{"id":21928,"date":"2019-04-05T05:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=21928"},"modified":"2021-02-03T14:51:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T22:51:29","slug":"anja-jacobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/anja-jacobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Anja Jacobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

They say polo is the sport of kings. But in the case of Anja Jacobs and her teammates, make that the sport of queens.<\/p>\n

Jacobs, an Atlanta-based Yardi senior manager for military housing, and three fellow mallet-wielding warrior women were recently crowned U.S. Open Women\u2019s Polo Champions. Their March victory in Palm Beach, Florida was the result of a long year of hard work, long travel journeys, and rising above challenges.<\/p>\n

\"Anja
Anja Jacobs riding Power Ranger Red in a polo match<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jacobs is the type of person who sets her mind on a goal and goes for it \u2013 both at work and in her personal life. About 15 years ago, she decided it was time to fulfill a lifelong dream: riding horses and playing competitive polo. Today, she has 13 horses in her backyard and devotes most of her free time to the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always wanted to ride horses as a kid, but I grew up in Miami, and there weren\u2019t a lot of opportunities to do so,\u201d said Jacobs, who has worked at Yardi for the last seven years. \u201cAfter I\u2019d graduated from college, I attended an alumni event that was hosted at a polo game, and I immediately knew I had to try it.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, she had to learn the rules of the game \u2013 which is basically high speed croquet on horseback.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like chaos if you ever try to watch a polo game without knowing the rules, but there are really strict rules that are all about safety. It looks like one of the most dangerous sports there is, but every rule is about the animals\u2019 well-being first and foremost,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n

With a background in martial arts and ballroom dancing, she has both a killer instinct and sense of balance that are essential for a successful polo player. Jacobs is a defensive specialist, meaning that her role, and that of her horse, is to clear the field so her teammates can get to the goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a scrapper and a fighter,\u201d Jacobs says of her efforts on the field. Her U.S. Open championship team also included Nina Clarkin, the No. 1 ranked women\u2019s polo player in the world; Mia Cambiaso, a 15-year-old phenom in the sport, and Pamela Flanagan, who not only plays polo but is also an attorney and horse rescuer.<\/p>\n

The group came together organically after Jacobs and Clarkin, who met at international polo events, struck up a friendship. Success in the sport is based on the player\u2019s handicap level, which ranges from -2 to 10. Jacobs boasts a handicap of 2; Clarkin is rated a mixed 4 in the U.S. and a 10 on the Hurlingham Women\u2019s scale in Great Britain, her home country. The U.S. Open Polo Championship does not require all players to be from the U.S. Flanagan and Jacobs are both U.S. citizens, while Cambiaso is from Argentina.<\/p>\n

In countries like Argentina where polo is extremely popular, children learn the sport very young. Cambiaso was already playing competitive polo at age 5. And Jacobs\u2019 favorite horse, Power Ranger Red, is also a former Argentinian who she purchased from a four-year-old Argentine boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the most amazing horse. The reason I have 13 horses is because I bought Power Ranger Red, and then bought 12 more trying to find another horse like him,\u201d said Jacobs. Power Ranger Red is her go-to starter, the first horse she rides in every polo match.<\/p>\n

Atlanta may not have a huge polo community, but it is horse-friendly and there are many opportunities to learn to ride. That\u2019s what Jacobs did when she decided to take up the sport 15 years ago. Two years ago, she purchased a 10-acre farm outside Atlanta so that her horses would have a great place to live.<\/p>\n

When she\u2019s not assisting Yardi\u2019s military clients, Jacobs\u2019 free time is occupied by exercising her herd of horses and preparing for the next polo match. The sport has taken her all over the world. She typically spends her Thanksgiving holidays in Argentina and hopes to travel to South Africa and Australia, playing matches in both countries, in the year to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I love most about polo is that you cannot think about anything else while you are playing. All the stress of the day disappears. It\u2019s you and the horse, and that\u2019s it,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n

We asked Jacobs what lessons from the polo field could be applied to her work life. She shared three great ones:<\/p>\n