Tourists get to try hand at polo in nation that dominates sport
CAPILLA DEL SENOR, Argentina — Riding a polo horse on Argentina’s Pampas grasslands, Martin Folan swings a mallet in a wide arc and hits the ball with a loud clink, slotting it between two posts to cheers of “Goal!”
Not bad for his first time on a horse.
Polo has traditionally been an exclusive, glamorous sport reserved for the rich elite. But in Argentina, home to the world’s top polo players, tourists can ride horses, learn from the pros how to hit the high-impact plastic ball and even play a match on a real field for less than $200 a day.
’It was my first time on a horse, and they’re quite intimidating honestly for a man standing on the ground. But it was fabulous to be trotting around,” Folan said as he gripped the reins atop his horse.
“I never thought I would have done this at the beginning of the day,” the Londoner added.
Polo is believed to be one of the oldest team sports, dating as far back as 600 B.C. in Persia. It then spread throughout Asia and later reached Britain through India. But Argentina, with its wide plains and its rich culture of horseback riding among the Argentine cowboys known as gauchos, has gone on to dominate professional polo globally.
“Polo is played in the countryside a lot and in a much more informal way,” said Juan Pablo Alessandrini, spokesman for Argentina’s Polo Association. “Kids start riding horses at a very early age and they get to know polo. That’s a huge advantage over other countries.”
There are about 3,000 registered polo players nationwide, and many more informal ones. The Argentine Polo Open Championship held annually in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires usually sells out the 14,000 seats at the stadium that is revered by many players as the cathedral of world polo.
The tourist-oriented Argentina Polo Day is based at La Carona Club about an hour’s drive north of the country’s capital.
Tourists with no previous experience can play year-round under all weather conditions. The polo day package also includes transportation, wine and a traditional Argentine barbecue.
The sport is sometimes referred to as field hockey on horseback.
But Nacho Figueras, the Argentine polo star, says it’s more like playing golf during an earthquake.