Team Line-Up

Santiago Schweitzer – The Professional

Personal details: Current polo handicap +6 in Argentina, professional polo player, polo instructor and manager of the Polo Match polo academy – Studies: Law, attorney at law.

Santiago comes from a family of polo players and was born with a mallet in his hand. He has actively been playing polo since he was eleven and played a handicap of +3 at the age of seventeen. He currently holds a handicap of +6. He plays and played in Argentina, Costa Rica, Germany, Ecuador, Kenya, Mexico, Uruguay and Paraguay. The tournaments he has played include Copa Presidente Fundator Isaac de Oliveiry Cèsar (1994), Metropolitano Bajo Handicap (1995–1996), Copa Beguerie (1995–1996), Copa Amistad (1996), Copa Fernandez Sarua (1997), Copa Bartolomè Mitre (1998), Copa Estimulo (1998), Copa Jorge Sauze (1998), Torneo de Professionales Universitarios (2001, 2002, 2004), Copa Nestor Lupez (2007) and the Abierto de La Plata (2007). Alongside his active participation in tournaments he has been concentrating on training and coaching polo players. Together with his brother Fernando (handicap +4), he manages the polo academy Polo Match in Open Door, Buenos Aires.

His polo philosophy: “For me, polo is both a passion and a profession. Polo is a large part of my life. It is my profession and my calling. My family and I have always been deeply rooted in the traditions of the sport of polo. Besides horse breeding we run the polo academy “Polo Match” near Buenos Aires. In “Polo Match” we organize training courses and tournaments. Special attention is paid to the polo players’ instruction and training. Polo is a sport which challenges both a player’s physical as well as his mental abilities. Unfortunately, the training lessons are often inappropriate to the wide range of all aspects of polo. Too often and after far too short a training period you can watch players appearing in tournaments who have knowledge of neither the basics of swinging nor of riding. As polo has gained popularity in the last few years it has nowadays become fairly easy to start playing. More and more farms and instructors offer polo lessons. However, the quantity says nothing about the quality offered. Our country breeds and brings into the market good quality polo ponies and, moreover, the world’s best players come from here. Thus we have a certain responsibility and we have to strive to keep up this level and to improve it even further.”

Have fun and enjoy the book!

Personal details: Graduate engineer in agriculture, graduate of the Irish National Stud Thoroughbred Breeding and Management Course 2002

Involved in equestrian sports from her earliest childhood, Barbara specialized in horses and equestrian sports during her studies. Having achieved her diploma, she became assistant manager at the “Gestüt Isarland” thoroughbred stud farm on Lake Starnberg in Germany. Being a student of the Irish National Stud, she acquired profound knowledge of breeding and management and completed the “Irish National Stud Thoroughbred Breeding and Management Course 2002” with several honors. Barbara Schütz works in a department responsible for animals at a specialized insurance provider and advises on equestrian sports for the Allianz Group, among others. Since 2009, she has been the first and only Publicly Certified Expert for Polo Horses in Germany (appointed by the administrative district of Upper Bavaria). In addition to that, she writes articles about horses and horse-keeping for the polo magazine PACE. Moreover, she voluntarily supports and advises the German Polo Association in questions on animal welfare.

Her polo philosophy: “For me, polo is a sport which began as a hobby and has become an integral part of my life. This sport, Argentina the country, and above all the horses have completely cast their spell over me. Polo is a complex, multi-layered and fascinating sport. For me, polo is an interaction of horse, sport, lifestyle, zest for life and adventure all rolled into one.”

Matthias Gruber – The Sports Photographer

Personal details: Born 1967, lives near Munich

His polo philosophy: “For me, polo is a fascinating combination of athletic skill, aesthetic and precision together with the team spirit between player and horse. And – last but not least – it is a real photographic challenge. I discovered Polo by chance. Actually, I just wanted to test a new camera for an upcoming event but the sport cast a spell over me immediately. Like in all high-speed sports, many details become visible only when frozen and captured in a split second. For instance, the sheer horse power, the dynamics of the players as well as technical finesse. Getting a good picture at a polo match is always a challenge. Apart from perfect lighting, the players and especially the horses should be displayed in decent action. A good knowledge about the game, its players, grooms and the horses is crucial to my work. The more you know, the easier you will get a good action shot or a nice picture of what‘s going on around a polo match. Collaboration on this book was a sort of training for my work as well and I`m sure that this will help me immensely for the upcoming seasons.”

Personal details: Polo player from Ising on Lake Chiemsee, media designer and owner of Lightconsulting GmbH.

Angelika has been active in equestrian sports since childhood. Before switching to polo in 2006, she was at home in an eventing saddle. Here she achieved success up to performance class L with horses that she trained herself.

Her polo philosophy: “Polo is for me a sporting equilibrium and a source of creative energy and ideas. Similar to eventing, with polo one experiences a perfect interaction between rider and horse. With polo I find an action-packed counterbalance to the turbulent family and business routine. At the same time, I free my mind in order to draw new creative energy.”

Michael Schölz – The Illustrator

Personal details: Graduate engineer in landscape architecture

His polo philosophy: “Polo is for me a wonderful example of an intensive interaction between man, animal and nature, dynamism and elegance, and power and energy. As a newcomer to polo I have so far only had a small insight into this sport, but through my work on this book I have already been able to understand some of the theoretical basics, which will now help me enormously in practice. I have been enthused by this sport since the first moment, and I have noticed how much I could transfer from my previous experience as a professional sportsman in martial arts and other sports such as mountain biking and slacklining. Inner and outer balance, an intensive battle with one’s own body, peace, anticipation and fast reaction times are aspects that man must demand from himself, as well as from the horse, in order to create a harmonic unit in the game. This combination of the perfectly coordinated athlete is the true fascination of this game.”