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Lord Patrick Beresford In late November, Lord Patrick Beresford watched some early games of the Argentine Open. His prediction that La Dolfina would again triumph proved incorrect. They lost in the final, 10-12, to Ellerstina. Here, he explores the development of Argentina’s polo industry ILLusTrATION PHIL DIsLEy
The small town of Pilar lies some 35 miles north-west of Buenos Aires, the bustling capital of Argentina, home of the world’s greatest polo ground Palermo. In keeping with much of the countryside, the environs of Pilar are as flat as a board, and thanks to the vision of some polo luminaries such as Héctor Barrantes, Gonzalo Tanoira and Gonzalo Pieres, have developed into a centre of excellence that surely must now exceed even their founders’ wildest dreams. Within an area of only a few square miles, some alongside each other separated by single or double lines of trees, some end to end with no marked division, lie more polo grounds than probably exist in the whole of the British Isles: full-sized and boarded, they are serviced by enormous American barn-type stables and all-weather exercise tracks and schooling grounds, clubhouses and mainly metalled thoroughfares, while dotted about are houses of varying elegance designed by the more affluent players. The fields, which to the eye appear as level as a billiard table, are slightly cambered to assist drainage and maintained to the highest possible standards. Throughout the daylight hours, petiseros or grooms in the traditional gaucho garb of beret and bombachas (baggy trousers) lead strings of gleaming ponies on exercise or on the way
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to and from play. Gone are the heavy-headed criollos of yesteryear and in their place is the sleek thoroughbred or near-thoroughbred, many now priced beyond a prince’s ransom. In former times, the gauchos’ methods of breaking in and training horses were often considered at best rudimentary and, at worst, downright cruel. However, nowadays, the value of polo ponies is so high that far greater care is taken, not only initially – where the Monty roberts method has been adopted by many leading player-breeders, including, for instance, Adolfo Cambiaso and Memo Gracida – but also in early chukkas and games, where retired high-goal horsemen are employed to take over from the groom or domador (horse-breaker). Furthermore, it now seems that the former Argentinian belief that, on a fit pony, every rib should show has been replaced by a degree of
Gone are the heavy-headed criollos of yesteryear and in their place is the sleek thoroughbred
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condition more in keeping with European ideals. Where we still seem to differ is on the need to preserve equilibrium behind by removing the single outside stud from a pony’s back shoe after it has played, but perhaps this is because, in Argentina, there is far less hard-road exercise or standing in an unbedded stable. Apart from this, it would appear in general that farriery in Argentina, although hot-shoeing scarcely exists, is every bit as good if not better than our own. A fairly recent development in the sale of polo ponies has been an annual public auction at the private stables of some of the leading breeders. At one such, that of Ellerstina on 21 November, 21 yearling fillies were offered, 20 of which were sold at an average price of $95,000 (around £58,000). Of course, they were all of near-perfect conformation and breeding, and immaculately presented, but if, nevertheless, that seems a lot of money, consider the sale that then followed of 16 embryos. These were listed with details of the dam and sire and expected date of birth, and were guaranteed to be female, a fact established, unbelievably, by a minute biopsy of the embryo at the time of its removal from the maternal womb. Prior to and during the bidding, both the natural and the recipient mothers were paraded in the ring – the former all classic mares who had distinguished themselves
