Herbert Spencer, doyen of polo communicators, has been made a Life Member of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) in recognition of his more than 40 years working in the international polo community.
HPA chairman Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers made the award at the association’s Coronation Cup Centenary dinner on 21 July. After reviewing Spencer’s long career as a polo historian, publisher, photographer and media consultant, Colquhoun-Denvers said: “His role behind the scenes is seldom known of … but his advice to the HPA and many of us in the polo world has always been sound, sensible and extremely welcome.”
Over the years Spencer has served as a communications consultant to the HPA, the US Polo Association and the Federation of International Polo.
Life membership of the HPA is the second honor he has received from a governing body of the sport. In 2006 he was recipient of the USPA’s Image Award for Contribution to the Public Appreciation of the Sport of Polo.
Spencer published polo’s first coffee-table book, Chakkar, in 1971; an international magazine of the same title in the 1980s; and his second book on the sport, A Century of Polo, in 1994. He is currently Deputy Editor of Hurlingham magazine; columnist and feature writer of Polo Times; principal polo writer of Horse & Hound; and a contributor to Polo Players Edition (US). His international communications consultancy, Herbert Spencer Media, is based in Berkshire, England.