Girl on a horse (Photo by Anna Johansson)

Polo is a huge sport in this horse-crazy country and any serious equestrian should at some point in their life make a pilgrimage here to experience polo at its best. I headed to the Estancia La Porteña in the area of San Antonio de Areco north-west of Buenos Aires to realise a long-time dream and learn how to play polo.

Areco is situated in Argentina’s vast pampas, an area that is all about horses and gauchos. When driving on to the estancia’s 700-acre grounds we see horses grazing next to bulls and cows in the flat plains; it looks like a painting. Once at the farm and walking around the polo club we find horses literally everywhere, tied to trees and rails, saddled up and ready to go for a ride at any time.

We are warmly greeted and immediately offered some warm empanadas. The atmosphere is relaxed around the farm and owners and gauchos chat and drink mate as they polish bridles, prepare horses and get the polo gear ready.

My teacher for the day is Juan Pablo Cairo, a well-dressed gaucho horse trainer. He is dressing the horse as carefully as he has dressed himself: entwining the horse’s legs with polo wraps and putting the tail in a braided bun. The mane is cut short and stubbly. I am getting excited to finally get to try this prestigious sport.

“Are you ready for some polo?” asks Pablo and hands me the mallet. A metre and a half long and weighing 2kg, I suddenly realise this is not going to be as easy as I had first imagined.

(Photo by Anna Johansson)

My horse is called Nube, a white beauty and one of 35 polo ponies on the farm. She is calm and strong and we get along right away. I am an experienced equestrian, started just after I learned how to walk, but as we footpace away toward the polo field it strikes me: I am the pampas, the horse capital of the world, about to play polo with a gaucho; this must be the ultimate horse experience. I am in equestrian heaven and get chills down my spine.

Polo ponies are trained in a completely different way than what I am used to and I suddenly feel insecure about what to do next. Especially as polo is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Having half a tonne of horse travelling across the field at 60km/h you realise you are dealing with quite some power.

Pablo instructs me to keep reins high in my left hand. The reins on a polo horse work like a joystick: small move forward means full speed forward, backward means stop and tiny hand shift to each side means steering it left and right respectively. The mallet is kept in the right hand and should rest on the shoulder while not swinging.

Pablo tells me that my job is simply to stay at a gallop, get my horse in line with the ball and either pass it ahead to a teammate or carry the ball down the field for an attempt at a goal. For an experienced rider it sounds fairly easy. Doing it proves to be another story.

(Photo by Anna Johansson)

Even at my first attempt at hitting the ball in slow trot I miss by about 40cm. Realising I have to lean over quite a lot, to the point where I feel like I will fall off, makes me improve slightly. I hit the ball and at the same time the horse. Pablo kindly reminds me to swing the mallet alongside the horse, not across its feet, and I feel thankful that at least those polo wraps are on.

In the midst of gallop and approaching the ball I go for the 360-degree swing and feel the adrenalin pumping. When I finally hit it I feel like a superstar. The excitement is accelerating and I feel determined to keep going.

It is like a race, a ball sport, and riding at the same time, and the workout is maximised. Keeping the horse in gallop through quick turns and swings is what I find most challenging. Pablo and I pass the ball around for a while and occasionally stop to work on my swing or to adjust hand positions when I automatically go back to riding dressage style. Time flies and after a while I cannot feel my arm anymore.

Despite it’s reputation as a rich kids sport, polo at the Estancia La Porteña is laid-back, genuine, and fun. Getting to meet the gauchos who train the horses is an incredible experience and the closest I think I will ever get to any kind of horse whisperer. And I am left impressed with the well-trained horses, which, just like Nube, communicate extremely well and do most of the strenuous work.

Horses in a field (Photo by Anna Johansson)

Leaving the estancia I am happy as can be having fulfilled a childhood dream. My body kept reminding me for days after that I had used muscles I did not even know I had. Pain aside, it was one of the most unique experiences I have had and I would strongly recommend anyone to go take a polo lesson and get a real taste of Argentine equestrian life.

