In Florida, old-guard horse-lovers and new-money developers are duking it out for the soul of Wellington
Reading Time: 11 minutes
In 1978, an elegant Chicago businessman named Bill Ylvisaker bought land in Wellington, Florida, then a sleepy little town 15 miles west of Palm Beach. A championship-winning polo player, Ylvisaker is credited with bringing polo and all its preppy glamour to the place. In the 80s, Prince Charles traveled to Wellington to play the sport of kings while Princess Diana cheered in the stands, and Estée Lauder and Joan Collins mingled at Ylvisaker’s Palm Beach Polo and Country Club. “Bill invited all of Hollywood,” says a longtime resident. “We had Zsa Zsa Gabor; we had all these wonderful actors.”
Into the 90s, Wellington managed to retain its air of exclusivity while becoming one of the most important destinations on the international horse-show circuit. The Winter Equestrian Festival—founded in 1979 by Gene Mische, another renowned horseman and the owner of Stadium Jumping—grew in popularity, earning Wellington the nickname “the winter equestrian capital of the world.”
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