Guards Polo Club Official Yearbook 2017 Official Yearbook 2017 | Page 62

a respectable flying change in canter and
some canter half-pass.
Max has only ever ridden polo ponies.
He didn’t have the all-round grounding
that being a member of the Pony Club
gives you. That said, he is a very successful
and talented polo player, but other forms
of equestrian sport have passed him by.
“It’s so hard and so complicated!”,
he says with a smile. “I have a lot more
respect for other equestrian disciplines
now – and I think doing more of this
would definitely help my riding.
“It was amazing – all my instincts are to
ride and lean forward, and this is all about
your seat and your core muscles.
“In polo you never think about the
horse underneath you when you play –
in dressage you think about it 100% of
the time. All of your weight is in your
stirrups and you ride on your knees, not
from your seat. My first reaction was to
let the reins go and take my leg off to help
the horse find a steady rhythm, which is
totally contrary to what Laura wants me
to do – keep my leg on and ride the horse
into a contact.”
Laura has spent some time schooling
Mark’s ponies, especially when the couple
is out in Argentina.
“Polo ponies give me backache because
they have no elasticity and are so one-
sided. In dressage, we try to make
ourselves and our horses as even-sided
as possible. Teaching any horse to carry
itself and use its muscles correctly can only
be a good thing,” she says. “A couple of
years ago I did some work with a couple
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guards polo club official yearbook 2017