By Cindy Santa Cruz, CSC Design

Photographs by Mandarina RLH Properties

I was hired to create a world class polo and equestrian center for the beautiful oceanfront luxury resort "One & Only Mandarina" in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico.

My scope of work included a site analysis, the layout of the entire facility, and deciding which components were needed to host world class events on site. The facility was designed to offer lessons in jumping, dressage, flatwork, polo and give visitors the opportunity to take a trail ride on the beach, as well as to meet the standards required to host world class events in all of these disciplines.

I worked very closely with the architects, (Philipp Nehr of Studio Caban, Tofan Rafati of Rick Joy Architects and Fernando Olaiz of Architectural Development Agency LLC as well as a team of talented architects hired directly by RLH Properties) advising them from a “horse person’s” point of view as to what structures and amenities were necessary, where to place them, and how best to design and build them to ensure each horse's and rider’s safety and comfort.

The facility includes 20 stalls with individual runs, in addition to the planning of 40 additional permanent stalls with runs, 40 temporary stalls and all necessary services for visiting horses during polo tournaments and equestrian competitions, a covered dressage arena, an outdoor jumping arena, a polo field designed by Alejandro Battros, a “terrace/food truck” for events, a vet clinic with a surgical suite, large grass pastures, a round pen and a trail system around the property that also leads to the beach.

One of the challenges on this project was to select the safest and most maintenance free materials that would hold up in the hot, tropical climate and how to design the arena and barns to maximize the ventilation throughout the facility. The architects did an amazing job at this by designing structures that could take advantage of the prevalent ocean breezes.

It was so much fun to collaborate with many talented people on such a stunning project and to have the opportunity to help set an example of what a safe, horse friendly facility should look like.

After all, our horses well being is the reason I am so driven and passionate about the work that I do.

"After all, our horses’ well being is the reason I am so driven and passionate about the work that I do."

Cindy Santa Cruz