As surprising as it may sound, a country with a great polo tradition (yes, the sport is big here) also has a tradition for great polo holidays, too.

In Argentina, gauchos drinking mate and devouring endless full-fat asados enrich an already picturesque tradition involving country clothing, magnificent horse breeds and unfolding grassy horizons.

Countryside living outside of Buenos Aires (Photo: Lillo Montalto Monella)

You would think that knowing this world of wonders is so close to Buenos Aires would be enough to move mountains, not just tourists. But many of them are just too lazy to hop on a crowded, malfunctioning train and sweat out a one-hour journey through the countryside.

It was to make polo accessible to the odd tourist specimen, that the people at Puesto Viejo Estancia, a 250-acre ranch in Cañuelas, decided to start a philanthropic pick-up service from the city centre.

A short morning stroll to the obelisk, a chatty drive to the pampa and there you are sipping on a mate while touring the estancia’s stables, riding horses in the sunlight, enjoying a delicious BBQ under the tree shadow, getting suntanned by the infinity pool or napping in a hammock gently rocked by the breeze while eagerly waiting for the polo match you are going to play in the afternoon.

And this is essentially what a ‘Puesto Viejo Polo Day’ experience is all about.

Madeleine Duxbury, marketing manager at the estancia, explains how the idea came about: “One day we were sitting on the grass watching a polo match and we thought how amazing it would have been to introduce people to this sport through…polo picnics!

“We knew that once you get started with polo, you just can’t stop”, she says. “The challenge was to convince people to come all the way up here from the city.”

A large number of estancias were already offering polo packages to enthusiasts coming to Argentina to improve their skills or simply to chill while icy winds lash the grassy European fields. Yet, very few of them dared open their doors to clumsy riders, polo neophytes or simply curious tourists.

Among the brave are the Puesto Viejo’s main competitors, Argentina Polo Day and Polo Elite, who are also both English-friendly and offer similar daily packages for a similar price.

Gaston Carrozzo, a 28 year old who has spent his life both teaching and playing the polo in Argentina, the UK and Spain, shares the ethos of the estancia: “We are just at the beginning. There are still a lot of things to improve but, in the end, it’s all about the same old magic formula: relaxing, eating and having fun.”

Gaston shows surprise however, when on our way to the polo field, I tell him that not everyone knows how big polo is in Argentina.“Almost all of the world’s ten-goal players come from here” he proudly points out. The problem is that, just like many other people, I have no idea of what a ten-goal player is.

Participants are helped onto their horses at the estancia (Photo: Lillo Montalto Monella)

“It’s basically like golf,” Gaston explains. “Players receive a handicap and they are rated on a scale from minus 2 to 10. A minus 2 player is basically a beginner, while a ten-goal player has the highest handicap possible. But it’s almost impossible to get to that level.”

I only come to fully understand his words when, struggling to make my horse move at all, I watch Gaston (a two-goal player) galloping at full speed whilst bouncing the polo ball on his stick, with all the naturalness of a child playing football at the school gate.

By the end of the afternoon, in which participants get to play against one another in a real match, I am in complete control of my horse but hopelessly overexcited and keep kicking his sides with my unprofessional running shoes to make him run faster.

A fully affiliated member of the Argentine Association of Polo (AAP), Puesto Viejo is home to three polo pitches where an active network of 2-6 goal professional players practice on a daily basis, or in the 12 free admission tournaments that are held throughout the year.

During the final practice of the day (played seriously by professionals), tourists looking for some predictable Facebook pictures get the chance to throw in the first ball of each chukker (the periods which break up the match in polo) and ring the bell. The game is so intense that each polo player has to change horse at every chukker: meaning that some 16 horses are required to carry out a proper match.

The polo game (Photo: Lillo Montalto Monella)

At the end of the day, some disappointment is inevitable however, since the polo package doesn’t include an overnight stay at the idyllic countryside resort. The idea of another asado, washed down with red wine and this time without having to ride a horse afterwards, makes the idea of travelling back to the city seem an unnecessary distress.

