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 journey to Argentina began with an email from the USPA asking interested Team USPA members to express their desire to travel south and further their playing and horsemanship abilities. All of us here, Will Tankard, Jorge Estrada and Zach Grob jumped at the opportunity and were selected to participate in this 10 week long once in a lifetime opportunity. Everything started to fall into place from there. Flights were scheduled and we had a teleconference with Sugar Erskine who explained to us exactly what our trip will entail, who we will be working with and where in Argentina we will be. Then on January 2nd all of boarded planes and met up in Miami, FL in order to catch an overnight flight to Buenos Aires. Some of us had not met before, but once we met in the airport it became obvious that we would all get along.
We arrived in Buenos Aires the morning of the 3rd and were met by a driver, Ariel, who took us to Intendente Alvear in the Province of La Pampa. The drive took about 6 hours and allowed us to see the many different faces of Argentina. We witnessed the bustling city of Buenos Aires with its sky risers and slums and the vast soy and corn fields of La Pampa. This first taste of Argentina ensured us that it is like nothing ever experienced by any of us.
Once in Intendente we settled into our house and met the people that will be working with us. The first to meet us at the house was Cesar. He is in charge of all of the horses we are playing and acts as both our tour guide and the local connection for anything we might need. That evening we were invited to an asado at Gaston Laulhe’s farm. He is an Argentine professional that will be working with us throughout our 10 week stay in Argentina. At 6 goals he has proven to be an invaluable resource in helping us improve both our riding and game skills.
The next morning we first met our horses. There are around 30 of them and they range from having played two seasons in Buenos Aires to just being introduced to playing chukkers. Over the first two days we went through all of the horses and decided which ones we liked and who they fit the best. From there we brought the greener ones to Gaston’s farm and play them in slower chukkers 5 days per week. These chukkers allow you to develop your greenhorse and mallet skills as well as heighten your game awareness. The made group of horses we played for the first time in a practice at Chapelufu, the local polo club. There we also had an opportunity to participate in a 13 to 16 goal club tournament that proved to be an incredible experience.
In our next blog post we will cover the tournament….STAY TUNED!
Regards,
Zach, Will, & Jorge
Will Tankard at Chapaleufu
The barn
Jorge getting to know the horses