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“A penny and a kiss”
The Story of La Fortuna
by Erin Gilmore | Sidelines Magazine, April 2011

Polo ponies with freakish natural talent tend to be hot blooded, sensitive and generally unsafe for small children, so it's a rare horse that can come off the field from a high goal polo game to babysit a 6-year-old. But in addition to being a high-goal superstar, Tommy Wayman's placid, intelligent La Fortuna was the keeper of a young girl's heart. And when he was inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame on February 18, 2011, La Fortuna's story became a polo classic....

Swingtime Finds His Calling
by Erin Gilmore | Sidelines Magazine, November 2010

The flashy bay jumper was turning into one of those “problem” horses. It wasn’t his fault; he was athletic and careful, and bred to jump to grand prix heights. But he too easily turned the corner from careful, to tense and worried, making for a complicated ride that bordered on unsafe.

Luckily for the horse formerly known as Timeless, Alicia Jonsson-Foster was in his corner. The California-based grand prix rider imported Timeless, (barn name Aiden) from Europe as a 7-year-old. A World Cup Finals veteran and active grand prix rider, she watched the then-stallion clear solid 1.60m fences in Europe, and was impressed with his show record as a young horse...

Winner of the 2010 Price Child Health & Welfare Journalism Award

A Fathers Quest
The case of Arianas Campos-Reese and his son Tyberius illustrates what's wrong with family court.
by Erin Gilmore | The East Bay Express, January 13, 2010

On October 10, 2009, the mother of Tyberius Campos-Reese was arrested for prostitution in Hayward. Four days later, his father, Arianas Campos-Reese, filed for sole legal and physical custody of Tyberius. But the court denied his request on the very next day, and on October 16 Arianas was forced to return three-year-old Tyberius to his mother's care, a weekly exchange that can now happen only at the Hayward police station...

A Park Grows in Richmond
How one dedicated woman is trying to improve life in a tough city, playground by playground.
by Erin Gilmore | The East Bay Express, June 9, 2009

Bitch bitch I ♥--%$#@ — hot bitch" is scrawled in white spray paint on the jungle gym at Richmond's Elm Playlot. Used condoms and empty gin bottles lie beneath a slide, and two swings are frayed from canine tooth marks. The jungle gym is a sad focal point of the playground's current role: as a gathering spot for pit bulls, drug dealers, and junkies...

Arabian Dressage Horse Ta’ez+//
by Erin Gilmore | Sidelines Magazine, February 2009

“It’s not that they can’t do it, it’s that no one thinks to ask them to try.” Over 19 years ago, when Carol Di Maggio bred her Arabian mare Seranado, she didn’t have a specific plan for the foal that would be born 10 months later. She certainly didn’t plan on watching that foal become a Grand Prix dressage horse. But when she asked her horse to try, and then try a little more, that’s exactly what she ended up with...

Where Are They Now?
Podger el-Effendi
by Erin Gilmore | Sidelines Magazine, November 2008

Flying falcons in an airborne form of bird abatement is quite an unusual way to spend ones retirement. However, for retired polo pro Podger el-Effendi, a life doing just that is as good as it gets. The native Pakistani retired from professional polo in 1999 as an 8-goaler and the highest rated Pakistani player, but his life continues to orbit around fast and beautiful animals...

Tragedy on the French Trail
A fatal accident at Redwood Regional Park highlights aperceived increase in run-ins between dogs and horses.
by Erin Gilmore | The East Bay Express, July 2008

When warm temperatures and sunny skies made March 22 a perfect day for a trail ride, 74-year-old horseman Ed Rorke saddled up his Thoroughbred gelding Tara. Rorke had owned Tara for most of the horse's 24 years, and both horse and rider were intimately familiar with the hillside trails near Oakland's Piedmont Stables. Halfway through their one- to two-hour ride, as they navigated the steep and narrow French Trail in Redwood Regional Park, Rorke and his horse encountered a pair of hikers and their four dogs. Tara pricked his ears at the oncoming dogs, and Rorke, consistent with his practice, shouted out "Horse!" to let the hikers know they were coming. But the hikers failed to notice the horse or rein in their dogs, which were running ahead out of voice control...