players, giving advice on technical adjustments to be made to the swing, and tactics in the chukkas. After a long days polo we all looked forward to re-living the day’s play over a few beers in the main house, before settling down to good food and wine for dinner at nine.
The week was punctuated with a number of entertaining trips out of the Estancia. We visited the local tackarias in Lobos to pick up as much tack as we could carry: sticks, boots and custom designed helmets. We visited a local leather worker, Marcelo, whose house was a few minutes drive from the farm. His shop opens and closes as the business comes in, and is a far cry from the air-conditioned arcades we had previously frequented in Buenos Aires. The smell of tanning hangs heavily in the air, and the floor of the shop itself is the fertile raw earth of the local farmland. We spent a very enjoyable half hour drinking mate with Marcelo and Christopher whilst picking through his wares.
Later in the week the Hanburys very kindly took us out for a delicious roadside parilla and then on to watch the El Remanso team play in a local 5 a side football tournament known as the Babi. This was no friendly encounter: teams from the local area play for a significant cash prize on a rough pitch surrounded by high caged walls. The play was quick and aggressive, and despite a strong performance the El Remanso team was knocked out after a penalty shoot out.
After almost a full week of riding for 3 hours a day Euan arranged for a local masseur to come and work the knots out of the system. This was seemingly an excellent idea, as the ladies had enthused about his abilities, gentle touch, and striking good looks. It was only as I lay there half naked and face down on his torturers table that I realised a trap had been set. This was to be an elongation massage, a process of twisting, stretching and manipulating each of your muscles until they were in a shape entirely unfamiliar to them. It was intensely intensely painful, the brief moments of respite tempered by the realisation that he still had to work the opposing muscle. There was a moment of sheer panic as, with the light fading and the setting sun kissing the horizon, I felt my boxer shorts being gently edged down lower and lower. Hello I thought, this is a bit ripe. I am thoroughly pleased to report this was only for the purpose of ‘working’ my glutes, and that the rest of the massage passed without incident. I left the room an hour later feeling strangely more relaxed and, (sadly only temporarily), taller than de Rivaz I was before.
We had a wonderful week, and were very lucky to be there at the same time as Christopher and Bridget, as they were superb hosts and excellent company. The polo was superb, I loved all of the horses I rode and really felt my game improved over the week. I would thoroughly recommend a visit to anyone who hasn’t been as it is quite spectacular, and I very much look forward to going back myself next year.
Proud to be associated with Ham Polo Club
2009
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