Team USPA sends 3 young players to Argentina for a season of training, check back for exclusive updates from Zach Grob, Will Tankard and Jorge Estrada!
The remainder of the tournament was made up of two games for us. The first against Marcos’s team and the second against Bautista’s team. Our game against Marcos again proceeded with a different lineup for us. Segundo’s older brother Bautista filled in for Gaston who could not play due to the injury he sustained during our first game. This change led to some confusion regarding our positions and thus made for a rather choppy couple of chukkers. Going into the fourth chukker we were on the loosing side of a six to one score. To everyone’s surprise this all changed that chukker. After an incredible rally we found ourselves on top of a seven to six score. The last two chukkers turned into a very even struggle and we finished the game loosing by one goal. Being the lower handicapped team we did however win the handicap side of the game. This made our overall record two handicap wins, and one open win and one open loss.
For our last game against Bautista Heguy’s team we once again played with our original lineup. Although still injured, Gaston decided he felt well enough to play. The course of the game felt very similar to our second one. It was a back and forth battle with each team taking the lead at different points. It ended with us trailing by a goal going into the last chukker. After a back and forth the chukker ended with us loosing by one goal. This meant that our prospect of making it to either of the finals had been crushed.
Playing in this tournament resulted in all of us learning a number of important lessons, and considering the time we had to prepare for it, we did surprisingly well. We had only had one practice on our horses and had been riding them for merely a week. Our strings were fine tuned from game to game as each player found the horses that worked best for him. In hindsight, although disappointed about not making it to either of the finals, we were happy with the overall outcome.
Future topics will include: the level of practices at Chapa, Argentine polo breeding and some side work we have been doing at Bautista Heguys….
Adios from La Pampa,
Zach, Will & Jorge
Bautista Heguy’s barn