Preparation for a match starts in the early morning with unloading a string of six to eight mounts per player, braiding their tails, and wrapping their legs.Ĭhildren-such as Mason Sease who is hosing down his mom’s horse, are part of the horse aftercare routine Player and Hyde Park Farm & Polo Club owner Amy Vann Flowers (top, right) rests in a shade chair during the annual beach polo match on Kiawah Island.Īftercare for humans includes getting together for food and a beer with the dogs. Amy Vann Flowers (right, center) presides over this ceremony at Hyde Park Farm & Polo Club, a full-service polo school and facility that she built on family property near Ravenel.īridles are hung on the trailer, and each player sets up a spot to kick off his shoes and pull on his boots.Ī game of skill, speed, and power, it’s often played at full gallop and in a perilous lean, as demonstrated by Batt Humphreys in red and Barry Limehouse in blue. After the presentation, players talk to the fans, sit their children on the ponies, and explain the game to newcomers. Plates go to the members of the winning team, cups to the runners-up. Presenting the silver, like stomping the divots, is a cherished ceremony. Polo matches bring out friends, family, and other spectators. Three players leaning in for this bit of polo etiquette are Barry Limehouse, Todd Martineau, and Elisa Cashin. A foul hook can dislocate a shoulder, and a mallet in the face means stitches.Īfter the shouldering ferocity of the chukkers and the windup for a final shot, all eight players meet on the field to shake hands at the end of the match. Local players ride alongside those visiting from other states, as well as from England, Holland, and Argentina, the country that produces the best polo players in the world.īroken bones are not uncommon.
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