Ever thought about trying out polo? It’s far more accessible in Surrey than you could have ever imagined and seriously good fun.
Kirstie and Daniel Otamendi, both professional players, own and operate Minninnoka Polo & Riding School in Chobham. Their focus is on grassroots polo, with a particular emphasis on beginners aged six and up.
The school operates out of Westcroft Park Polo Club, with the Minninnooka HPA coaches specialising in training ladies’, schools’, university, and juniors’ academy polo. Minninnooka’s bespoke polo development training program has earned it a global reputation, attracting international summer school students and players, as well as beginner academy players with no previous riding experience and also playing members and patrons who take part in chukkas, challenges, and tournaments on a weekly basis.
Minninnooka boasts an active social calendar open to all academy players, encouraging an all-round program of polo. Polo training activities and tournaments during the Winter take place in the all-weather outdoor arena, while during the Summer, the grass pitches are perfect for seasoned and academy players. With over 40 horses at the heart of the organisation, Minninnooka caters to all levels of expertise, from beginners upwards. The academy polo programme offers a comprehensive list of services to enable everyone to develop their polo skills while having the most amount of fun in a safe environment. Choose from:
- Progressive and tailored private, semi-private and group polo tuition
- Academy chukkas
- Instructional chukkas and challenges
- Polo theory and horsemanship classes with top UK coach Robert Burke and Kirstie Club chukkas
- Tournaments
- Children’s ‘own a pony’ polo training ‘half-days (theory & practical) Academy and player membership
- Polo livery, training and retraining
- Horse riding and jumping lessons
- Hacks on Chobham Common
- Corporate Discover Polo days
- Experience Polo days for groups of friends, organisations and families Social events calendar
As Academy members will tell you polo at Minninnooka is a lot of fun. Harry Aged 9 said “Connecting with the horses and being with my friends. Polo is better than gaming!” while Simon Discover Polo Day academy player, adds, “In a ride off when you’re the one pushing against someone else at speed, you both end up laughing unless it’s a tournament!”
KIRSTIE OTAMENDI
Kirstie’s love for horses began at an early age when her grandmother, the first-ever lady polo player in Western Australia, gifted her a pony at two years old. Growing up on the Minninnooka ranch, Kirstie competed in showjumping and eventing. She started playing polo professionally after catching the bug from her 5-goaler father, Owen Readhead, and is an HPA coach.
DANIEL OTAMENDI
Daniel began his polo career in Brunei, grooming, playing, and making horses for the Sultan. After a few seasons in Argentina, he moved to the UK in 2000 and has since established himself as a well-regarded professional player. Daniel plays in the UK, India and Australia and takes pride in watching his sons follow in his footsteps.
DREAM TEAM
Throughout the Summer months, Kirstie and Daniel play professionally in tournaments at Guards Polo Club on a regular basis and which academy players are invited to watch. Their focus at Minninnoka is on “creating an inclusive environment where players can be safe and have fun at any level or experience.”
ABOUT POLO
The origins of polo – most people associate polo with Argentina, but it originated in Persia in 600 BC, partly as a sport and partly as training for war. The modern game was exported to England and the rest of the world by the British military, who found it being played in Gilgit on the Northwest Frontier in the middle of the 19th century. British polo players introduced the game to Argentina, and for the last 100 years, the roots of polo have been deeply embedded there. In the current world rankings, nine of the top 10 players are Argentine, as are 15 of the top 20. Like most equestrian disciplines, boys and girls compete equally. The sport is currently male-dominated, although women’s polo is rapidly growing. Lessons and tournaments, however, are played in mixed teams.
Once known as “the game of kings”, the equestrian team sport of polo is now one of the most accessible sports in the UK. Played on horseback, 2 polo teams consisting of 4 players (3 players in the arena) each compete against each other, using their mallets to strike the ball into goals at either end of the field or arena. Each player has a number that determines their function in the field or arena and which position they and their horse are assigned to helps create the most successful alignment for the attack. The mallet must always be held in the right hand, even left handers like Prince William have to play right handed.
Minninnooka teach polo lessons all year round, although like most ball sports, there are seasons in polo. The arena season takes place from November-April and is played in an indoor or outdoor arena (with floodlightswhen the darker nights set in). The mallet heads are slightly larger, and the ball which is often bright orange for visibility, is more like a miniature football. The Summer season starts in May and ends in September, and the smaller mallet heads are used to hit a hard white ball on a flat grass field, about the size of 6 football pitches! The rules are mainly similar.
FUN POLO FACTS
- Polo was an Olympic sport from 1900 to 1936, with Argentina being the reigning champions.
- You can also play on the snow and on the beach.
- Polo horses called ‘ponies’, are in fact horses measuring above 14.2 hands. Most are of the Argentinean Criollo breed are pure or cross thoroughbreds.
- Their main qualities are speed, stamina, steadiness and strength; the ability to accelerate, stop and turn quickly; and temperaments that are amenable to the game.
- Polo players admit that the pony can account for as much as 70% of their overall performance.
- Polo ponies generally begin their training as yearlings and start playing at the ages of 5-7 depending on the pony.
RULES OF THE GAME
- The goalposts are 8 yards apart and open at the top so goals can be scored at any height.
- A Polo match consists of 4 to 8 chukkas (determined before the match), each chukka lasting 7 minutes of actual play.
- To begin the umpire throws the ball in between the two teams (in a line up). This is how play is restarted after a goal is scored too.
- When a goal is scored teams change ends, which helps to equalise any ground or weather advantages.
- The fundamental rule in polo is the line of the ball, which establishes who has right of way, to keep the game safe. This line changes when the ball changes direction and players can only cross the line if deemed safe.
- Players may challenge opposing players by ‘riding them off’, where a player rides their pony alongside their opponent’s and attempts to move them away from the line of the ball or even take them out of play.
- Players may also hook an opponent’s stick when they are swinging to hit the ball.
- Following a foul, a free hit to the opposition may be awarded.
- Ponies can play two chukkas, however, must have a break of at least one chukka in between.
- Players are handicapped on their ability (-2 – 10 goals), teams with a lower overall handicap are given a goal advantage to start.
POLO TERMINOLOGY
Hired Assassin: A professional player!
Patron: An amateur player who pays to put a team together, which is usually made up of at least two professionals and is normally named by the patron.
Chukka: There are six chukkas (periods) in high handicap matches, each lasting seven minutes plus up to 30 seconds of overtime. If, during the extra 30 seconds, the ball hits the sideboards or goes out of bounds, or if the umpire blows his whistle for a foul, the chukka is over. Chukka comes from the Indian word for a circle or round.
IN SUMMARY
There is no denying that polo is an addictive pastime that can be enjoyed at every level all over the world. For anyone with a love of the outdoors, animals and sport – polo is absolute must try, promoting exercise, horsemanship, confidence, teamwork, friendships and above all immense fun!
Kirstie Otamendi revealsthe best things about polo: “Polo can take you all around the world, and you can play with anyone at any level and ability,young, old, boys, girls, and especially families. It’s never too early or too late to start playing polo. As well as coaching, my passion is always the horses; without them…what are we?”
CONTACT
Instagram @minninnookapolo www.instagram.com/minninnookapolo
Facebook @minninnooka www.facebook.com/minninnookapolo/
Quote SurreyRocksPolo when booking your first lesson & receive a 10% discount!
PHOTO CREDIT: MINNINNOOKA POLO & RIDING SCHOOL
