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POLO
Five Questions for
Charlie Muldoon

Charlie Muldoon
Photo by David Lominska

By Lauren R. Giannini

Charlie Muldoon began playing as a professional in 1990 and achieved a six-goal ranking. In 2003 he turned semi-pro and dropped to
five goals, but he’s still all-Muldoon and progeny of Caroline and Big Joe, who brought high level polo to Potomac. His siblings are
Joe III and Mary, respective owners of Potomac Polo Club and Potomac Polo School.

Now he’s 38 and engaged to Mara Hagan who shares his passion for polo: "Mara’s a big-time trainer herself and has 10 horses playing for different people in the US Open this year."

For the 400th anniversary of Virginia, Charlie joined forces with Tareq Salahi to create a new charity match. The America’s Cup raised funds for Journey for the Cure on May 12 at Morven Park, Leesburg, VA.

Sidelines: What was it like growing up a Muldoon?

CM: You don’t let obstacles get in your way – whether it’s a broken bone, cancer or people saying you can’t do something. That was my dad: if you want to do it, you can do it. I’ll give you an example: my father and brother stopped our government from selling our ports to Dubai.

My sister Mary rode jumpers at the highest level. Me, my brothers and father played polo. My mother Caroline loved dressage. There we were, sitting next to Gabriel Donoso and Robert Dover at the barn. We learned how to ride every type of horse. My mother would say ‘you have to go school the jumpers or ride this young dressage horse or else you don’t get to go stick and ball.’ It was all about the horses. It was a lot of fun, and we had a great time.

Sidelines: What’s it like to survive your own greatest challenge?

CM: Back in 2000, March and April, I was playing high goal in Florida. I had a fall and thought I’d torn a muscle. Actually, it was a lymph node showing up on my collar bone. I spent that summer going through chemotherapy and radiation. Luckily I had a great prognosis at the end. I had a great season in 2001 – we won the Gold Cup. It was scary. I’ve broken my neck, broken most of the bones in my body, had major accidents and woke up in hospitals around the world. But when that doctor looks at you and tells you that you have cancer, there’s no feeling like it. Cancer kills people. If you go through treatment and you survive and it’s gone – well, you’re lucky. But there were many people sitting with me in that room taking chemo and they aren’t here today. Those are the people we’re doing the America’s Cup for – for them and for the next generation.

Sidelines: Did horses play a role during your treatment?

CM: I rode until my fianc`E9e Mara Hagan threatened that if the cancer wasn’t going to kill me, she was going to kill me. I rode sick and did everything. [Charlie laughs.] A lot of people came up to me and said ‘you gotta stop.’

I grew up in a family where you’d rather play hurt than not at all. So that was sort of what I was going through. I finally got the point and stopped playing at the end of June. I went through the rest of the chemo till September and did radiation through November. After that, I actually took two weeks off and started playing in January in Florida.

Sidelines: Do you have any favorite horses?

CM: I learned to play polo on Cocoa – a 12-hand pony from Arizona that my mother and father brought back to DC. I had a 36-inch mallet that Wicky El Effendi made for me and I played that pony two and three chukkers. He was fun to play because he spooked the other horses. When I went to the ball, I always knew I was getting it, because the other horses would run away from us.

I’d have to say Canella, Mariposa, and a mare named In Debt – she was my favorite because she put me in debt to have her. They were great because they had the biggest hearts. It didn’t matter if it was the second or even the third chukker they had to play. They were horses I could win games on, because they were really giving it everything they had, and I knew they were doing it for me.

Sidelines: Do you have advice for someone getting started in polo?

CM: Make sure you do it right. The biggest thing – if your budget allows you to buy two good horses, then buy two good horses. Don’t try to buy six. Do everything correct, safe, and make sure you’re having a good time. If you can’t have a good time in polo, you can’t have a good time anywhere.