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March 2004
An article written by David Quarmby on his trip to Argentina this month for the Honorable Artillary Company Newsletter.
Polo Argentino con Carlitos Gonzalez
In Argentina polo is popular
amongst the farmers and Gauchos, with little or none of the formality
sometimes associated with the game in England. Most of the players have
been riding all their lives and playing polo as soon as they can touch the
ground with a mallet on horseback. Argentina’s benign climate, its
A typical evening involved
dining out in groups of 25 or more in the best restaurants in town. Copious
amounts of the delicious ‘bife’ and lamb were consumed washed down with a
number of famous Mendoza wines. In a vain attempt to burn off that
evening’s meal a rigorous regime of late night dancing was initiated.
Fortunately, the first game would start at 3:00 pm giving us just enough
time to recover! The Balcarce tournament was played at the El Rincon estancia. El Rincon is owned by Snr Baudrix and is not an untypical farm of some 120,000 acres providing some 5,000 bovine spectators. The two pitches were laid out on an old grass airstrip, which provided a level-playing surface comparable to most club grounds. At the end of the tournament our hosts put on an ‘asado’ (B-B-Q) catering for over 100 guests where three lambs, half a cow and a considerable amount of ‘refreshment’ was lustily consumed.
The Tandil Moving Stone
The standard of polo at Tandil
was particularly high and we were pleased to be playing alongside many high
handicapped players. No one seemed to mind our at best ‘novice’ standard of
play, not even our patient mounts. There was an enjoyable camaraderie
between ourselves and the Argentines from Mar del Plata, engendered by
traveling away from home. There was no sense of English / Argentine
rivalry, rather we were competing together against teams from a different
town. The trip provided many fond memories, but I will certainly remember
the good sportsmanship shown by our hosts. I am definitely not used to
having the captain of the opposing team conceding a goal and racing up to
me, fist clenched with a shout of “Goalasso!” and a big smile on his face.
However, my team’s attempts to
win the Tournament were undone by a rather too excessive late night
team-bonding session after our victory over Tandil Polo Club. We were
soundly routed the next day, and to quote Hernan Muzzio: ‘David, I tell you
when you play well and today you play terrible’…. actually ‘terrible’ is my
word; his was unprintable.
The Argentine Army provided a full military band for the Finale and rolled out a rather intimidating TAM tank. We were aware that people would to some extent be judging us on our behavior, so I was delighted to receive the ‘fair play’ medal. I think the sight of a main battle tank next to the pitch had a lot to do with this and I can promise to again be on my best behavior should the HAC decide to do the same for future Saddle Club tournaments!
The Finale itself was very exciting with the Army equalising in the dying seconds of regular time. Rather sportingly the Army then conceded the Tournament to a Mar del Plata team including Kim. The game was tied at seven goals a piece with no winner found after two extra chukkas and in failing light.
After the prize giving we were
invited to the Officer’s mess for a civilised post-Tournament drinks, where
we all enjoyed swapping stories. On our return to Mar del Plata we were
left with just a couple of days to relax by riding on the beach and we were
off back home.
A special thank you to
organiser of the ‘Copa de Gloria’ tourneo Juanito Baudrix, everyone at 1st
Brigade Armour Tandil, especially Major Roberto Casares and Generale Laciar,
4-goal professional; the long-suffering Hernan Muzzio, the patron of the
winning team and dinner host Gustavo Cardinale, our grooms Max, Norberto,
Fernando and Jose and of course Kim Sherman and Carlitos Gonzalez.
Kim or Carlitos can be contacted on 00 44 (0) 7748 670587 or 00 44 (0) 7775 651327 or Telephone number in Argentina 00 54 9 223 6819405 for more information and pictures look at their web site www.playpolo.co.uk
Email address is
info@playpolo.co.uk
.
Carlitos is based at The Royal
County of Berkshire Polo Club for the summer months (April-September). Call
Carlitos and book in for a complimentary polo lesson and he can advise on
when would be the best time to go to Argentina for your own playing level.
Complete beginners are very welcome. |
Regular
saddle club newsletter readers may recall last Spring’s article describing
our hugely enjoyable Argentine polo holiday. I am pleased to say that this
Winter a total of six Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) Saddle Club
members followed in our footsteps and joined Carlitos Gonzalez and his
partner Kim Sherman in Mar del Plata. In fact Kim and Carlitos were
extremely busy this year looking after nearly 50 visitors (as well as some
30 horses). Their industry did not go unrecognised by the Argentine Tourist
Authority, who appointed Carlitos,
As
many members will know, polo is primarily a summer sport in England, with
winter being confined to outdoor ‘arenas’. A winter escape to the Argentine
sunshine provides many aspiring British players with the opportunity to top
up their skills, suntans and take advantage of the generous hospitality
this country has to offer. Whilst polo will never be a cheap sport, once
again the Argentine Peso’s weakness has ensured an excellent standard of
polo is affordable to many. A two-week trip is comparable to the cost of a
European skiing holiday.
large open spaces and abundant pastures provide an ideal environment for
the horses to thrive in. When they are not playing many ponies are simply
left to roam free in herds. Kim and Carlitos’ holidays provide an ideal
opportunity to really get to know the culture, share a common passion for
horses and polo, and to pretend you are in a Jilly Cooper novel!
I
am certain HACSC Members Jean, Andrew, Trisha, Melanie and Michele will be
happy to talk for hours to any readers interested in their pictures and
stories, but in case you miss them, I am happy to recount my experiences.
In March this year, after transferring from Buenos Aires, we began our
holiday in Mar del Plata but soon moved on tour traveling to two local polo
tournaments. The first tournament was a three-day event in Balcarce, the
home of five times F1 grand prix racing champion, Juan-Manuel Fangio. The
second was in the City of Tandil, home of the 1st Armoured
Brigade, who kindly hosted an eight-team tournament played out over four
days.
The
following day we moved our traveling band of ‘Ingleses’ headed off 100 kms
west to Tandil, together with accompanying four grooms, some 25 horses
including assorted and substantial bags of playing and personal gear. As
excited as we were at playing in Tandil, it seemed that the whole town knew
of our presence. Each day the ‘Voice of Tandil’ ran a page on the
Tournament’s progress and the Argentine press seemed particularly
interested in the four female players. ‘Was polo popular amongst the
English ladies?’ was a question they were most often asked, including the
radio talk show and television appearances (video copies are available free
of charge from Michele Williams)!
