Michel Dorignac: Polo in His Heart

If you follow polo, you have surely heard of Michel Dorignac — or you at least recognize the Dorignac name. 

“I come from a polo family,” says Michel.  “My dad’s family is quite big in polo.  It is like a dynasty family.”  

For two decades, in the 1970s and 1980s, his uncle was one of the best players in the world.  

The family had a farm outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. “I grew up riding because every weekend we would go to my family farm.”

In his father’s family, everyone played polo – except his father.

Michel credits his cousin, Pablo Dorignac, with introducing him to the sport.  Pablo encouraged his riding and taught him the game.  “That’s pretty much how it started, you know.” 

From the time he learned the sport, he says, he loved it.  “I had the passion right away.  I said, ‘This is what I want to do, I don’t care.’  But of course my mom always wanted me to finish school and do college.”[no indented lines here]

Michel loved polo from the start, but breaking into it wasn’t easy.  

“I played a little bit in high school and then in college.  I always wanted to travel with polo and become a polo player,” he says, “even though I didn’t have any support because my father didn’t play.”  

“It’s interesting,” he says, “because I have a polo background but with my father not playing or supporting me financially, I didn’t get any help from anybody.  I come from a good family, well-educated, but I kind of did it all on my own.”

Polo is an expensive sport for players.  A new horse plays in each of the 6 chukkers, or periods, of the game.  So every professional player needs 10-12 horses in order to compete.  

Michel is grateful for his two mentors:  the cousin who introduced him to the sport, and his first sponsor, who helped him get started.  These two important influences became goalposts for his career.

Michel made his first trip to the U.S. as he was finishing college in 2000.  He was invited to the Mashomack Polo Club in Pine Plains, NY, where he has been ever since.

“My first sponsor was Matthias Hermes.  I became very, very good friends with him, and he was a big help for me to get started.”  

Polo sponsors create the teams and are also players themselves.

“He was very important in my first years of my career and helped me to take off as a polo player.  If you don’t have your own horses to work, it is hard to get a job.”  Matthias Hermes lent him his horses until he could afford his own.

Michel has been playing professionally since then. Although he has passion for the sport – you could say it is in his heart, as well as in his blood – Michel did not know how difficult it would be to get started. 

“Maybe that was a good thing,” he laughs.

Polo players can have a long career if they stay healthy. At 45 years old, Michel is still competing. “I’m still going strong,” he says.  

Polo ponies also are in it for the long haul, playing until they are 18 or 20, with their prime years from ages 10-16.

Michel brings most of his horses from Argentina. His favorite is Leona, “lioness,” who came from Argentina 4 years ago.  “She is beautiful, smart, agile, has a good mouth, is fast,” he says. 

Now Michel is at the point in his career that he wants to give back to the sport. This winter, Michel and his friend Ciro created Polo United, to give lessons and bring new players into the game. “I love to teach and coach,” says Michel, “and to give something back to the sport.” 

Amateur sponsors were quitting and not having fun, so this is a way to include them and bring new players into the game. They teach all levels, from absolute beginners; lessons focus on how to ride, how to swing a mallet, and the rules of the game. The next polo clinic begins June 7 at the Greenwich Polo Club

Over the last 10-20 years, the sport has drawn more women. Michel says the clinics are typically 60% women, 40% men. Many teams are coed.

Unlike team sports, polo players are independent, hiring themselves out and creating their own tournament schedules. This summer, Michel will be based in Mashomack and may play in tournaments in the Hamptons and Greenwich, Conn. He plays year-round, competing at the National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida in the winters.

“Home is wherever polo takes you,” he says. Travelling can be hard for family life, so he is grateful for his supportive family.  Michel has played all around the world, but now he is based in the U.S

His oldest son, Milo, plays polo also. Get ready to watch the Dorignac dynasty continue.