A Beginners Guide to Polo – Part two
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
Polo ponies are between 14.2 – 16 hands high, athletic, responsive and good natured; most are Argentine, English Thoroughbreds or re-trained racehorses. Due to their training and temperaments, ex-polo ponies make great hacks/riding ponies because they are used to traffic, being tacked up and are very social animals.
Polo lessons are readily available, some advice from Susie & Phil Meadows, Directors of Cool Hooves www.coolhoovespolo.co.uk the Polo School based at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club is: ‘To ensure the Polo School has a Riding License and fully qualified instructors listed on the Hurlingham Polo Association website. All equipment such as hat, chaps and stick will be provided; you just need to wear jeans and stout shoes/boots with no more than a 3cm heel.’
Many university students play polo, hence The London Alumni Polo Club www.alumnipolo.co.uk was founded in 2012 to bridge the gap between university and patron polo. The club has over 300 international members aged 23-33 who are graduates (predominantly Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, UCL and LSE) who live and work in London and participate in weekly training sessions, regular polo tournaments and trips to destinations such as Uganda, Mongolia and Argentina.
With top matches played in some of the most stunning locations in the world, from the lawns at Cowdray to beachside in Sotogrande and amongst the cityscape of Buenos Aires and the real estate of Palm Beach, Florida, Sir Winston Churchill (a player and great lover of the sport) was truly correct when he declared, ‘A polo handicap is a passport to the world.’
If you would like to know more about Polo, the Hurlingham Polo magazine and website www.hurlinghampolo.com provides the polo community with a blend of information, opinion, lifestyle and the latest information on the major Polo tournaments and everything Polo.