Marking the end of our arena season at Moor Hall Farm (although the weather hasn’t got the memo yet), Kent university hosted a tournament for local students on Easter Saturday with great success - all in aid of Rhino Conservation Botswana (their chosen charity). Beginner and novice teams from Kent, Cambridge, UEA (Norwich) and London battled it out in the arena for the onlooking crowd of parents and friends. Somehow we escaped any monumental downpours and the sun had even come out by the final chukkas of the day.
With nearly every pony in the MHF string getting a look in at the action and even some alumni from Kent joining in, the day was a no-holes-barred organised chaos. Chukkas running all day, cakes sales for charity, hard fought matches, the obligatory involuntary dismount of the day (nobody hurt) and plenty of post-game beers.
The tournament was a fantastic showcase for the improvement that the students have undergone in the past 6 months while training with us in the arena - some of the beginners are almost unrecognisable from their first lessons. Novice teams who are thinking, passing, playing good arena polo. Several “2-pointers” from the halfway line speak for themselves!
We are looking forward to seeing all the students over at Silver Leys when our grass season kicks off this month and if their arena game is anything to go by, they will be more than ready for the summer SUPA nationals in June.
Our first event of the summer is a tailored student intensive weekend on the 21/22 April which promises to set the summer off to a great start - find out more here.
