Polo Again - Trust The Horse

Our local riding club is very lucky to have connected with a Polo Club through which we have the great opportunity to go and learn to play polo for very little money.

The bar where all the victims of dismounts and foulplay have to purchase a bottle of champagne ... 
I was praying that I wouldn't fall off ... 

I went a few times last year and enjoyed it greatly. Over 6 months have passed and today we set of again in the morning so we would be there just before lunch time. It is about a 90minutes drive one way.

This time I was given a different pony. It was a little smaller than the one I had the pleasure to ride previously. 

 

Up until now, we never really talked about the 'rules' and what is classed as foul play. We were of course instructed how to hold and swing the malet.  

I cannot speak for other clubs but in this one, great emphasis is of course placed on keeping your horse safe. 

For each foulplay (hitting anything other than the ball with your malet - etc) or dismount (falling off) the 'guilty' party has to pay for a bottle of champagne. This bottle is to be opened with a technique called sabrage, a ceremonial method: "The wielder slides the saber along the body of the bottle to break the top of the neck away, leaving the neck of the bottle open and ready to pour. The force of the blunt side of the blade hitting the lip breaks the glass to separate the collar from the neck of the bottle. One does not use the sharp side of the blade. The cork and collar remain together after separating from the neck."

The entire bar / barn is full with (emtpy) champagne bottles. All the corks with collar are glued to the walls. It is a big barn, there were many many more bottles than juar rhoaw in the photograph above.

Along with the bottles and corks are also various 'memories' of incidents hung up on the walls and beams. For example: there is a cut open boot - apparently where the ambulance had to cut it open to treat a broken leg. Then further on, hanging of a beam, are cut open t-shirts - here the ambulance also had to cut them open to treat a broken collar bone, etc etc. 

But what I really want to talk about is the horses. In this particular polo club (I haven't been to any others), the horses are superbly trained and know exactly what to do. In some ways they behave almost like dogs, wanting to chase the ball. 

They are all super sensitive in their mouth and need a soft hand. Most of the work by the polo player is done by leg and body. They reins must be loose and the hand must be kept steady. No pulling back of the reins, no lifting of the reins. Of course that is easier said then done when you try to balance, swing a malet, avoid hitting the horse AND try hitting the ball. Soft reins and steering with the body is somehitng I am of course used to because that is how I and 'Mr F' ride.

This little horse I was riding today - named 'Millie' - was a little rocket and she was determined to teache me how to play this game!

During our short warming up I noticed her jumping around a little. I didn't quite know why and thought: 'Ok, this could be a tricky one. Perhaps I come off this time, I am not used to bucking horses. But I won't be able to afford the Champagne!'

'Millie' is a short horse and her gait is much choppier than what I am used to when riding big, long 'Mr F'. I also had to deal with stirrups which irritated me immensely but they were clearly needed for the game play as you won't be able to aim if you are bouncing up and down.

During the first few minutes of the first game, 'Millie' was quite calm. Although I noticed that each time I had a clear shot on the ball and missed it, 'Millie' would jump about and shake her head. Suddenly the penny dropped: she was making a point that she was fed up with me not hitting that ball! She was trained to chase the ball with a rider that can hit it.

Alright, I figured that I better had to put more effort into hitting that ball, else I might just land up on the ground with help of 'Millie's dissaproval. 

But she wasn't finished teaching me just yet.

Although we had a good talk in the barn with the instructor regarding how to do proper team play, there were still moments when the ball was too crowed because some riders didn't get out of the way when they should.

As 'Tom' was a better shot than I, I decided to be his back up. Now there was a moment when the ball was again stuck because some riders where crowding it even though this isn't allowed (for safety and game-play reasons).
I remained in the background in case we would get a clear line. However, I coldn't see the ball but 'Millie' did - or heard it being hit by someone's malet. She suddenly started jumping about again, half bucking, wanting to go. At this stage I was getting a little worried.
And that is the next lesson:  I realised that I was run by my thoughts again (partly fear, hesitation, expectation of what might happen) and because of that I wasn't accepting the moment. I had to TRUST the HORSE because 'Millie' knew exactly what she was doing and I was stoping her from doing her job.

By jumping about she was telling me to get a move on because the ball was rolling out in the open!  'Aren't you paying attention, rider?! If you don't want to play this game, you can get off!'. She was also telling me that I am hindering her game play if I don't hit the ball. They are trained to chase it and that is what they will do.

From here on I let 'Millie' take over the reins, literally, and kept myself busy with what I was supposed to do: be a team player and to HIT that ball! And suddenly, 'Millie' realxed and we worked WITH one another rather than AGAINST one another. We weren't so much separated now and functioned more or less as one unit. 

We played three games and our team scored 2 goals, one of which I and 'Millie' scored.

'Lillian' however had her hands full! She was given a very unruley horse that wasn't comfortable anywhere on the field. Some of these polo horses will get jumpy if they are too far from the rest of the 'herd' on the field. She was instructed again and again to stay with the 'herd', to chase the ball, to be softer with her hands (easier said then done if you feel like you are about to race off into the unknown) etc etc but I could see that nothing of it made any difference whatsoever. The horse spent most of the time juming  and bucking. 'Lillian' coped with the situation well and I could see that she was at times close to giving up, but she didn't and stuck with it, without falling off! Although she didn't get much of a game play, there was no chance in hitting the ball for her - and she is normally on the winning team.

I am not sure why she was given this particular horse but I doubt she'll ask for it next time!

I am astounded by how finley tuned these polo horses are - they take everything in: how hard you hit the ball, how soft you hit the ball, the position of the ball, the position of the other horses, your leg aids, your seat, your body posture, everything! And they react accordingly.

If you, as a novice such as I am, are open minded enough (rather than worrying about falling of or hitting the ball) you will learn a great deal by just observing the horses and their reaction to each game situation. It was amazing!

The purpose of the human clearly is to do the team play (strategy) and the aiming and steering, the horse does the rest. It won't need encouragement to speed up (well, mine never did) and they also know when to slow down. 

This is what fascinates me so about Polo, this perfect partnership. There is a great deal of trust involved too.

And although I am still hesitant mounting a horse I don't know, 'Millie' made sure that I would get to know her very quickly! When we returned to the stables I was still buzzing by all that just happened between me and 'Millie'.

I admit I didn't pay much attention to how the others got on and just managed to concentrate on team play. All I was interested in was to observe 'Millie' and all that she was telling me. Afterwards I spent some time with her in her little box and also took off her tack. I thought it would only be appropriate to express my appreciation for her patience. I hope to be riding her again next time, now that I got to know her a little.