December
La Low Goal
Chukka Wellness Top Tips on fitness for polo
Opinion Article Weight limits for polo?
Ignacio Llorente What you can see in a game
Young Ponies The cheapest way into polo?
PoloAndYoga Adventures
Looking for Contributors Could you write us an article? Tell us about yourself, your horses, your club, etc and get featured!
This Month… Ignacio Fernández Llorente: What you can see beyond fouls
Welcome We have a big thank you for all of you readers. We have recently crossed a milestone, a fairly big milestone. As of time of writing we have just received 1000 readers across our four issues to date. I personally would like to thank all of you for you interest, and hope you continue to read in the future. Hundreds of hours have gone into producing these magazines from ourselves, but also our generous contributors, especially those who have agreed to write regular columns in the future, extending their commitment to our cause. Thank you for your commitment and readership over our short history, and we hope you continue to support La Low Goal and the U.K. low goal, in the future. We hope 2019 will continue to be as exciting and varied as this year, and look forward to our first full year of reporting on the UK low goal scene. We sincerely hope you enjoyed the festive period and wish you a happy 2019.
Opinion Article: Weight limits in polo? PoloAndYoga Adventures
Enjoy the issue. Connor Kay (editor)
In this Issue Insight into the possibility of a polo weight limit, and its foreseeable consequences.
Ignacio Llorente, professional umpire urges Chukka Wellness: spectators to stop watching top tips on fitness for polo games solely for fouls
Young Ponies: Are youngsters the best way into polo?
Page 4 Page 7
Ignacio Llorente
Opinion Article Young Horses
What you can see in a game of polo
Page 9 PoloAndYoga Adventures
Page 15 Polo Weight Limits?
Page 19 Chukka Wellness Top Tips on how to improve your balance.
What You can see in a Polo Match Ignacio Fernรกndez Llorente (POLO IN)
In my work as a professional referee, I usually have weekly meetings where we analyse infractions of the rules in polo matches. We spent many hours watching videos. Analysing the foul of each game is our job. In the analysis of the videos, the statistics show that the referee's error never reaches 10%, however the players often seem to believe that the standard of umpiring is not satisfactory. In polo many goals are scored and there are countless goal opportunities wasted by the players. It is very difficult for a team to lose by the referee. Despite this it is very common to hear the Professional who lost trying to hide the defeat by blaming the referee. The Pro who usually seems to know more than God, underestimates the work of the referee when he loses. Many things happen within a match besides fouls. Most people when they watch a game, it seems that the only thing they look at is whether or not it is foul. But if they are NOT umpires, so why do they do it? In my latest clinic, I tried to do what most people do but I surprised them: I showed them a play [without a foul] and asked him to tell me what is right and wrong with the game. Everyone had a hard time giving an opinion. After seeing several examples, everyone began to watch a game differently. Many of those players asked me to have another clinic, where I found them so that they started to really see the going ins of a match. A match is not just fouls, there are many very interesting things that have to be discovered, and I
assure you that they are more fun than the fouls. In many clubs when I do not have a match, I am usually asked to watch the game with a special guest to explain. I try to convey to these guests how fabulous this sport is, and for that I am not talking about the fouls. When they watch a game try to see the interesting thing of this sport, the strategy of the teams, the virtues and defects of horses and players, which is very difficult to achieve, how the team works, the errors that the opponent forces, the plays that are not correct, the statistics of the game, etc. I assure you, if you see the game in this light, you will enjoy each match much more. 
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Youngsters The way to go?
In our very first issue, we wrote an article summarising the pros and cons of buying older ponies, to get low goal players into tournaments. This essentially ran along the lines that by buying one of these more senior citizens, you are offered a cheap route into polo, but take the gamble on the fact that older injuries, or just age related factors could leave you horseless. There is, however another way.
lame. Nobody wants a crippled horse, but someone might take a stickshy or cooked youngster, and take it to a different discipline, from dressage to Polocross. The biggest thing I’ve found while making youngsters is that temperament is king. Get a horse with an easy going nature and half the battle is already won. Even if it won’t be fast enough for you in the long run, you can always sell it as a beginner pony and buy yourself a made replacement.
