“A horse is the animal to have, eleven hundred pounds of raw muscle, power, grace and sweat between your legs, it’s something you just can’t get from a pet hamster.” There were never truer words spoken – Polocrosse horses are brave, athletic, forgiving, intelligent, strong forces of nature that give so much and ask for very little in return.
Throughout my 20 plus years of playing, I have had the opportunity to own some truly amazing horses that taught me so much more than just how to play Polocrosse. As I said in my previous blog, we currently have 5 playing horses and our sons pony. 4 out of the 6 were bred, raised and trained by us. I love breeding horses, as you know from the moment they are born, exactly how they tick and what makes them excel in every aspect of the game.
3 of our homebred horses from left to right Flight, Nightmare and Lola
My first Polocrosse horse was a beautiful buckskin gelding that was shipped from Mexico to Texas to be a summer camp pony. His name was Lefty, and that little pony was a legend that I will never forget. I met Lefty when my dad borrowed him from a friend to play at a local tournament. I hadn’t started playing yet, so was there to watch and walk Lefty between chukkas for my dad. It was love at first sight! We bought Lefty soon after, and boy did we have fun in the 4 years I had him. Lefty didn’t just play Polocrosse, at only a mere 14.2 hh, he jumped anything I pointed him at, ran barrels at the speed of light, and loved going for a swim. My fondest memory of him was a “trick” that I taught him – when I would start the process of getting off, no matter what the speed, without touching the reins, he would slam on the brakes and wait for whatever came next. I put this to good use at a tournament once when I dropped my racket in the midfield. Play went into one of the end zones that I wasn’t allowed into, so I raced back for my dropped racket. Without hesitation, I jumped off, with Lefty at a full gallop, grabbed my racket and jumped back on before play had gone back into the midfield. Lefty being the handy pony he was, screeched to a halt, waited patiently for me to get my racket and stood perfectly still for me to jump back on. There are countless unforgettable memories with this amazing little pony, with not just me but others who owned him, that I could write a best selling novel. He was one and a million and there will never be another like him.
That leads me onto my most recent superstar Polocrosse horse. 13 years ago, my husband, Danny, was given a mare in foal from a friend. A little filly was born in 2006 and aptly named Lola GT. The first summer I came to England to play Polocrosse in 2009, Danny had just begun training Lola for Polocrosse. She was something else and not in a good way. Impatient, mean, grumpy, herd sour and rude. She had always been like this, for example when she was just 6 months old while Danny’s sister was checking on them in the field, being the grumpy sod she was, went in for a kick. Thankfully Agi was close enough for only Lola’s hocks to get her. When that didn’t work, she viciously went for a bite that broke Agi’s skin through 5 layers of clothing! She wasn’t a kind filly to say the least. The next summer, in 2010, she began playing in training chukkas. She quickly proved that if you could look past her terrible personality, you would see what was the making of a very clever Polocrosse pony. I hated riding her. I hated doing anything with her. She spooked at every blade of grass, would walk on top of you as if you didn’t exist and generally be as rotten as she could possibly be. There was a tournament that I didn’t have a horse to play on, it was small one, and we both thought she could have a run out to see what she was made of. Spooking the entire way to the pitch, not wanting to go anywhere near the table to give player names for fear of getting eaten alive, as soon as the first ball was thrown in, it all went away. She was in her element and she was perfect. The entire weekend, she never put a foot wrong and did everything I asked without hesitation. She found her happy place and it was between four white chalk lines for 18 minutes, three times a weekend. Although I make Lola sound like the devil, and in all honesty she kind of is, she has the heart of a champion and I wouldn’t trade her for any horse in the world! She has won numerous best horse awards and allowed us to win best player prizes in the 8 years she’s been playing. When the time comes, we will start breeding from her and we are beyond excited to see what she produces. I would love her foals to have her ability and not her personality, but I do believe that’s a big part of what makes her such a force on the pitch. So I wouldn’t mind a little bit of her devilish side being passed down!
Lola, our first homebred
While most Polocrosse ponies are still happy wintering out, a few of us have dragged our fat, muddy, hairy horses in from the fields, for a clip, a new set of shoes and begun exercising in the lead up to this years Arden Club Spring League Tournaments held at Dallas Burston Polo Club. These arena tournaments were started a few years ago with the aim to not only make our season last longer, but to bring young horses into the game in low stress situations or just to have some more fun playing Polocrosse.
It’s always nice to get first place, or best player prizes, but I personally feel the most pride when my horses are recognised for their hard work and ability! At last years Spring League tournament, I won Best Horse and Rider in the High Goal with one of our homebred geldings, Nightmare. For this years Spring League I will be playing an OTTB mare, Money, we got last year from our farrier. We restarted her in March to find she was very responsive, willing, quick to learn and had the softest mouth. Took her to her first training a month later, where she took everything in stride. She played a few games at the first two tournaments of the season, just to get her feet wet. Again, she took it all in like she had been playing for years and answered every questioned asked with a smile on her face. She played her first full tournament at the beginning of June to come home with Best Horse in A grade – the top division in Polocrosse. To say we are excited about her future is as understatement to say the least! I’m really looking forward to playing her in these arena tournaments, and see how she goes this summer.
I’ve also begun exercising my son’s Welsh section A pony, Shadow. Riley got Shadow from Santa a couple of years ago, and she’s proven time and time again that she is the most perfect little pony we could have ever dreamt up! Riley has decided that this year, he will start playing Polocrosse, which we are really excited about! He loves going to tournaments, playing with friends, and having a dance to the DJ’s music on Saturday night. It’s no secret that he’s a better dancer than my husband and I, and we usually have to drag him away kicking and screaming Saturday evening for bed, as he would much rather stay on the dance floor busting a move!
Riley and Shadow
Stay tuned for the results of the first tournament of the season and find out how Shadow and Riley get on with their first Polocrosse games!
This is Polocrosse.
