{"id":21017,"date":"2018-06-28T10:09:06","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T14:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=21017"},"modified":"2018-06-28T10:09:06","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T14:09:06","slug":"polo-for-heart-a-high-class-affair-with-charity-at-its-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/polo-for-heart-a-high-class-affair-with-charity-at-its-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPolo for Heart\u201d a high-class affair with charity at its centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte<\/strong><\/p>\n

One would find it easy to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of Polo for Heart, held at the Toronto Polo Club in Richmond Hill.
\nAfter all, the equestrian enthusiasts from across Southern Ontario who converge on the grounds annually for a weekend of high-fashion, fine food, and the sport of kings are among the area\u2019s elite: though at its core, the main focus of attendees and volunteers alike is charity.
\nIn fact, an incredible $6-million plus has been raised over the event\u2019s 39 years to help fund heart disease and stroke treatment and research.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s helped us do all kinds of innovative work,\u201d said Susan Mullin, President and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre, the recipient of the funds. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of \u2018world-firsts\u2019 at Southlake, thanks to Polo for Heart in part.\u201d
\nThe \u201cfirsts\u201d Mullin refers to includes the first surgery of a ventricle inserted through the arm, as well as the first electronic monitor for a heart implanted in North America.
\n\u201cThis is an organization that has supported us for years, and we\u2019re just thrilled to partner with them\u2026it\u2019s such a natural partnership.\u201d
\nHistorically dampened by bad weather conditions in recent years, this year\u2019s event went off without a hitch on Thursday evening, opening with the highly-anticipated Polo Under the Stars.
\nSaturday\u2019s agenda followed up with everything from a pair of intense polo matches, to a performance by the Canadian Cowgirls show team, to the traditional champagne divot stomp, where guests enter the field at halftime to smooth the field while enjoying a glass of bubbly.
\nThough Sunday\u2019s weather was deemed to treacherous for riders and guests alike to attend, the event still drew thousands of attendees between Thursday and Saturday, something Mullin said plays an important role in Southlake\u2019s participation.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the money,\u201d said Mullin. \u201cIt\u2019s about creating the awareness. \u201cSouthlake serves York Region, South Simcoe, and as far north as Muskoka for our cardiac programs, and we need to get that word out. It\u2019s about fundraising for us, but it\u2019s about community awareness raising as well, and that\u2019s key.\u201d
\nEvery seven minutes, someone in Canada dies from heart disease and stroke. An estimated 1.6 million more are living with the devastating effects of these diseases, while nine in ten Canadians have at least one risk factor, such as high blood pressure, obesity, tobacco use, lack of physical activity & diabetes.
\nOver 10,000 cardiac patients are treated at Southlake each year.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One would find it easy to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of Polo for Heart, held at the Toronto Polo Club in Richmond Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5,24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/2018-06-28-05.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5sZ","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 21:24:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}