years later, Garfield
County’s Stout Ranch has been the ideal location for the Devereux
Polo Cup. Ranch owner Barry Stout, a former professional polo player, is a passionate
advocate of the sport and has been a major force in honoring the polo tradition
in Western Colorado, Hubbell said. From a high mesa southwest of Glenwood
Springs, Barry Stout hosts the tournament each year.
Hubbell’s passion
for horses is well known. He and his wife Doris founded Marble, Colo.-based OutWest Guides, which provides top-quality horses for
guests to ride on day rides, summer pack trips into the Maroon Bells/Snowmass
Wilderness, and week-long elk and trophy mule deer hunts.
“At one point,
we were running 47 head of mountain horses,” Hubbell said. “We have owned
around 325 horses, including Quarter horses, paints, Arabians, draft crosses,
even thoroughbreds. We love them all. The idea of playing polo on horseback is
very appealing to us. And polo fans are the kind of people interested in the properties
we list and sell.”
This year’s Devereux
Polo Cup showcased a thrilling competition between the UC Ranch Properties team
and the Land Rover Roaring Fork team. The match was shortened by a sudden
thunderstorm that made the polo pitch wet and slippery, with the Land Rover USA
team in the lead. It turns out the weather dampened Hubbell’s hopes for a
victory.
“One of our
teammates, Santiago Torres, is a top U.S. polo player,” Hubbell said. “I wish
we could have played the final couple of chukkers. I think we could have won. We’re
already looking forward to next year … though I may have to take some lessons
with Barry!”
About UC
Ranch Properties & United Country | Colorado Brokers & Auctioneers
UC Ranch
Properties is the premier ranch division of United Country
Real Estate. The brand provides excellent representation, ranch knowledge, and hands-on
experience in local ranch markets across America. The division helps buyers and sellers in the acquisition,
development, and preservation of all types of legacy ranch properties, farms,
hunting land, luxury mountain estates and more. With more than 4,000 agents, the
nation’s largest group of ranch property experts, and a ranch support team some
500 strong, only UC Ranch Properties can offer this level of expertise and
support.
United Country | Colorado Brokers &
Auctioneers is
the local Roaring Fork Valley UC Ranch Properties affiliate, with agents across
the Western Slope in Loma, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Montrose, Delta,
Hotchkiss, Basalt, and Aspen. Through UC Ranch Properties, we’re dedicated to
preserving Western Colorado’s rich heritage while embracing the future of land
management and real estate.
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