Like I’m sure everyone is – I’m loving the weather at the moment! It’s been an unbelievable April so far, but I’m not convinced as to how long it will last! Today is the day! Bandages are rolled, White jeans are out, mallets at the ready, today is the first chukkas of the season which I have been waiting for all winter! The ponies have been going really well so I’m looking forward to playing them, I get to the yard early so that I’m not rushing as we are playing at a different pitch today due to the lack of rain we’ve been having.
The horses know its match time because they hear the lorry start so they start to get a bit over excited! I load the horses in good time and take them to the new pitch; I passed my HGV test last year so I’m the designated driver of the 10 horse lorry!
I decide to play Chalita first because she is the hardest to ride so I thought I would have more energy to play her first, she played fantastically well, she is very powerful and loves to play, her down side is she does like to go fast all the time which is great for a tournament but I like to save them for when its needed so I was battling with her to hold her back, for my second chukka I play Roxy, who again played really well, she always takes a little longer to get fit, so next week I’ll work more on Roxy’s fitness and increase her feed.
I play Noemi next, she is a little bouncy and really wanted to buck, she was really excited to be back on the pitch so I decided not to focus on hitting the ball just to ride her around and get her used to being back in the game to settle her down with the other horses, for the fourth & final chukka I play Chalita again, because she has so much energy being a big horse, it’s really hard to make her tired! We had great first chukkas today and the ponies went well and listened to me which is my priority for the next few weeks. After polo we celebrated in style with tea and cakes for my friend Tom’s birthday then it was home to bed for an early night for me.
The ground is still really hard at the moment; I don’t think we have had rain for over 10 weeks so I’m praying for rain at the moment - everyone at work thinks I’m crazy as they are loving the hot weather, but it’s no good for the polo pitch!
I’ve been exercising the horses all week ready for chukkas this weekend and still no rain & I decide to only play on the Sunday and rest the horses on the Saturday, so I turn them out into the field for some fun instead. Sundays chukkas started off well but then turned for the worst when my good friend Mark had a fall off his horse and had to be rushed to hospital where they confirmed he had broken his shoulder and damaged his collarbone, the hospital said he wouldn’t be able to play for the next 6 months, I really hope that he makes a good recovery and we do see him again on the pitch this season. It also confirms that the ground is very hard and you don’t need to be going at great speeds to have a bad accident, I’m wishing him a super speedy recovery.
This week hasn’t been that straight forward, I bring Chalita in from the field on Monday and she has a large lump on the top of her leg, it’s quite hard and it’s not causing her any pain so tomorrow my friend Roddy who’s a vet is going to look at her for me. Roddy confirms Chalita may have been kicked and it’s nothing to worry about, he says to carry on as normal as she is in no pain and to keep exercising her – which is a relief! Pheww!
I’ve also managed to get my dad to practise with me a few evenings this week, so that’s been great fun! The weather has been amazing and we’ve been playing till 9pm some evenings! Next week I start with my first tournament, The Presidents cup at the White Rose Polo club which will be the first time I test the horse’s fitness and mine!! We will then travel away for the following two weekends to Leadenham polo club & Toulston polo club so we have a really exciting May planned.
Today is the day of the President’s Cup! The first tournament of the season.
My morning starts getting my two youngsters Brandy & Mollie ready to go to my friend Hugo who is a polo professional for breaking in, this week they’ve had lots of exciting things happen, feet done, mane trimmed and new rugs on, they’ve been really settled in the yard but they haven’t been on a lorry in over four years! So I knew it was going to be a long morning!! They both take a lot of time, encouragement and food!!!! But eventually they were in the lorry and we were off. We arrived at the farm and I had the biggest shock ever! Mollie the little monkey didn’t want to come off the Lorry! Never in all my years of working with horses have I ever had a problem with getting a horse off a lorry, on a lorry yes but never off! Horses always seem to test you when you really don’t have the time! After what felt like days with Mollie still stuck to the lorry like she was super glued to the floor with help from friends soon mounting up at the farm, myself, Hugo, Fernando, Sarah, Milo & even his dog! Eventually we managed to gently push her out, if she doesn’t make a polo pony I’m sure she will make an eventer she cleared the ramp in just one jump! I then left both ponies settled in the field as if they had lived there for years so I set off to see my other three monkeys, I’m getting super excited now for the tournament only hours to go also actually getting a little nervous!
It’s been raining all morning which is good because the pitch needs the rain and I have my fingers crossed the tournament will still be on, we get the text from our coach to say its game on..Yeayha!!! This tournament is a friendly game, so it’s a bit different to many others, I enter as an individual and my coach Tony picks the teams, it’s a good run out as he ensures all the teams are even to make horses and players happy for the first official game of the season.
I get the opportunity to captain the team, which is great because I get to play the game how I think we should play by managing the team to play the positions I think we should play in – talk about pressure!!
I’ve had a really busy morning and gets busier because I’m drafted in for umpiring the game before mine, so I jump on Noemi and we umpire two games whilst Chalita & Roxy have a little sleep tied to the lorry, then its time our game now feeling like 5 o’clock in the afternoon after my eventful morning with the youngsters when its actually only 1pm! I decide to start on Chalita, we are against a really strong team, and I make an early mistake and give away a penalty and they score, I know I have to make this up fast, so I quickly get going and I score and even the game pheww! My team are back feeling positive again, this then puts the other team under pressure and we start working as a team and my plan seems to be working the whistle goes for the end of the first chukka we are now at 1-1, so I decide to play Noemi for the second chukka, she’s great and reliable she’s like my little secret weapon and I can always rely on her in a game, the second chukka was a real battle but we managed to score another goal in the last few seconds of the game to get our place in the final!! Wahoo!
I’m also happy we won the first round because now we get to have a little break all this shouting and directing my team is physically exhausting so I’m happy to have a drink and a sit down and give the ponies a rest and think about how to play the final, I have an advantage because the team we are playing against are the team I umpired earlier match, so I know their strengths and weaknesses and how to break down their attack – I’ve just got to put this into practise now!!
It’s Game On - The final soon comes round & we are playing a very experienced team, I play Roxy in the first chukka and we get away really strong and by the first chukka we have scored three goals – Roxy was outstanding! The score was 3-1 by the end of the first chukka and in the second chukka the opposing team had a good start and came back fighting…very hard whilst we started to tire a little! The final chukka ended on a draw 3-3 so it was down to penalties!! Talk about taking it right to the edge! My heart was beating as fast as Noemi’s as we went to take our penalty, it’s a 30 yard shot, which is not that far but when you have a large crowd watching its really nerve wracking and you start to feel the pressure, after such a long day I feel very tired, we strike a lovely ball and score straight down the middle! The rest of my team followed in great style to take victory of the Presidents cup 2011!
It was a great day and a great start to my polo season, Roxy, Chalita & Noemi played absolutely fantastic, they couldn’t of done any better and I am very proud of them so big tea and extra treats for them tonight!… Even better to be finished off with homemade cakes, great company and a well-deserved beer!
For the next two weeks we are heading to Toulston Polo Club & Leadenham Polo Club so I look forward to keeping you updated! Bye for now! Anna x