“We are studying a solution to this problem,” says Madeleine, adding that polo is an elegant sport, and the estancia is keen to preserve its standards by not allowing backpackers.

The estancia already offers full polo weeks for expert players or weekend runaway options for couples is also considering offering group discounts or special deals for people who want to stay a bit longer and save a bit of money by heading back to the city with public transport.

The overwhelming sensation I’m left with however, is that even if Gaston dumped you in the middle of nowhere on the way back – with aching muscles you’d never suspected existed before that day – it wouldn’t actually make much difference.

You couldn’t help but feel at peace with the world.

Argentina Independent photographer, Shooresh Fezoni, covered the 2010 Argentine Polo season and shares with us some of his photographs.

Polo Match

Hosing down the horse

Young 4 goaler Pedro Gutierrez who hopes to go pro

Polo Riding Boots

Petisero readying the saddle

Polo Player

A distraught petisero realizing he has to put down this horse who just broke his leg

Polo fans study the glossy guides

Adolfo Cambiaso's embryo auction in San Isidro

Opening weekend at the Palermo Cup

Opening weekend at the Palermo Cup

Polo Training on the Alamo farm in Vivorata near Mar del Plata

Buenos Aires in December: the Christmas lights are flashing all over the city and Mariah Carey is blasting out what she wants for Christmas in Farmacity as you take refuge from the sweltering heat. Although the shops want you to think about the Christmas season, I urge you to consider the polo season.

The Argentine polo season started in October and will soon come to a head with the final of the Palermo Cup, which will take place on 10th and 11th December. Argentina is internationally recognised as the polo mecca, with the Palermo Cup being considered the World Cup of polo.

Sounds good so far, but how on earth does one get involved and, surely, it’s rather expensive? In fact, the cheapest ticket will set you back a mere $30.

Once you are there, you may well wonder what on earth is going on. There is a lot more to polo than handsome men, pretty ponies and sticks. Fear not, for here is your printable Idiot’s Guide to polo.

The Palermo Cup (Photo: Shooresh Fezoni)

Background to the Palermo Cup

The Palermo Cup is one of three main cups in the Argentine open: Tortugas is the first (played in October and won by Ellerstina Team in 2010) then the Hurlingham (Ellerstina won again) and finally Palermo, where Ellerstina hope to win again. If a team wins all three of the opens, it wins the ‘Triple Corona’, the ultimate achievement. This year, Ellerstina is hoping to take Triple Corona off the La Aguada brothers who have been defending it since 2003.

The six teams with the highest handicap automatically participate. All other teams interested in playing with a handicap of over 28 goals play matches to qualify. The two winning teams qualify to play against the other six.

This weekend the lineup is as follows:

Saturday 4th December: 2pm: Chapa Uno vs. Sao José; 4.30pm: La Dolfina vs. Pilará

Sunday 5th December: 2pm Alegría vs. Chapalefú II; 4.30pm Ellerstina vs. La Aguada

The winners of the 4.30pm matches will go on to play each other in the final of the Palermo Cup on the weekend of 10th December.

What the chukker? The 10 basic rules of Polo

1. Each team is made up of four players: Number 1 attacks, getting most of the passes and scoring the most goals. Number 2 does a large amount of the hard work, acting as a midfielder. Number 3 hangs back a bit and tends to organise the team. Number 4 is defensive.

2. Each player has been awarded a handicap by the Argentine Polo Association. This can range from 0 to 10 (in Argentina). The lowest handicap at Palermo this year is a 7. There are only 12 players with a 10 in Argentina.

3.  The match is divided into eight parts, each part is called a ‘chukker.’ Each chukker lasts seven minutes, there are three minute breaks between each one, signalled by a horn. In this time the players can change their horses. Half time is after the 4th chuckker. This is a five-minute break after it. If a score is tied, play goes into overtime. ‘Sudden death’ is placed to decide the winner by a ‘Golden Goal.’

