Polo Anyone?

Just so you know I have never been to a polo match before...but that's okay because they had handouts for us to help with understanding the game. It was fun! Not at all what I had envisioned. It's pretty fast moving game and there is plenty of action to watch. The ball that is used was lighter and less solid then I anticipated. I was thinking a ball like a crochet ball. While similar in size not at all like it in substance.

During halftime there was a divot stomp. Definitely interactive for the crowd. This was a cool way to stretch your legs and move around during the break.This was not for those with flip flops or fancy shoes on cause you are poking the turf back down that gets tore up by the mallet and or the horse hooves. In this case it was mostly sand and without a substantial shoe you will come away with dirty feet. I might know this from firsthand experience. You will also want to check the soles of your shoes for cuckelburrs cause the field was full of them. We scraped 'em off as best we could and still hand to hand pull some of those suckers off. MiRV even had some sticking to his pant legs. Craziness! And they hurt when you get poked!

 Stomping the divots

Oh, back to polo...there are quarters, called chukkers, they last 7 minutes, then there is break. That's when the players change horses. There are six chukkers in a match. There were only four players. The official rode a horse, too. He did not carry a mallet but a ball picker upper thing! It probably has a name but our handout did not give that info!

The weather was perfectly sunny with a touch of wind. It was such a neat way to spend the afternoon. Who knew we would see a polo match while hanging out at South Padre Island!

Since we were out on the island we decided to stay for the sunset. As the afternoon wore on it became a little hazy and there were no clouds but the sunset was still quite stunning. The final glow made the sun just look like a molten liquid.

#OWT
#TXsunsets