land rover masterclass
of Mark ’ s older mares who ’ d had injuries – pre-season schooling to get them more supple , soft and balanced . Even Mark ’ s Argentine grooms got interested and became quite open to it , which was nice .
“ One of the ponies I ’ ve done some work with , Vodka , has moved into the top echelons of his string as a result of this schooling . It ’ s not about flashy movements , but about teaching them to carry themselves and use muscles correctly . Good training of horses is about making the horse physically able and to understand what you are asking of it .
“ I love any horse sport at the top level and I think the best people in each discipline have that ability to make a horse become an extension of themselves , rather than being a disruption to the horse .”
So has Laura learnt anything from the polo world ? “ I ’ ve realised that horses can deal with a lot more than I thought they could ,” she jokes . “ No , I ’ ve definitely learnt things through Mark ’ s set-up – they do some really interesting stuff with the foals at the beginning , and through their handling of youngsters . Also how much more settled horses are when they are worked and handled as a herd . Their horses are a lot less high maintenance ; so chilled compared to a lot of sport horses . That ’ s interesting from a management side .”
Laura admits that she knew nothing about polo before she started going out with Mark . “ I was surprised by the sheer speed and aggression of the sport – it ’ s basically rugby on horses – and by how athletic the ponies are in their own way . It ’ s a totally different type of athleticism to dressage horses , but athleticism nonetheless .
“ Polo ponies may have more speed and acceleration than dressage horses , but Mark took my old Olympic horse for a hack with me and he took off with Mark several times – he ended up getting off quite quickly ! I think that was an eyeopener for Mark – polo players are used to power , but a very different type of power and one with less physicality .”
Max admits he found the lesson quite a humbling experience , but clearly enjoyed himself .
“ There ’ s no doubt that polo ponies would benefit from more training – but remember that with the large amount of ponies we need , finding time to do much would be difficult . And I ’ m not sure my body would take it – I don ’ t think I ’ ve ever consciously used my inner thigh muscles before !”
64 guards polo club official yearbook 2017