4.Each player will have ten or so horses which he will use throughout the match. He can change his horse between chukkers, or during the chukker, but play will not stop for him. This means that you may hear a horse’s name being shouted, then see one of the grooms (petiseros) rush over to the sideline to swap the horses over. Horses are swapped when they are tired, or as a strategic move if the player sees his opponent change onto a faster steed.  The teams research their opponents’ horses so they can plan their game accordingly. There is no cap on the number of horses the player can use.

5. There are two referees (often ex-pros) who ride alongside the players. They wear black and white stripy shirts. An umpire sits in the stand at the halfway line.

6. Fouls are penalised with penalty shots. These may be hit from 30, 40 or 60 yards midfield or from the point of the infraction. The umpire chooses the position of the penalty shot, according to the severity of the foul. There was some controversy on the introduction of certain new rules in 2009. Now, ‘verbal excess’ will be treated as, at the least a technical foul and a penalty will be rewarded accordingly.

7. The stick used to hit the ball is called a ‘mallet’. The player cannot hold it with his left hand. A player can use his mallet to hook the opponent’s mallet, but the hooking swing cannot be above the shoulder line, nor from the opposite side where the swing is being made.

8. The flagmen stand behind the goal line and will wave a flag overhead to signal a goal has been scored.

9. After a goal has been scored, the polo team changes direction.

10. The team which scores the most goals wins the match. A goal is scored when the polo ball crosses the line between the goal posts or its extension.

Battling it out for the ball (Photo: Shooresh Fezoni)

The best Argentine polo players.

Adolfo Cambiaso: With a handicap of ten, and as the number one player in the world, Cambiaso is known as the Messi of polo. Age 12 he already had a 1 goal handicap and played for the first time in the Argentine Open at Palermo in 1992 when he was 17. In his first game against the Indios he scored 16 goals, setting the record for number of goals scored by one player in an Argentine Open game. In 1994 he won the Triple Corona with Ellerstina, becoming the youngest player in history to achieve a handicap of 10 goals; he was only 19. He co-founded his own team, La Dolfina, in 1997, the same year he was awarded the best player in the Argentine Open final scoring a record of 67 goals, the highest number recorded in the history of the Argentine Open. He also has his own breed.

Facundo Pieres: Currently number two player in Argentina at the age of 23, with a handicap of 10. He was promoted to a 10 goal handicap at the age of 19, beating Cambiaso’s record. From a polo family, he is the son of famous Gonzalo Pieres Sr., and some say he may overtake Cambiaso as he grows older and more experienced. A player for Ellerstina, he is touted as the one to watch.

Juan Martín Nero: Also with a handicap of 10, he plays alongside the Pieres brothers in the Ellerstina team. He played polo with his father and grandfather as a child, but is not from one of the polo families with breeding programmes and strings of horses. Since joining Ellerstina in 2008 he has proved himself to be a key player in the opens which followed.

The Teams

Ellerstina: Total Handicap: 40. Facundo Pieres (10), Gonzalo Pieres (10), Pablo MacDonough (10), Juan Martín Nero (10). Key Info: Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres and Pablo MacDonough: Won the Argentine Open in 2008, The Hurlingham Open in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and Tortugas in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Nero has been successful in other teams too, but played in most of the tournaments listed above.

La Aguada: Total Handicap: 37. Javier Novillo Astrada (9), Eduardo Novillo Astrada (9), Miguel Novillo Astrada (10) and Ignacio Novillo Astrada (9). Key Info: This is a team made up of 4 brothers. They won the Triple Corona in 2003 and have been defending it ever since.

La Dolfina: Total Handicap: 39. Adolfo Cambiaso (10), Lucas Monteverde (10), David Stirling (9), Bartolome Castagnola (10). Key Info: La Dolfina’s successes: The Hurlingham Open (2001, 2002 & 2006), The Argentina Open at Palermo (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2009). 1997 he won El Olimpia de Plata which is awarded to the most accomplished polo player in Argentina. That year he was also awarded the best player in the Argentine Open final scoring a record of 67 goals, the highest number recorded in the history of the Argentine Open.

