Last Saturday’s Charity Polo Event (Overdue Post)

Last Saturday, I went to a charity polo match with my friend Dannielle. It was really exciting, actually — probably because I had never before attended a match. I felt like it was a very Tale of Two Cities event — you know, the whole “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” ambivalence.

I want riding boots so badly.

It was a somewhat yucky day -- it was very cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. But it was also muggy, and I was melting whenever the sun decided to come out. My friend Dannielle picked me up and drove me to the venue, and we had to park on a grassy hill. It was freaky because we were slipping as some points, and the car moved down the hill towards other vehicles. Not awesome.

As soon as we arrived on the grounds, I saw all of these white tents everywhere, and it was thought Gossip Girl. And so I got all excited because I wanted to see what people were wearing -- you know, all of the tasteful floppy hats and all those cute little sheath dresses? And, oh, I saw a lot of dresses and wide-brim hats. I certainly saw a lot of them, all right. But I didn’t like any outfits -- I legitimately saw no one outfit that I liked (unless you count the polo uniforms because you have to love those helmets and boots).
I’m not saying that nothing was cute or anything, but every time that I saw a cute dress, a cute blouse, a cute pair of shoes, the person paired it off with an over-the-top (and not even tastefully extreme or fashionable) hat, tacky footwear, or a hideous belt. I wanted to cry; my Gossip Girl fantasy had been ruined. Oh well.

Don't judge!
I only ate half of the cookie and brownie.

In spite all of my disappointment and the less-than-ideal weather, I had fun. I mean, how many people can say that they’ve ever been to a polo match? Maybe more people that I’d expect, but I imagine that it’s still a minority of the entire population. It made me feel all nice and super fancy to be surrounded by all of these people (even if they were ill-dressed).
Also, they had platters of the cutest food ever! They had these tiny grapes, adorable ricotta wraps, and pretty green bean almondine... and maybe some cookies and caramel-drizzled brownies which I may or may not have eaten and then immediately regretted. (You so know I hit the gym after that.) Overall a guilt-ridden but scrumptious meal.
That, coupled with the presence of pretty polo players, made it a more than a worthwhile experience.
So take that, haters.

At the beginning of a chukke

Polo in action

They played in teams of three and had a game of six chukkers (periods within a game).
Between the chukkers, they switched ponies and got a little break, at which point I snapped lots of pictures of beautiful polo players (apparently, the horses in polo are called "ponies"). And so at the half-time mark, they took a little intermission before playing the last three chukkers, and the spectators went out for divot stamping, which is a tradition in polo: the horses cause divot with their hooves as the match goes on, so people stamp the field to keep them from falling after stepping in ruts. And then they brought out horses for all the little kids to pet.

People walking onto the field to start the divot stamping

But you know what was the most awesome thing about half-time? Someone complimented my rain boots, which I had worn on account of the weather forecast (rain). He was all, "I like your wellies. You look very polo." Awesome.
Mind you, this was in a British accent, too. (Did they import these guys? Because it seemed that the players on one of the polo teams had accents, too. Yummy...)

It was the guy on the right who complimented me.

Anyways, it was a successful day overall.

 

So I may have lied when I saw NO ONE was
dressed well because this kid was adorable in his
polo and pinstripes. But I find it sad that
adults can dress their kids but not themselves.