Lifestyle blog - Polo and Travel
On a glorious and sunny Thursday morning in December I was picked up from Pilar, Buenos Aires, by Jorge, who drove me to La Tarde Polo Club in Mercedes. On the way, he told me how he had once driven an Englishman to La Tarde from Buenos Aires and then every day for a week. That Englishman comes back every year and Jorge has now been driving La Tarde guests to the polo club for more than 10 years. Already...
Polo in Argentina is more than just A sport, it’s a national sport, a way of life and it has its own TV channel, ESPN Polo. I discovered polo when I did an exchange program in university and lived in Buenos Aires for a semester. Several of my classmates played polo, just as a hobby when they were with their families in the “campo”. For them, polo was a normal thing, you play it in the countryside, professional polo players...
On my recent Argentinian adventure, my days were packed with all things polo, from learning to play to watching the absolute best players in the world play the Argentine Open. I witnessed polo pony auctions, the national sport of Pato (absolute madness) and much more. I always like to know how things are made, so I dropped by the Cavalier Polo Ranch shop in Pilar to talk to Fefe about how Cavalier Polo Helmets were made, the idea behind the...
December the 2nd was a date marked in every polo fan’s calendar, as it was the final of the best and most important polo tournament in the world, the Argentine Open, or commonly known as the Palermo Open. It was also a very special day for women in polo as it marked the first final of the Argentine Women’s Polo Open. The day wasn’t as pretty and sunny as I had hoped for, but was definitely more comfortable for spectators...
The second weekend of the best polo in the world, Palermo Open, was as big as the first. Nation favourites La Dolfina and Ellerstina (the two teams that are most often seen in the finals) had their debuts in the tournament on either day. Saturday the 11th featured two matches, the first one was La Dolfina against La Esquina. With a handicap difference of 11 goals, it was no surprise that La Dolfina took the lead and kept it all...
It is no mystery why the majority of the polo greats are from Argentina, they can ride a horse before they can walk and are playing polo whilst they still have their baby teeth. Yesterday I witnessed some little machines, who will most definitely continue to impress us all as they grow. The Merlos family opened up their La Mariana Polo farm to kids and parents for a fun day of polo. The tournament had two different age groups, the...
The Argentine Open, or also commonly called Palermo Open is the highest rated polo tournament in the world. The title of winners of this tournament carries a lot of weight behind it, being an “Open” team handicaps go up to 40 goals, meaning that on some teams all 4 players are at 10 goals (for more polo lingo read here, and for handicaps read here). Polo fans from everywhere, and I mean literally everywhere, come to this melting pot of...
Tacking up a horse is one of the basic and main lessons you learn at Pony Club, but for us crazy people who decide to learn to ride a horse at an adult age, we don’t get to go to pony club and most often our horses are all tacked up, shiny and ready for us to hop on. As easy and convenient as that is, knowing how it’s done is actually quite important. If you do not know...
Sunday August 27th was an exciting day in Sotogrande, the 5 weeks of intense polo matches had led up to this moment, where two of the best teams would have the final showdown. Ayala: Iñigo Zobel 0, Gregorio Gelosi 4, Santiago Laborde 6 and Facundo Pieres 10 vs La Indiana: Michael Bickford 1, Juan Gris Zavaleta 8, Byron Watson 3, Agustin (Tincho) Merlos 8 After a tumultuous season for La Indiana (to say the least, with the amount of injuries and team...
Sunday the 13th of August was a big day at Santa Maria Polo Club. Seven teams had competed over two weeks to find the finalists, the two teams who would fight the final battle in the high goal Maserati Silver Cup 2017. Dos Lunas A&G Banca Privada: James Fewster 1, Pascual Vicuña 6, Facundo Sola 8 and Martin Podesta 5 Lechuza Caracas: Victor Vargas 0, Will Harper 0, David Stirling 10, Juan Martin Nero 10 A warm and windy afternoon...
During my trip to the UK for the Jaeger LeCoultre Gold Cup Final, I managed to meet up with Canadian 8-goaler Frederick Mannix, who was in the UK playing for Sommelier Polo. They had a fantastic season making it to the semifinals where they competed against their “brothers”, El Remanso (Sommelier is George Hanbury’s team and El Remanso is his brother Charlie Hanbury’s team). On that slightly rainy Thursday morning, Philippa and I got in the Silver Bullet (my friend’s...
An exciting day for women’s polo, Cirencester Park Polo Club was host to the Kings Head Hotel Ladies International Match. Team USA had travelled across the pond to meet the Swarovski England Team in a heated 4 chukker battle. I had great chats with Tamara Fox and Nina Clarkin, who are #SistersInMallets and in real life as well. These two have been playing polo together and against each other for over 20 years, with only a few years missed due...
On Saturday 24th of June British Polo Day hosted their 60th event globally. The fabulous day started off with a Nyetimber reception at the beautiful Black Bears Polo grounds. “British Polo Day is an unparalleled platform celebrating the history and heritage of polo with a global community, bringing together the world’s top companies and key influencers. It provides a platform for business in emerging and growth markets, giving partners enviable access to international contacts.” Lunch was served in the marquee,...
On a scorching hot Sunday afternoon of the recent UK heatwave, two of the best teams in UK polo had a great battle on the Queen’s Ground at the renowned Guards Polo Club in Windsor. The Cartier Queen’s Cup is one of the highest rated tournaments in the U.K. and in the world. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments to win and the trophies are handed over by her Majesty the Queen of England. A total of 10...
Driving down the lane towards Guards Polo Club, nestled in the Royal Windsor Great Park, I felt butterflies. Watching high-goal polo does that to me, especially when friends are on the field. Michael Bickford was actually one of the key people who introduced me to polo 7 years ago in Argentina and I have seen him play in 4 different countries. Last year he and his La Indiana team made it to the final of the Queen’s Cup and were...
Hey there! I'm Diana, a Danish/Brazilian traveler of the world and I love polo. I fell in love with polo in Argentina and I started to learn to play in April 2015. Explore the site and join in on my polo passion or read more about me right here
