The Polo Continues

I'd sort of given up on the idea of playing polo post-college until I went back to Yale for our annual alumni weekend back in November. My coach wanted to know why I wasn't in touch with one of the local DC clubs and pointed me at one that might be sympathetic to my poor grad student status. I dawdled around a bit on getting in touch since winter here isn't exactly high season for polo unless you're in college, but I finally did get in touch with the Potomac Polo Club, located outside of Poolesville. Turns out the club is run by a husband and wife and surrounded by the ranches of her father and two brothers. The husband, Dante, is my champion in this whole thing. His wife, Mary, is the real pro. She runs the ranch, teaches at the school and plays professionally a bit, all of which is very unusual in the polo world.
After emailing and talking with Dante on the phone for a couple weeks he invited me out to the ranch so that he and Mary could meet me and watch me ride. Dante allowed me use of one of his horses, Cebolla aka Onion (the name is a story in and of itself), which turned out to be quite the honor. I was only the second person he'd ever let ride her and turns out I must have done ok since I passed muster with Mary. Mostly I'm proud of the fact that I didn't fall on my butt and embarass myself after not having ridden since November.
Having gotten the approval of Mary the next step was to find some horses for me to ride for the summer that I wouldn't have to pay for. Turns out Mary and Dante allow an army colonel to board her horses at their ranch and she was looking for someone to exercise and play them for her so that when she is around, they'll be in shape and ready for her to play. I found out yesterday that the colonel is on board with the plan and I'm scheduled to go out to the ranch again this weekend to possibly help Mary with a clinic and to start exercising the fat ponies. Stay tuned for updates!