Polo was a blast!

When in Argentina, do what the Argentinians do....which often includes polo matches. Most Argentinians watch the matches and a few play. A group of us from the trip decided that we wanted to learn how to play ourselves. We got in touch with Fernando of Elite Polo and he was more than happy to pick us up at our hotel, take us to the polo stables and field located about 40 km outside of BA, and teach us how to play. Of the four of us who went, only one new how to ride a horse (she actually owns a horse and goes foxhunting for fun in northern Virginia). The rest of us have ridden only a couple of times, usually part of one of those long lines of horses shuffling down a dusty trail. Within minutes of getting out of the car, we had our protective helmets on our noggins and were on a horse. We then quickly went through the process of learning how to walk and gallop on the horse using our body weight or pulling on the reins. Once we had that down pat, we added the long stick used to hit the ball and we practiced going up and down the field whacking it. If we felt particularly ambitious, we would tell the horse to gallop and then would try and connect with the ball. I think we usually connect every other time we swung the club! The time went by quick, despite the bright sun and high humidity today which made the sweat run down our cheeks. We paused for about 20 minutes and relaxed in the shade with a cool glass of a local version of lemonade made with a type of grapefruit (it was not as sour as most grapefruits and very refreshing on this hot summer day. Keep in mind that the seasons are reversed and it is summer in Argentina. We then moved on to our final exam--a polo match of guys against the girls, played by the real rules of polo.


I can't really recall all of the rules but it had something to do with staying on one side of the plane of the ball or else being called off-sides, as swing and a miss is a fault, and that shoving your horse against another is excellent defense. We played for about 45 minutes in a game that probably appeared to real polo fans to be conducted in slow-motion. Every once in a while we would gallop and some how I managed to stay on the horse. Did I mention the saddles were English and not Western? That means, no pommel to hold on to (not that you could because you had the reins and whip in your left hand and the mallet/stick thing in your right). The guys eventually beat the girls, 6-4, and we all shook hands and called it a day. We then relaxed with a glass of cold Argentinian beer before heading back to town. What a blast!! If you find yourself in Buenos Aries, look up Fernando at Elite Polo. He is a professional polo player who loves to introduce beginners like me to the sport he loves. Now I feel like I have earned the right to actually wear a polo T-Shirt. :)