Polo: the sport of kings, favoured hobby of princes and subject matter of  racy chick-lit. Mention this sport to an international selection and the chances are that the word ‘elitist’ will crop up more than once. The Palermo Cup final is a week away:  young (and old) Argentine women are swooning over ‘Facundo’ and you cannot take a bus down Av. Santa Fe without being confronted by publicity posters of handsome young players either swigging on a mate or modelling for Ralph Lauren fragrance. Argentina is commonly agreed to be the ‘home of polo,’ so now is the time to get inside polo.

Day One of the Palermo Cup 2010 (Photo: Shooresh Fezoni)

Though historical accounts differ, the first recorded polo game is said to have taken place in 600BC between The Turkomans and The Persians, before the sport spread eastwards by Monguls to India. British teaplanters set up the first polo club in India in the 1850s. A couple of decades later The British soldier, John Watson founded the real rules in India. The game then spread around the world. English and Irish engineers and ranchers brought the sport to Argentina with the first official match being played in 1875.

Polo in Argentina

Polo is played all over the world, yet players and fans all agree that Argentina is the place for polo. Multiple factors account for this. Firstly, Argentina has the ideal conditions for polo: a perfect climate, acres of flat land which, when coupled with the unlimited water supply, has allowed many polo pitches to be constructed all over the country. The real stars of polo, as many players are happy to admit, are the horses. European explorers introduced horses to the Argentina in the 16th century and the country now boasts a plentiful supply of high quality horses.

Most people only encounter the end product: talented players mounted on gleaming steeds, running up and down the pitches at Palermo, delightedly dousing their team members in fine champagne. However, as with any sport, a huge amount goes on behind the scenes.

Opening weekend at the Palermo Cup (Photo: Shooresh Fezoni)

Amateur and Professional Polo

Traditionally, polo is practised on the family estancias all over the country. First children learn to ride, then they hit balls around with mini mallets and by the age of seven or so they are ready for their first polo practice, which will tend to involve the whole family. These sessions often take place in the countryside, but polo is also popular in the country clubs in Pilar and San Isidro, in the province of Buenos Aires.

Polo is popular in Argentina as an amateur sport, as well as a professional one. Some Argentines work full time jobs in Capital Federal, escape to the country club on their lunch break to spend an hour in the saddle, before speeding back to the city before the markets close.

Amateurs and professionals alike can pay to become members of the Argentine Polo Association. This means that twice a year their ‘handicap’ will be assessed and they will awarded a number which in Argentina ranges between 1 (the worst) and 10 (the best). The handicap can go up or down each year, depending on the player’s performance. There are currently 12 players who have been awarded a ‘10’ goal handicap in Argentina.

Young 4 goaler Pedro Gutierrez who hopes to go pro (Photo: Shooresh Fezoni)

The perfect polista

When musing over what makes the perfect polo player, Alejandro Agote, the international player and trainer of Ellerstina team explained that “his riding has to be like he doesn’t have to think about riding. He has to think about hitting the ball over the [course of] the game”.

A good polo game is fast paced and gripping. The players have to control their horses and try to gain possession of the ball, pass it then score goals without colliding. This is all done up to 50kmph using mallets which have a surprisingly small surface area. The professionals make this seem effortless; however, looks can be deceiving.

Finances

To be a successful polo professional you cannot just be talented, it is also necessary that you have funds-be it your own or those of a sponsor, to pay for the best horses.

Henry Brett, the British Professional who captained England to victory against the Argentine team in 2002 and has won every major tournament in the UK explains: ‘The reality of polo in general is that if you want to reach the top you either have to be exceptionally talented like Cambiaso or Juan Martín Nero. If you don’t have the talent you have to pay.”

True professionals are sponsored by a patron who will pay them a salary to play polo in special patron tournaments all over the world.

