Sabrosa, Pony from Argentina: Polo Feature
Polo, the game of the kings, is incomplete without the polo ponies. Similar to the polo professionals, the horses also play vital role in the victories or defeats. There are thousands of articles on polo professionals, but very few write about the
horses. In this article we will discuss a routine-life of an Argentina-based professional polo mare.
Sabrosa, the seven-year old polo pony, is part of the Birch's squad at the Greenwich Polo Club, situated in Argentina. She, having three years of extensive polo experience, is in the middle of her professional career. Having 15.2 hands height, she
is weighed at 1100 lbs.
Sabrosa is a ferocious polo contender, but she is an amiable while dealing with the food and other stuff. She wakes up at 05:30 am in the morning and becomes active in a very short span of time. In the breakfast, she takes dietetic meal as per the
needs of the time. In a routine day, she eats Ultium which is comprised of dry cereal, oat and pelleted type items. However, she likes Pastures cookies and Ultium produced by Purina.
Comparing with the other horses on the farm, Sabrosa also leaves after her morning meal and takes 60 minutes to absorb the food. After the rest time, the riders come and saddle-up one horse, while tack another two side-by-side for purpose of the exercise.
The combination of three mares is called a ‘set’ who excercise for another hour with one rider. After completion of their exercises, the cleaners wash the horses.
Like other ponies, Sabrosa also takes lunch, but she has a different menu as compared to the morning meal. Her lunch items are comprise of forage and grass. She is scheduled to take few an hour's rest after a light lunch meal.
Similar to the polo athletes, the life of polo horses is also very integrated. In her rest time, the horses are being cleaned and polished in order to make them ready for the sport. The manes (hair on the neck) of the horses are kept short, as it can
create disturbances and get entangled during the game.
A special groom is liable to fulfil every need of Sabrosa during the day-time, include washing, cleansing, feeding, water and training. It is vital to mention here that her shoes (used over the hooves of the mares) are changed after every three weeks
(which is more than the desire of many women in the modern era). The groom also provides all kinds of medical assistance that the pony requires.
After the rest period, it is time for dinner. She takes lunch routinely at six o’ clock evening which is comprised of Ultium, electrolytes, Rice ban, red cell and MSM. It is worth mentioning here that MSM and red cell work as vitamins and make her
joints strong. On the other side, the rice ban and electrolytes make the mares’ hair shiny and gracious.
Apart from the scheduled meal, Sabrosa also eats cookies made out of oats, cane molasses, fresh apples, waters, bran and rolled barley and sometimes carrots as well. Following the meal, she goes to sleep.
Similar to other horses, she also gets the idea of game-playing. Alike other polo mares, she is very competitive and wants to be the best in chasing or stopping the ball during the play. In matches, she tries to cross other horses in order to get over
the ball which is one of her good features.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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