Young horses offer another cheap(ish) path to playing tournaments. Having been down both roads, first with older ponies and now with my string of ex racers, I feel I am in a position to share my experiences of these two options. The first and most important factor when deciding whether to take a young horse is commitment. Youngsters require far more time and attention, and will need schooling regularly. They may not be playable for a number of months, and even then, they will be playing slow chukkas for a good year before your ready to throw them into a decent level tournament. During that time you’re going to struggle to look good, concentrating so much on your ponies that you will be hard pressed to make those great plays that you are desperate to learn. On the plus side though, and this is a biggie, you can pick up an ex racehorse, already backed for under £500. There is also the potential to make something far better than anything you’ll ever pick up for £1,500, and then that likely will be able to stay with you for many years to come. It’s not risk free though, as not every horse will make a polo pony, the only difference here is that you can cut your losses far more easily than if your old faithful goes
Making young ponies isn’t for everyone. Not every low goal player will have the time, space or knowledge to do it, and that’s fine. Even if they do, for some people it simply isn’t the right way. If you just want to pootle round playing -8 Goal, or make a splash playing made ponies and jump up handicaps as fast as possible then by all means, go ahead. But for me making my own ponies was the right way to go, as it sets me up long term with a better string for a lower price. Yes I had to essentially sacrifice a season to do it, but it would have been inefficient and downright cruel to force my older ponies to play to higher levels when I can not afford the younger more athletic ones the pace of the games demands. Finally, and not to be overlooked, is the satisfaction one can gain from making their own ponies. Many people choose to keep making ponies after they could afford a made one, as they love the feeling when your lanky little baby morphs into a capable, machine of a horse, thanks entirely to the hard work and dedication
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Weight
Limits
I’m afraid in the eyes of the authorities that the likelihood, if you’re a polo player is probably a yes. Over the past few years a debate has raged in more traditional equine disciplines over the welfare of a horse ridden by an overweight rider, or perhaps just someone on a pony that is too small for them. This has climaxed in recent months with high profile dismissals from large competitions such as ‘Horse if the Year Show’, for riders deemed to be to heavy for their own ponies. Over the course of the debate many vets have tried their hand at estimating a maximum figure it is acceptable to expect your horse to carry. These estimates have been widely disputed but generally range at between 10-20% of a given horses body weight. Just some quick
maths can therefore show that if a polo player was to be weighed, he would likely be the wrong side of even the 20% end of these estimates. Once you factor in tack, which is often very heavy in polo anyway, many players, who would not usually deem themselves overweight could find themselves falling well short of the requirements for a 15.1 or 15.2 pony. Unfortunately for polo, these smaller ponies have become widespread across much of the polo community, the smaller height making the ponies nimbler and easier to hit the ball off. This then, could spell huge disruption throughout the polo world, if legislation was brought in to combat the weight problem.
So what is the likelihood of legislation being put into force then? Polo has had a liberal interpretation of many safety and welfare rules over its history, what is to say that’s going to end now. In all honesty, I imagine nothing will come of it and polo will quietly wash its hand of these issues raised by external equine disciplines, as it always has done. Many in the polo community will keep their head down for a bit, and hope the storm just quietly passes by. But saying this, with the recent helmet regulations and revised rules to speed up the game, the HPA are attempting to bring polo more in line with the rest of the equine disciplines. This, after all is the only way polo is going to achieve more widespread coverage, and stop the reducing membership numbers. If polo is trying to find a place for itself on the global stage, perhaps at the Olympics or just becoming a more mainstream spectator sport, it will no longer be able to get away with bypassing any rules that it or its members dislike.
So what happens next? There have been no official announcements or even hints that a new rule monitoring rider and pony weights is likely to come into force in the foreseeable future. The HPA have merely stated that they ‘are keeping and eye on the situation’. But if polo did get the news that weight systems were coming into force the disruption would not only be passed to the players unable to play, but more so, to the people who hire ponies or give beginner lessons. Their whole string on which their livelihood is based may become illegal overnight and they may be unable to give lessons, or forced to look for some bigger ponies. However, my best guess is that as per usual the whole thing will blow over shortly and will soon be forgotten, and even if new rules came into place, can you see many clubs honouring them and banning their own members to play. Personally I don't believe anything will come of it, but in the mean time, I’m off to stock up on 15.3s. You never know, they may become invaluable.
Chukka Wellness
Improve your balance and Core Stability
Balance and core stability are two major components of polo�
“
You are up and out of the saddle the majority of play and leaning over to hit the ball and riding the opposition off. It is essential to remain strong and stable in these positions to enhance the power of your swing. If you feel that your balance and core strength needs a bit of work, then look no further.
India Parker-Smith, founder of Chukka Wellness; a company dedicated to improving the fitness of polo players, recommends a few exercises to get you started. To test your balance as players India recommends trying some single leg work as well as testing the body and identifying any weak areas using different planes of movement.
Here are a few exercises to start you off‌
1. Single Leg Balance
S
tart by placing 6 cones or markers around you in a rectangle shape. Balance on 1 leg and
reach down slowly to touch each cone. For added difficulty move the markers further away to force you to reach over more. Try 30 seconds on each leg and then switch legs.
2. Single Leg Balance with eyes closed
R
epeat the same exercise again but this time with your eyes closed! 30 seconds on
each leg then switch.
Chukka Wellness
3. Balance on an elevated surface
G
rab a bucket, tree stump or Bosu and try the same exercise but this time maintain a squat
position. As you are on an elevated base you will be forced to squat lower and lean over more. Keep your core muscles tight throughout the exercise. 30 seconds switching between each marker. Top Tip – focus on your weaker side more!
4. Single leg work on an unstable surface
I
f you have a Bosu stand on one leg in the middle of it. Slowly extend one leg back and as
you do so, lean forward with your torso as though you are pretending to be an aeroplane. Pull your core muscles in and hold the position for 5 seconds then come back to centre and repeat on the other leg. 5 times per leg. If you do not have a bosu continue using the same base you used in exercise 3.
Chukka Wellness offers clinics for teams and players along with online bespoke training programmes. To get in touch with them please email India.parkersmith@gmail.com Instagram: @chukkawellness
Contributors • PoloAndYoga Holidays • Ignacio Llorente • Chukka Wellness
Editor: •Connor Kay
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