Family Values

Success  in polo is not just about talent and money, it is about knowledge too. The best knowledge is the kind which has been acquired over many years of experience, passing down from father to son. Henry explained: “You have to understand horses. The Pieres have never had to worry about what a good horse is; they are always on good horses because they know what a good horse is.” This is due to the fact that, in the words of Renee Niven, an avid polo fan: ‘the Pieres family are a polo family since forever.’

The term “family business” reaches new levels in the context of Argentine polo. If you come from a traditional polo family you not only stand to inherit polo skills, but also a country estancia complete with polo pitch, between tens and hundreds of horses and in some cases, a breeding programme.

Javier Novillo Astrada, one of the four brothers that make up La Aguada team, pointed out when analyzing his team’s recent victory against Chapa Uno: “Our horses were much better than theirs. I think that made the difference.” Even the best players, need good horses if they want to compete at a high goal level.

A horse at Adolfo Cambiaso's embryo auction (Photo: Shooresh Fezoni)

Breeding

For those with the resources, breeding is an important part of the process; an opportunity to choose the best of your horses and continue the family line. Argentina is the only country in the world with a culture of cloning horses for polo.

Sophisticated laboratories offer an artificial insemination service. The breeder carefully considers different mares and stallions. Their eggs and sperm are then combined and implanted in a surrogate horse. In November, the clone of Adolfo Cambiaso’s best mare was sold at auction for $800,000. There are mixed views about whether this horse was worth it, but there is one undisputed fact: to be successful in polo, you need good horses.

Horse Power

It is universally agreed that no polo player can win by just being on the field. It is difficult to choose a figure, but Javier Novillo Astrada estimated that 70% is the horse: “They are the main thing. At our level the standard of the players is very similar. Except, clearly, Cambiaso – he is a freak. He is very talented and very special, but as for the rest of us, there is not much difference.”

Luis Garcia, Petisero, with one of his horses (Photo: Andy Donohoe)

The importance of the horses is reflected in the amount of money and time invested in them. Any polista (player) who owns his own horses, employs a series of petiseros (grooms) to take care of the horses 24/7. Once the horse has been broken in by the horse trainer, the petisero will spend the next two or three years training him with the help of the polista.

Petiseros come from the countryside, growing up on the farms where they help to look after the animals. Just as the professionals tend to begin dreaming of their career from an early age, so too do the petiseros. At La Aguada ranch I met Luis Garcia, petisero to the North American Paul Oberschneider. A quiet and peaceful man, Luis is not unlike the horses which he takes care of from 4am until 10pm, day in day out. He echoed the words of all of the professionals whom I had met so far when he said “the petisero is essential”.

He quietly explained that he too has a passion for horses, adding: “Sometimes I think that I spend more time with horses than I do with humans.”

The petiseros follow the polo with the same passion that most Argentines save for the football. For them Cambiaso is like Messi, and they explain their allegiances to La Dolfina and Ellerstina, in the same way that anyone else would discuss Boca v. River.

‘Polo is only for the posh’

Javier Novillo Astrada of La Aguada (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

When asked about the elitist caché assigned to polo, Agote acknowledges it, but says that he doesn’t think it need continue that way. Whilst participating in the polo requires vast sums of money, as a spectator sport it is cheaper than football. Agote said: “I am sure that a lot of people would go and love it. Just seeing the horses…they are beautiful.”

Speaking as one who was more familiar with the pre-conceived notions than polo ponies, now, after a three-week crash course in polo, I agree with Agote. Polo in Argentina could be replaced with the word ‘passion’. Everyone involved shares a love of horses and the sport itself. The culture is one of family and tradition, and though it may be tough to make it as a professional who is an outsider, it can be done.

Standing on the family farm at sunset with the smokiness of the asado in the air and the entire Novillo Astrada brood playing in the grass; as the colts from their breed canter by and the players discuss the afternoon’s match, I can see exactly why they love it so much.

I encourage you to discover the passion at the Palermo Final.