Polo 2018

The annual polo match to help fund the Norfolk Hunt Club was Sunday 9 September. As always everyone had a wonderful time. The event of the season!

Snacks!

Biscotti and lemon muffins

Air Force flyover
I guess so long as they were up there they went and flew over Gillette Stadium for the New England Patriots' season opener...

Now this was absolutely hilarious. The county sheriff's office and the National Park Service always have mounted representatives on the grounds. It's wonderful PR and everyone just loves the horses. But this year...Godzilla was in attendance.

And to see this big 18 hand Percheron snorting and huffing and crow hopping over Godzilla was a riot! Oh. Ya. You give a big spooky horse like that a lot of room!

Note the posture. Horse on left.

Pat on the nose?

To be fair that sherriff's department horse was a young horse still in training. The Park Service horse could not have cared less! It was great fun watching them work.

And there was good action on the field making for a high scoring match.

And the half time show was a musical dressage presentation by Katie Robicheaux. I'm sorry, I don't remember the horse's name. I should have taken notes! But make no mistake they were just lovely together.

Polo?

It's time for Polo in the Country!

I swear I don't know where the summer went. Summer 2014 has been one of the very best I can recall. I don't think we've had a steady soaking rain in daylight since sometime around the 4th of July. Day after day the sun has been out and it's been mostly dry and breezy and, hard as it is to believe, not a single thunderstorm.

And here it is time for polo!

Every year the Norfolk Hunt Club has a polo match out on their steeplechase grounds to raise funds for the preservation of recreational space in the neighboring communities. Always eager to share their passion for equestrian pursuits of all kinds they're really a nice bunch of people.

Rules?
There are lots of rules in polo but they're not hard to learn and you don't have to know them all to enjoy a match. Knowing the Rule of the Line is the only one you need to know to understand what's going on out on the field.

The action on the field is occasionally *very* close by!

Yes. It *really* is this close!
We always have a good time at the match and it's fun to watch skilled riders on well trained ponies. And it was a beautiful day. Some polo trivia. Did you know a regulation size polo field is just under 10 acres?!

And here. This was such a treat! How often do you get to see a Grand Prix level equestrian warming up out in the countryside on a beautiful day? The half time show was given by Dave Thind and his record breaking stallion White Star.

Dave is very personable and engaging. It was a lot of fun to visit while he was warming up.

---

And...in keeping with the social even of the season...

No...this wasn't our table!

Polo!

The annual Polo in the Country match was last Sunday. The hunt club is well known in these parts and we always look forward to the annual polo match. It was a positively perfect day. Warm in the sun. Cool in the shade. Dry. Breezy. Sky filled with fair weather clouds.

Our tailgate is getting better every year! While not hardly award winning we got some nice remarks.

And nobody went hungry!

I love this picture from a nearby table. He's ready. Just in case she drops something!

---

Normally this is a friendly game that nobody really takes seriously. That remained the case however there was some real action on the field this year with both teams playing some real polo.

I think just about everybody's in on this! You can see the ball there right below the grey horse's right front foot. There are 6 players on the field. Three from each team. And a referee.

---

The half time events begin with the hounds making a couple of laps around the field. Everybody loves the hounds.

On a couple of occasions we've had some hounds pass our barn running a little off course. Did you know the Huntmaster runs the hounds almost every single day?!

---

I saved the best for last. Dressage is very popular here (the Charles River Dressage Association is also nearby) and the half time festivities typically include a dressage demonstration.

This year Heather Blitz did the dressage demo. And the best show was out back. Warming up. I like "performances" as much as the next guy but I *always* drift out to the warm up area to see people really do their work.

I'm not sure who this horse is. I think his name is Legato. He's 16 years old and I think he's a Hanoverian. And he's..."distracted".

Edit: Yes, this is Legato, a Grand Prix Hanoverian belonging to Rowan O'Riley.

And here. Mounting up. Things are...going...wrong.

Uh oh
Now, I'm not at all amused watching riders in challenging situations. But...it's somehow...reassuring...to see riders at this level dealing with these things too. And of course it's a good time to learn things.

And what do you suppose she did with this?

She bailed! And. She did. Groundwork.

Which is *exactly* what I would have done, and have done, more times than I can count. It was quite fascinating to watch her work. This was great stuff. After lungeing for a few minutes she started to focus him on her and then focus on his work. She worked him for about 10 minutes and then walked him down around the trailers that were distracting. We call that "go say hi!" around our barn.

Her demonstration fell apart in a couple of places. But her mount was having a meltdown. I wouldn't have gotten on him!

As always. It was a really fun day.

Perfect Day...

For polo!

Polo in the Country
Sunday the 16th would be a contender for most beautiful day ever. If there was such a record. It was sunny. Dry. Seventy degrees. Calm. A positively stellar day.

There was enough action in the 6 chukka match between Norfolk and Dedham where 22 goals were made. I'm not sure who won. Well I am. It just doesn't matter. It's all in fun.

These ponies really know their job. That little grey pony takes this more seriously than the riders!

It's not just the polo match. Around here the polo match is the highlight of the season.

Somebody has connections...an FA-18 flyover?

Yes. An FA-18 flyover!
With a 30 minute private air show. Well. Ok. The whole town got to enjoy the air show.

It was all very exciting! I heard so long as they were up there they did a flyover at the New England Patriots game (home season opener).

Dave Thind did a dressage demonstration at half time with the world record holding stallion, White Star. Dave is right down the street at Cutler Farm. Nice place.

Dave Thind warming up with White Star
People show off their cars...

'57 t bird
Enjoy good food...

Good food
And everyone loves the hounds.

Release the hounds!

Autumn is in the air

Hey! These were green this morning!

The weather forecasters called Labor Day "meteorological Autumn". And six months or so ago they called March first "meteorological Spring". I've never heard either expression before. But "meteorological Spring" makes more sense to me. March first always felt kind of like Spring is in the air.

On Wednesday, September 8th, somebody threw a switch and this year it was instant on Autumn. Tuesday it was over 90 degrees and then since Wednesday, after some morning thunderstorms, it's been in the 70s. Crisp and breezy, nice in the sun and cold at night. Maybe the weather forecasters were right.

Around here at the first sign of Autumn folks polish the old Corvette ...

No, not my old Vette!

and enjoy Polo in the Country!


It was a nice day and we had a really good time! Far as we were concerned we had the best seat in the house. I'll reserve this seat again!


I just *love* polo ponies!


It's just amazing the way they can turn it on and turn it off. They're beautifully trained animals!

And while the teams rested in the shade at halftime...

We got to see Dorothy Morkis show us her stuff:

How cool is that! That was a real treat!

And the Norfolk Hunt Club hounds show us their stuff:


Another treat! The Norfolk Hunt Club has the oldest continuously operating hunt kennel in the country.

This is a really civilized game. Despite its heritage. You all know where polo comes from don't you?


And of course there were tailgating awards. This was my number one vote!


Of course you all know I like simple things. When the world seems like an ugly place who can resist a couple of little horses in hats. And a pumpkin for the season!

And my number 2 vote. How cute is this: