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Aug. 19th, 2007 11:29 pmWent down to Newport (RI) to visit Francie's dad. He's a couple hours away, and we get down there a couple times a year. (Same can be said for visiting my parents.)
Anyway, Saturdays during the summer is polo season at the Newport Polo Club, and this week's match was USA vs Jamaica. It was an exciting match, although (giving away the ending, US won 10-9) there wasn't a single tie, let alone reversal, after recovering from the initial Jamaica goal. We were sitting on the 10 yard line, so most of the action was down-field, but there was one scramble in the last chukka where they were fighting to get the ball out of our corner of the pitch, and the Jamaica captain, one Shane Chin (nice Jamaican name, that) hit the ball under his own pony, while moving at a good clip, and managed not to hit his own pony or anyone else with either the mallet or the ball. It's probably a bog-standard play, but in the few matches I've seen so far, this is the first time I've seen it executed up close and personal.
After the match, Kylie found (and kept) a polo ball with major divots, that would probably not be returned to service even if turned in. And we got to meet said Shane Chin, though we didn't have him sign the ball.
The polo culture (at least in Newport) is a tailgating culture. Fully half the circumfrence of the pitch is lined with cars, trucks, and SUVs, with lawn chairs, tables, barbequeue grills, etc. The other half is for lawn chairs, blankets, picnics baskets, etc. You sit right on the sidelines of the match (well, behind the white line that's 10 feet back from the boards, because sometimes a ball or a horse comes out of the pitch, and it would be bad for someone's kid to get trampled).
In two weeks, Saturday 1st September, is USA vs England, which is supposed to be one of the huge matches of the season, with a tailgate contest (in the English tradition?).
Obligatory stop at Ikea on the way back meant that I only had time for a short ride on my own horse, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lyonesse showed up while I was tacking up, and we went for a pleasant (short) trail ride - e.g. the deer flies were about 10% of the last few weeks.
Anyway, Saturdays during the summer is polo season at the Newport Polo Club, and this week's match was USA vs Jamaica. It was an exciting match, although (giving away the ending, US won 10-9) there wasn't a single tie, let alone reversal, after recovering from the initial Jamaica goal. We were sitting on the 10 yard line, so most of the action was down-field, but there was one scramble in the last chukka where they were fighting to get the ball out of our corner of the pitch, and the Jamaica captain, one Shane Chin (nice Jamaican name, that) hit the ball under his own pony, while moving at a good clip, and managed not to hit his own pony or anyone else with either the mallet or the ball. It's probably a bog-standard play, but in the few matches I've seen so far, this is the first time I've seen it executed up close and personal.
After the match, Kylie found (and kept) a polo ball with major divots, that would probably not be returned to service even if turned in. And we got to meet said Shane Chin, though we didn't have him sign the ball.
The polo culture (at least in Newport) is a tailgating culture. Fully half the circumfrence of the pitch is lined with cars, trucks, and SUVs, with lawn chairs, tables, barbequeue grills, etc. The other half is for lawn chairs, blankets, picnics baskets, etc. You sit right on the sidelines of the match (well, behind the white line that's 10 feet back from the boards, because sometimes a ball or a horse comes out of the pitch, and it would be bad for someone's kid to get trampled).
In two weeks, Saturday 1st September, is USA vs England, which is supposed to be one of the huge matches of the season, with a tailgate contest (in the English tradition?).
Obligatory stop at Ikea on the way back meant that I only had time for a short ride on my own horse, but
lyonesse showed up while I was tacking up, and we went for a pleasant (short) trail ride - e.g. the deer flies were about 10% of the last few weeks.
