The good player

Juan Carlos Alberdi won both the Argentine and Hurlingham Opens and, in 1953, was part of the team that took the Coronation Cup. Here, we reprise a feature the legend wrote in the Fifties

The difference, as I see it, between the Polo Player and the Good Polo Player has nothing to do with the handicap. There are Good Polo Players with a low handicap and Polo Players with a high handicap.

The Good Polo Player is not only interested in playing polo, but cares about his horses and knows how to treat them, be it in training, feeding or veterinary care. He is interested in knowing more about their origin, characteristics and habits, while the Polo Player is happy to get the most out of them without thinking of their wellbeing.

The Good Polo Player thinks of his horses first and then of himself. After a tough tournament, he is worried about the care his groom will give them – for example, a thorough shower and a good brushing-down, especially along the back. He does this before thinking of showering himself or having a cold drink. If a horse is injured, he will call the vet to have it treated and the next morning, he will visit the stables early to discover if anything more is needed to ensure its welfare.

The Polo Player, in contrast, goes back to the pony lines at a full gallop and comes to an unnecessarily abrupt halt. He throws the reins to his groom, mounts the next horse and returns to the field at the same gallop. At the end of the game, he does the same thing and forgets about his horses until the next tournament. He rushes to the changing room, downs a cold drink and talks to his mates about how many goals he made. The Good Polo Player returns to the pony lines at a slow pace. He makes sure the groom loosens the girth and walks the horse until its breathing is back to normal. He returns to the field with his new horse at a slow pace and makes sure the groom is looking after the other horses.

When the Polo Player is unable to make the horse do what he wants, the fault is never his. That is why he punishes the horse severely with the whip, long after the event instead of at the moment the misdemeanour occurs. The Good Polo Player, however, looks for a cause. If he finds it, he tries to solve the problem with training. If he discovers the fault was with his own riding, he tries to improve it so as not to ruin his horse.

The Polo Player will always be the victim of horse dealers and of his grooms. He will never

Above The winning Argentine team at the World Cup, Argentina, 1951. From left: Juan Carlos Alberdi, Enrique Alberdi, Roberto Cavanagh and Juan Cavanagh

be well mounted. However, the Good Polo Player will always be well mounted. His horses will stay sound and his groom will be happy. If he needs to borrow horses, there will always be someone happy to lend them to him because they know they will be well schooled and cared for. The Good Polo Player knows there is always something new to learn. Wherever he goes, he is a keen observer who takes on board everything he sees, reads and hears about horses and the game of polo. The Polo Player, in comparison, is over-confident – he believes he already knows it all and has nothing more to learn.

It is my hope that, having read this short feature, the Good Polo Player will be encouraged to increase his existing interest, while the Polo Player might start to want to learn more and, in this way, begin to achieve a deeper and even more satisfying understanding of this great friend to man: the horse.

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