The Puesto Viejo Experience Learning to play Polo


the Argentine way! Article by Vik Krisham (Part 1):


Until September 2010 I had, apart from an afternoon spent at the Cartier, never really seen a polo match or thought I would have anything to do with the game. My wife, Kasia, and I had been invited to watch a charity game at the Royal Berkshire between an Indian “Sherdills” team and the British Army, held in the presence of the Prince of Wales. I made a slightly tongue in cheek comment to the organiser that it would be nice to get some new Indian blood into the team and he looked at me and said “Why don’t you try it, and if you do ok then you can play in the next match in 2012.” It was a bet – albeit for two hundred Rupees (about £3!).


I had no idea what to do (beyond being given a dog eared copy of “Polo” by a helpful brother...) which is where Ham comes into the story! I had been lucky enough to meet Chris Graham socially and through him had bumped into Nicholas and Annie C-D. With their guidance, I took my first lesson in October with Bruno Parodi and Adolfo Casabal. Learning to hit a ball while just sitting on a horse was a challenge in itself! Nick and Adolfo suggested to me that if I was serious about improving quickly, that I should think about going to Argentina for a week or two in the winter and immerse myself at a polo club. Along with Pete McCormack, who did all the legwork looking for clubs that could accommodate a player with my (lack) of stature in the game, and bring me along, we decided on Puesto Viejo.


Puesto Viejo is owned and run by Jeremy and Lilliana Baker, both Ham members, who moved to Argentina to create a Polo environment that would allow all levels of Polo to co-exist on a modern estancia only 40 minutes from Buenos Aires. So after continuing with my arena lessons with Adolfo I found myself heading to Puesto Viejo with Kasia for two and a half weeks in late November.


On arrival, I was a little overawed by the setup. Puesto Viejo boasts three polo pitches and a stick and ball ground that actually looked better than some of the pitches I had seen! The ladies Polo World Championships were also being played and the standard was incredible. The whole club was incredibly active.


The first person who came to see us once we had got to our rooms was Jeremy. Immediately we were put at ease by his infectious enthusiasm for the sport and his passion for bringing new people into it. We had the first of many three course lunches and wonderful Argentinean


48


Asados. For those of you on a diet beware - while Puesto Viejo caters for all food types with consummate


ease –including my vegetarian wife, the standard lunch and dinner is three courses – and you still lose weight! Liliana joined us for lunch along with the polo pro, Antonio Manzorro, who chatted about my level and relative skill.


The next two weeks were filled with polo – a session in the morning (usually stick and ball with a lesson), and then “practikas” - practice chukka’s with Jeremy, Antonio and a host of other pros who were based out of Puesto Viejo. From being able to occasionally hit the ball to playing in club chukkas took two weeks – the tuition and facilities were that good.


As a complete beginner to Polo, I didn’t realise the standard of the pros until I got to know them a little better. Players such as Mat Lodder (who played with someone called “Adolfo Cambiaso”), Oscar Mancini and Santiago de Estrada et al were all teaching and playing from Puesto Viejo. I couldn’t help but improve! I wasn’t the only player staying at the Estancia – a regular flow of players from around the world come in to play, and have some fun.


I was very lucky to have been staying at Puesto Viejo during the time of the Open – in fact after Saturday morning practice; the entire club seemed to de-camp en masse to Palermo! Jeremy and the team also arranged for massages (much needed


after what seemed like days in the saddle) and providers of sticks, helmets, boots and the usual paraphernalia to come to us (saving the travel to various locales). On the one day the weather wasn’t too good we enjoyed exploring Buenos Aires.


My game made solid progress during my stay - in fact I soon discovered that hitting the ball wasn’t really too much of an issue, it was rather my riding style! Let’s just say my pretty new helmet had lots of green gash


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