Newton Learns Polo in Goodspeed

Even though singer Juice Newton leads a busy life strumming the guitar and singing countrified love songs, she saves as much time as possible for what she really enjoys--arena polo.

Arena polo is a rowdy, condensed version of the traditional, silver-and-pewter outdoor game. The game is chocked full of bashing and bumping.

Four months ago, at the insistence of friends at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, where she keeps two horses, the singer took up the game.

“It’s a physical sport,” Newton says. “When you’re riding a horse at 25 m.p.h., trying to guide the pony to the ball, it becomes a physical and mental challenge. It’s tough because horses aren’t that smart.”

Not to mention humans.

With six mallet-wielding riders on 1,200-pound horses galloping and hacking at the same ball on a dirt surface the size of a football field bordered by concrete walls, you’ve got to be a little crazy to play this game.

“When I’m out there,” Newton says, “I keep asking myself, ‘Can I really do this?’ But I’m not afraid to get hit with the ball or the mallet. If you can play other sports, you can play this.”

Newton has picked up the game quickly, partly because of her riding background and that she’s learned arena polo from one of the sports’ best players, Tom Goodspeed. Goodspeed, the general manager of the equestrian center, is a member of the Los Angeles Colts, a professional arena polo team.

“I went to a few of the professional games and that got me interested,” Newton says. “The action and the speed are the factors I really liked.”

As it turned out, it was Goodspeed the singer really liked. The two plan to marry in August.

“She’s very serious about the game,” Goodspeed says. “Within 90 days, she’s made as much progress as it normally takes students nine months.”

The equestrian center offers arena polo classes that feature lessons in riding, hitting and strategy. Each lesson costs $40, including equipment and use of a polo pony. Goodspeed says the school has about 40 students.

In addition, the center has club leagues. “We have close to 150 amateur players who play here,” Goodspeed says. “A lot of them go through our school. They’re supervised for about six months, then they go from there.”

Says Newton: “When people are exposed to the sport, they realize what an aggressive game it is. At first I wasn’t sure, but after I tried it the second time, I got hooked.”

And now, she’s getting hitched, too.