The Secret Life of a Polo Player

THE SECRET LIFE OF A POLO PLAYER

A personal story, behind the scenes

By Rebekah Pizana

You’ve heard of polo.

That adrenaline-fueled sport played in Wellington, Florida, just 20 minutes or so west of West Palm Beach. Insanely talented athletes gallop 40+ miles per hour down a field, just for a trophy? No, it is so much more. It’s a lifestyle, a passion, a pursuit.

When I started polo in 2015, I didn’t realize it would be the hardest endeavor I have ever committed to in my life. And by committed, I mean addicted. Riding is fun, the social life is fun, and there is nothing like a day at the barn with horses. But then the hard work arrives; it's not just about taking a cool Instagram picture or getting a highfive from an onlooker. It’s a high risk sport, and to play well, it takes hours and hours of riding, practice (pre-game chukkers), what we call “stick and ball” (training on the horse with the mallet), proper eating, proper exercise, and loads of sleep. And even then, you can play mediocre at best. Most professionals have been in the saddle since they were four or five years old – horses are in their blood; they were probably born with a mallet in hand. It is also a mental game, and mental preparation is a key part of every athlete’s pre-game routine.

The field consists of two four-player teams dressed in white pants, branded jerseys, regulation helmets, boots and knee guards. The sport seems intense enough to keep someone fit and toned. But like any other professional athlete, it takes consistent preparation, recovery, and dietary routines to stay in shape for the game.

Watch as a player works the mallet with their right arm, reigns in the left, mainly using legs and core to control the horse. The ball is steered, stopped, turned, and tapped towards two goal posts, while the other seven players bump each other to defend and change the line of the ball as they gallop in tandem down the field, all the while at high speed.

Diet, exercise, nutrition, recovery and mental health all play key roles in the life of a sponsor (i.e. the team “patron” or “patrona”) as well as the professional (higher rated player hired for the team). Most highgoal teams employ personal trainers and physical therapists. Many players incorporate yoga.

“It is equally essential to prepare your body and recover your body in order to prolong your playing career,” says India Parker-Smith.

Parker-Smith of Chukka Wellness, has worked with many medium and high-goal players including Nina Clarkin, Rebecca Walters, Thai Polo Team (UK), Schockemole Polo Team (DE), Farmington Polo Team (USA), Santiago Araya and Ned Hine to change their fitness programs drastically for pre-season.

Chukka Wellness reveals the ingredients needed to become “polo fit”:

India Parker-Smith and Rebekah Pizana Photography: Scott Giddens

“Mobility exercises help to reduce risk of injury and contribute to the strengthening of muscles and joints within the correct biomechanical position,” says Parker-Smith. “Common injuries including sore backs, tennis elbow, wrist strains, rider muscles strains. The majority of the time these injuries occur through lack of mobility and players not performing an effective mobility routine.”

A polo player’s body can take quite a beating in just one season. The defensive ride offs, the repetitive swinging actions, frequent falls, and simply trying to control a 1,000-pound animal.

Sylvester Stallone, a former polo player himself, sums it up well, “Playing polo is like trying to play golf during an earthquake.”

For a patrona (i.e. a female team sponsor), polo did not come easy for me. After seven years, I am still not a very good player, but I love the sport and have an even greater passion for the horses (most would say the “true” athletes). I started with training for several months a year with a polo instructor in any location I could find one throughout my pre-COVID travels. I would begin lessons as early as 6am or 7am. Learning to gallop, stop, whip, turn, swing offside, nearside, back, tail, and go again, for hours.

The next step was stripping my diet and rebuilding. I have a small frame and it takes quite a bit for me to build muscle and maintain it. I had digestive issues, energy depletion, and insomnia. My nutritionist helped me to break everything down, and build my diet back up slowly and carefully with the right foods and supplements. This took about two years. I worked with a few physical trainers, yoga instructors and the main focus was turning my nutrition into proper

muscle, increasing my energy with the right fuel, and working on mobility and flexibility for riding and rotating on the horse (with the mallet) as well as injury prevention.

In 2018, I suffered from nerve pain in my neck (from arena polo), which lasted a year, and underwent physical therapy for three months. In January 2021, I broke my right (mallet hand) wrist in three places. One plate and three screws later, I do think my swing has never been better. But my riding took a toll because I lost 10-15 pounds that I did not have, and had other stress in my life that kept my cortisol levels through the roof. Several months of physical therapy, and I was back to playing polo. But not without setbacks, I still have not met my goals.

Personally inspired by equestrian athletes (of all disciplines), I began frequenting recovery clinics for several years, including IV Therapy, massage, and cyrotherapy. In my post-surgery life, my biggest regret is not starting these lifestyle changes sooner.

Post-game recovery, regardless of past injuries, is as essential as preparation.

Cristina Parr, founder of a new venture focused on polo athlete recovery, has been playing since 2008. A personal trainer and nutritionist for 12 years, Parr saw how recovery was essential for optimum performance on and off the field. She started focusing on her own routines and quickly felt motivated to help other players feel their best.

This fall, Parr launches her business, which focuses strictly on pre-game performance preparation and post-game recovery.

“I want to work with the trainers of polo to provide their clients with equipment modalities such as cryotherapy and infrared light therapy and leave all the training to them,” Parr says. “Essentially I’d be the injury and inflammation healer. I’m hoping the synergy between what I offer and the personal trainers do with their teams will help polo players perform better than they ever have before.”

Parr is your typical lifelong athlete with a list of injuries: damage to her spine, joints, and soft tissue.

“I have no choice but to have a team of doctors that keep me in the game,” Parr says.

With this in mind, her new recovery venture will meet needs that are in high-demand.

There is so much more to be said about the day-to-day life of a polo player (level notwithstanding) and the small details you may never think are an essential part of a seemingly exclusive sport. It’s not so much a secret life, but an unfamiliar one and unlike any other pop culture sport in the world. Did you think the routine of a polo athlete was intense as an NFL quarterback? I didn’t.