Valley Field Riding and Polo Club.

In 1929 the manager of new Westward Ho Hotel in Phoenix made arrangements with Captain H.A. Mosse's riding academy and stable in Phoenix for hotel guests to ride at the stable. This interest in riding and polo by local Phoenicians and visitors led to the creation of the Westward Ho Riding Club. It was incorporated as a stock bearing corporation on October 11, 1929 by Dr. S.I. Bloomhardt, Roland Haskell and Mosse with one hundred fifty memberships. The club field was located at what is now Missouri Avenue and 7th Street in Phoenix, and a club house known as "The Barn" was constructed in 1930. Amid organizational difficulties among stockholders, the name of the club was changed on December 27, 1932 to the Valley Field Riding and Polo Club, and it became a non profit corporation with no dividends. In the early 1930's the Club hosted the polo team, the Field Blues, as well as horse shows, tournaments and social gatherings for members. Rides over open desert trails frequently ended in suppers at the club house.

A fire on August 1, 1936 destroyed the "Barn" club house. Member Joseph Edward Thompson, brother of mining tycoon William Boyce Thompson, offered a donation of twenty-one acres of unimproved desert land six miles east of Phoenix near what is now Papago Park. An adobe club house was constructed in 1936, in 1938 a stable was added and later a caretakers cottage. Polo and equestrian grounds and a swimming pool were planned but never developed.

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