Unusual lesson request... any ideas from polo experts?

[SouthWestWhippet]

I've just started teaching a woman to ride... well, she knows how to ride but has had a break of about 10years so wants some confidence and saddle time to get back into it.

She asked me the other day if I'd be prepared to teach her husband who is a complete beginner. I said of course but she went on to say that they've joined a local polo club and her husband was so impressive with the stick and ball that the polo club said he absolutely MUST learn to ride so he can play.

So she wants me to teach him to walk trot canter stay on and do canter lead changes... but the polo club seem to have given them both the impression that this would be a fairly quick and straightforward process. To me, learning from complete beginner (especially adult who may be stiff or unfit) to WTC and canter lead changes is likely to be a pretty long process.

Don't know much about polo at all, never played but what level of horsemanship is required? Is it all about staying on and being able to confidently throw your weight around in the saddle or will he also need really solid dressage/flat skills to go with it? Any advice helpful here, I can teach him to ride no problem but polo isn't really my area of knowledge and I'd like to tailor his lessons towards the skill he is interested in if possible. Obviously the neck reining will be out of the question with our school horses as they are not trained this way but anything else?

 

[duckling]

I've recently taken up polo after riding for 15 years and it's a massive advantage if you are a competent rider before you start to play - but we have a rider at our club who before taking it up had barely sat on a horse and now he is playing chukkas.
You definitely don't need a high level of dressage/flat skills but I think you do need a good understanding of the weight aids and forward seat. The thing thats painful to watch about the guy that hadn't ridden before is his lack of awareness of the horses mouth - some polo ponies you ride more like using the reins as a joystick (forward to go, back to stop) but if you combine that with taking a shot and don't have enough balance to not rely on the reins it doesn't look very comfortable for poor pony.
So main things I'd say would be developing an independent seat and good balance. When we play polo we only walk canter or gallop, never trot so I suppose that could be not given so much focus.

Hope that helps a little bit

 

[minerva]

This man sounds like my OH, he had a polo lesson at Royal Berks about 16 years ago, and now recons thats the only reason to ride, he, on the rare occasions he has got on my horses, just charges off

, my instructor gave him a lesson and he was totally unimpressed at the boring bits - ie - trotting and rising to it! he wants to have more lessons but i dont know how he will stay interested, maybe when you have sussed it with this man you can teach him too

good luck
xx

 

[Ginn]

OK, I'm going to answer this from a slightly different perspective but I hope it helps. For the last year I've been our beginners manager (lessons, teams etc) for our uni polo club. Now obviously with the role I have had a lot of total beginners who have never ridden and want to learn how to play the game and a lot of regular riders. All the riding is done with the club, even with those that have never sat on a horse before. The total beginners are usually cantering by the end of the first lesson and as good as the the rest of us when it comes to riding by the 3rd or 4th lesson! The general teaching is that your reins are a joystick (steering etc) and your legs and seat do the starting and stopping but the emphasis is on balance in the forward seat - which isn't the same as we do it either! I also find that if they start riding start of October that they are the better players and riders by the championships in January/early Feb as they have learn't to ride for the purpose of polo and so ride without all the normal riding traits which can be quite bad. For example, although I can adjust the gait totally off my seat and go from full on gallop back to bouncy, almost on the spot canter just through my seat and legs in a matter of seconds (on the polo ponies I might add!! Can't do it on my own horse

) I am always being told to stop "poncing around like a dressage rider" (and if you've seen me ride you'll realise the irony in that!) and I am forever being told to "sort my forward seat out and put my stirrups down" as I automatically go into a more secure XC seat rather than the more mobile forward (literally - you should be over the pommel almost!) seat for polo. Consequently those that have been taught to ride regularly struggle once the others have caught up!!

Personally I'd say your best bet is to give this lady's OH loads of lunge lessons with him standing in the stirrups (not folding) getting his balance sorted and a strong lower leg. I wouldn't bother with even giving him reins (unless your horses neck rein) as 1) he MUST ride independently of the reins - in polo the reins stay nice and loose for the most part so he must not rely on them for balance, and 2) he'll only use his left hand for steering anyway. Get him to twist in the saddle so that his shoulders are parallel to the horses body (head to tail) as this is really quite useful for the game. If your horse is realatively bomproof then you can also let him practise his swings with a stick once onboard and his balance is established, or even let him practise the "swinging pendulum" on both the near and off side with a schooling whip (I do this on mine actually out hacking - very goog for boobproofing, balance and flexibility!). Oh and once you are confident his balance is sorted you could get him using his legs and seat a bit - get him slowing the pace and sending it on, that sort of thing.

I reackon if you gave him 3 20-30min lunge sessions a week (our beginners have atleast 1 1/2 hrs a week once a week but in the most enormous arena you have seen - not sure it would be fair on the horse to lunge for anywhere near this long!) he'd be ready to start playing at the club in 3 weeks and they'll sort our steering, leg cahnges etc (tbh, the ponies change legs without you having to try in my experience - the subtlest shift of weight or bend and they'll do it for you but you could teach him to spot what leg he's on as that could be useful).

Goodluck! Where abouts are you out of interest? I can recommend soome good places for him to go for some ridden polo tuition if he wanted if you're SW!

 

[SouthWestWhippet]

thank you so much everyone... Especially Ginn for some absoultely superb advice but everything above is useful. I think the lunge idea is fantastic and we have some very bomb proof horses whom he could play around with.

I'm based on the Somerset/Devon border near Taunton and I think the polo club these people have joined is in West Somerset.

 

[Ginn]

If you've got bombproof horses just get him onboard, getting a "feel" for what is going on underneath him and really establishing a good seat. Don't even worry about where his leg is too much - he weight should be in his feet and his heels down but his legs shouldn't be fixed - as he twists and turns his legs should be able to swing to maintain his balance, for example when he does a nearside shot he has to get his right shoulder right over his left knee so his right leg needs to compensate for this. It might look messy but it has to be effective. When he's cantering get him to do things like touch his leg toe with his right hand and vice versa, reaching round and touch the horses left buttock (or as near to) with his right hand and v.v. stretching to the ears, twisting through 180 deg in the saddle with arms outstreched (all this stood in the saddle). You could also teach him to rise to the canter as this is quite good for adjusting the pace etc.

He could try Vaux for some ridden polo lessons as they are very good and have some seriously nice ponies http://www.vauxparkpolo.co.uk/ Longdole is also fantastic (its where we send our beginners) but may be a bit of a trek as its Cirencester way.

Good luck, let us know how he gets on!