The knowledge Pony power
Ketty
British Ladies Champs’ most valuable player Alice Gipps tells Georgie May about her super-speedy former 40-goaler – a polo-mad mare from Argentina
Vital statistics Name: Ketty Height: 15.1hh Age: 13 years old Colour: Liver chestnut Origin: Bred by the La Fuente family, Argentina
What made you buy Ketty?
My best mare slipped a hock ligament last year, so I haven’t played her since, preferring instead to breed from her in the meantime with the late Gabriel Donoso’s stallion Rector. So I knew she wouldn’t be able to play this season and began looking out for a replacement at the end of last summer. I spoke to Eduardo Heguy, who suggested that his brother Nachi might have something I would be interested in. He did. Ketty was a mare he had bought in 2001 from well-known Argentine breeders, the La Fuente family. He played her over there until 2006, when he brought her to the UK. I stick and balled her late last season and, despite not playing a chukka, I took a gamble and bought her on the basis of Eduardo’s usually reliable advice. It must have been a wrench to let her go to a girl, but I’m very grateful!
So the gamble has paid off? Definitely, she is so responsive and fast. She was a big part of why I won MVP at the British Ladies’ Championships at Cowdray in May. She took me everywhere I needed to be, allowing me simply to concentrate on the game and my role amongst my brilliant team-mates. I saved her for the last chukka but I had her on the sidelines as a spare just in case the game became tough early on.
What are her strengths and weaknesses? She’s super-handy and extremely quick off the mark, nearly leaving me behind the saddle on several occasions! She has great balance with a leg in each
corner, which is always a confidence-giver, especially in bad weather. I wouldn't say she has weaknesses, other than that she’s not getting younger, turning 14 this year. Generally I’m the one with the weaknesses!
What’s the highest level she’s played to? She's played 40-goal in Argentina with Nachi Heguy in both the Tortugas and Hurlingham Opens in 2006. She played high-goal for Les Lions with him for three seasons before I bought her. The season is still young and so far I have only played her in a couple of big tournaments – the British Ladies and then the Coworth Ladies Championships later in June.
What is her temperament? Fortunately, she is well mannered and easy, as I do all four of my playing ponies myself and so any problems are mine! Ketty loves polo – that is really what gets her going. At the start of this season, I was leading her back from a stick-and-ball practice when chukkas had started on a nearby field – one minute I had a quiet donkey on the end of the rope and the next she transformed into a two-legged tiger wanting to join in. I figured it was time to start playing her.
Would you sell her?
Certainly I shall keep her for the rest of her playing days, and after that I would look very seriously at keeping her to breed from.F
Do you know a pony we should feature in Pony Power? Write to
jamesmullan@polotimes.co.uk
Page sponsored by Baileys Horse Feeds - experts in polo nutrition Tel: +44 (0)1371 850247
www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk
70 July 2010
www.polotimes.co.uk
Photograph by Alice Gipps
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100