Meunier forges ahead with polo center plan and development of equine communities

Sep. 11—During an interview in early 2020 with the Aiken Standard, David Meunier said he was going to be developing a top-notch polo center between Aiken and Wagener.

That conversation took place before the COVID-19 pandemic became a problem in South Carolina and caused many projects to be put on hold indefinitely or even scrapped.

Meunier, however, didn't abandon his plan, and recently he provided a tour by pickup truck of his La Bourgogne facility at 1150 Coleman Bridge Road.

He has combined two adjacent properties to create a 109-acre venue with amenities that include two playing fields, two barns with a total of 24 stalls, several apartments for grooms and a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house for the sponsors of visiting polo team sponsors.

A three-story pavilion is under construction at the main playing field.

Meunier, who is a native of France, plans to name the structure in memory of his son, Anthony, who died at the age of 22, last month in a single-vehicle crash.

"Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen, and people grieve in different ways," Meunier said. "You have the choice to go the wrong way and cry every day, praying that the morning doesn't come up too soon and the night comes up soon. Then you're not productive and that's not good.

"The other choice is you keep busy. You try to accomplish things and do things that affect the world in a positive way."

One of his Meunier's priorities is to establish a foundation that would help cover the cost of therapy for families in need that lose children.

Meunier also is creating a polo community on Shaws Fork Road that will be called AM Farm as a tribute to Anthony, who worked at his father's La Parisienne restaurant in Aiken.

The property is nearly 180 acres in size, according to Aiken County land records, and it will be divided into five to eight parcels. The buyers of those parcels all will have access to a polo field and a stick-and-ball exercise field.

"Out of all the people that I know, 60% love me and 40% hate me," Meunier said. "And it's fine. I'm OK with it. But my son, I could not find one person that didn't like him. I meet people at the grocery store. They come up and they hug me and they cry, and I don't even know them."

The La Bourgogne facility will be the site Sept. 24 of a polo match that will be a celebration of the 101st birthday of Charles Combier, an Aiken resident who is one of Meunier's friends and was born in France.

There also will be a preliminary game featuring female players.

Gates will open at 2 p.m., and the public is invited to attend and tailgate. The cost of admission will be $10 per person.

The Coupe Charles Combier 101 match is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Afterward there will be a private Argentine-style barbecue.

Combier will receive a medal from a representative of the French government, Meunier said.

Co-founder of the Whiskey Road Foxhounds, Combier is a retired textile engineer.

La Bourgogne also will be the location of the Chukkers of Hope Polo Match and White Party from 4 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 1.

The fundraising effort will benefit Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

For more information, visit the Chukkers of Hope page on Facebook.

In the future, Meunier said that he plans to organize events for corporations that will feature polo matches.

He is working to get La Bourgogne officially recognized as a polo club by the United States Polo Association.

"I'm going to try to specialize in high goal pro-am polo — eight-, 10-, 12-goal polo," Meunier said.

In a separate venture, Meunier has divided a 25-acre tract in the Coleman Bridge/Bethcar Church Road area into mini farms for horses involved in disciplines other than polo such as dressage and show jumping.

There are five parcels. Three already have been sold, Meunier said, and he is keeping one for himself.

He also provided an update on the new eatery that he plans to open in Aiken at the corner of York Street and Hampton Avenue, where Church's Chicken used to be located.

There were delays, Meunier said, because of building permit issues that he had with the City of Aiken.

"They gave me a hard time," he said.

Renovations of the existing structure now are moving forward and Meunier hopes the restaurant will be ready to serve customers by the end of this year.