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Sue Sal has touched so many lives with her zest for life, and love of the game. I know that everyone in polo has their favorite Sue Sal story. I heard about her long before I had the pleasure of meeting her, and she owns a very special spot in my heart. With her gentle guiding, and the protection of a mother hen, she lured me into my first tournament...and with gleaming faces, we stood together on the winners platform. To our delight, we repeated our triumph several more times that year. She was the "grass roots" of polo, and with her patience, and enthusiasm, she helped so many people become a part of the sport we all love so much. I cherish my rookie days in the loving care of our beloved Sue Sal, and am blessed to have known her. She will forever live on in our hearts, and in the retelling of her stories. You are loved, and Missed dearly. --Caroldean Ross When Joseph Campbell advised "Follow your bliss" he might have been describing the life of Sue Sally Hale. Here is a woman who knew what she wanted to do at an early age and never took her eye off the ball. Literally. And because she lived the life she loved to the fullest she had so much to give to others. Sue Sal loved to save lost souls--people, dogs, horses, even possums. She could take a tired, abused or frightened animal and put the light back in their eyes. She always had time to let one more person into her life. I count myself fortunate to have been one of those lost souls. Sue Sal was a part of my life for thirty years. She was my friend, my teacher, my mentor, and my adopted mom. She touched my life and changed it forever.What an amazing thing for one human being to do for another. Even more amazing is the fact that she did this for so many people. Sue Sal, we will miss you, but we will carry a part of you with us forever. Thank you. --Toya Erickson My Mother Sharon Mansker has been friends with Sal for 50yrs. I have known her all my life. She will be missed by so many people and animals alike. I was with her all day Sunday 04/27/03, getting a lesson on her Purple Pony, Sancho (Jumper). Her life was cut short, no where close to being finished with all she wanted to do. There is a HUGE whole in my heart that will never be filled. All I have to say is that Sue Sally Hale alwaysreminded us that polo is a game of PASSION not possesions. -- A. Evans Sal opened the door for myself as well as other women who dreamed of "playing with the guys". She had the balls to thrash it out with them long before they wanted women galloping alongside them on the field. Women's polo did take off in the 30's, but for those of us younger than that, who needed a woman to look up to on the field, it was Sal. She could be a cranky old bag-"aren't we all?"- but she played polo from her heart. Her passion was not just for the trophy, but rather the beauty, pureness, and majesty of the game. She "got" the energy exchanged between player and pony and tried throughout her career to pass on this love to her students-male and female. I will always respect and admire her and I thank her for making it a bit easier for my generation to hit the fields. Thank you Sal
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There have been many famous people in U.S history we all remember like Davey Crockett, Daniel Boone, Wyatt Earp and Sue Sally Hale. They were all the same in many ways. Davey Crockett went were no one had ever been. Sue Sal went where no woman had ever been, Sunday. Polo Daniel Boone would not walk away and the same with Sue Sal. She was not going away. She was one who made the last stand and was still standing. Like Mr. Earpm he did what he wanted to with a fast six gun and Sue Sal did what she wanted to with a fast horse and much the same because she wanted to. Sue Sally was the Grand Lady of polo and you guessed it, she wanted to be . She was and will always be one of the famous people in polo and history in California because she was Sue Sally Hale. She rode a Mule when others rode a horse and she kept a possum when others kept a cat. The one thing that proably 60% of the people in California polo have in common is somehow Sue Sally touched ther lives. She proably helped your groom, your patron or your pro sometime, somewhere , somehow. She may have helped you personaly, that was the way she was. She raised the best woman player in the World, her daughter Sunny Hale. Two weeks ago, in the lady's tournament at Eldorado Polo Club, she took her team to the trophy table. Her Team put a whipping on the other team and she did a lot of the work herself. Scoring goals, stealing the ball from K.B. and flying down the field, bandana flying and using one rein on a multi-colored horse and winning the way she wanted because she wanted to. Well now it will be a real test up there in the polo field in the sky. Big Gee will have to settle it all as Big Artie and Sue Sally must share the same field and the same line. So long Sue Sally. You will be forever be famous in polo history because we want you to be !! Our thoughts go out to her family and many, many friends .
-- Steve Crowder I at first thought I should not write anything because I have been so removed from polo for so long. Then I started to remember my start in polo on the East Coast in 1980, and how indebted I and every other woman who has played polo was to Sue Sal. She was definitely the trailblazer for all of us. Many have already mentioned her level of sportsmanship and her tenacity in the game. All of these attributes have benefited our acceptance and have allowed us to learn and compete alongside the "boys". I was fourteen when I met Sue Sal back at Rancho Point Lobos, CA in the mid '60's. She was always so positive, kind and generous to everyone she encountered. As I grew older, and Sal moved to Carmel Valley, I came to appreciate how she always made a place in her home for anyone who needed it...troubled kids, lost dogs, impossible horses and any other critter that needed healing, shelter and some TLC. A word to a woman who never believed in discrimination of any sort, If you would like to post a message about Sue Sally Hale on this Virtual Memorial please e-mail your submission to lynn@polobarn.com. |
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