Talk

Above: The Apes Hill team (from left): Malcolm Borwick, James Beim, Mark Tomlinson and Ed Hitchman. Left: La Quinta Beaufort

Apes Hill has a new base at the La Quinta Beaufort Club in Argentina and its all-English team are relishing the experience

The old adage ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ springs to mind when first hearing about the new La Quinta Beaufort Club in Argentina. An Apes Hill team consisting of James Beim, Mark Tomlinson, Ed Hitchman and Malcolm Borwick scorched through the preliminaries to reach the final of the Provincia de Buenos Aires Trophy on the hallowed grounds of Palermo. They were the first all-English team to play at Palermo in a domestic tournament, and the mood at La Quinta Beaufort is buoyant.

Malcolm Borwick says: ‘For the team to play at all was special. But the inspiration we’d gained from the high goal practices in the preceding weeks at La Quinta Beaufort was undeniably a strong factor in producing such a result.’

Set in 38 hectares of prime pasture, with world-class stabling and pitches, La Quinta Beaufort is the brainchild of Mark Tomlinson, the youngest of the famous polo-playing family. ‘In 2005, my brother Luke and I qualified for the Argentine Open but we struggled to find a club where we could practise,’ he explains. ‘It became increasingly obvious that for English players to even attempt to compete with the Argentines, we needed a base in Argentina.’

Fortunately, partners of Alberto Reinoso wished to sell their share in La Quinta at Pilar, the epicentre of the polo world and some 40 minutes from Buenos Aires. In stepped the Beaufort Polo Club to secure a permanent training ground for high goal players.

In their first full season, the four English players have proved its efficacy, and the three established Argentine Von Wernick brothers have also enjoyed success.

‘I think it is generally accepted that if you want to improve your game to a global standard you have to go to Argentina and play at high goal level in practice and in competition,’ says Mark. ‘It adds a whole new dimension to your game in terms of reaction time, tactics and speed, which is something we struggle to do in England, even during the high goal season.’

With clubs and teams such as Ellerstina, La Alegria, Centuaros, Polo 1 and Pilar Chico all within 5km of La Quinta Beaufort, members are spoilt for practice partners, while their own pitch is the envy of many.

‘October was unbelievably wet in Pilar and many clubs struggled to hold practices,’ recalls Malcolm. ‘The club’s new “wet” ground was one of the first to be playable, drying out incredibly quickly.’

A second pitch, taking advantage of the nearby stream and enhancing the natural drainage system, is in the pipeline, bringing the number of grounds at La Quinta Beaufort up to four. An exercise track is also being planned. The Club already boasts a stunning stabling complex for 150 horses and an indoor arena.

Past members continue their association and provide valuable input, both in terms of play and passing on legendary tales to the next generation.

‘The atmosphere at La Quinta Beaufort is not something you can buy, or bottle, but if we could we’d make millions,’ says Mark. ‘There’s a really supportive and exciting feel to the place. We want to attract high handicap players looking to develop their game to the next level and continue the club’s philosophy in this vein.’

To encourage such players to join, the traditional system of purchasing a life-long share in the club has been cast aside, reducing both cost and commitment.

‘We want people to approach us,’ says Mark. ‘The ambitious player, the patron who wishes to boost their team’s expertise over the winter months and teams heading for the Camera or Argentine Open. In so doing, our small club can help take 6 and 7- goal players to the next level and hopefully members can make more of an impact on the international polo scene.’ For more information on La Quinta Beaufort, email Mark Tomlinson at marcotomo@hotmail.com

Sports therapist Jane Newnham, one of the speakers at a recent England team training day, tells Yolanda Carslaw how she keeps players’ match-worn bodies in good fettle

I grew up in Hampshire in a horsey family – my mother was a Pony Club DC – and moved to Midhurst in my teens. At first, I worked with horses, including in polo, at Cowdray, and for Kerry Packer in Australia. When I retrained as a sports therapist my first polo client was David Jamison. Now I work with teams such as Yindarra and Talandracas, and individuals such as George Milford Haven. Over the years I’ve treated most of the Midhurst-based England boys, and in winter I deal with other seasonal sports.

Most common are tennis elbow, back strain, groin strain, ligament problems in the wrist, shoulder impingements and problems with the lower back. Just as a ‘desk posture’ creates problems over time, polo creates its own patterns of flexibility, and with these come injury patterns. Repetitive motion through one joint – for instance, in polo, the shoulder – creates muscle imbalance around it, with some muscles too long and others too tight, and players need to counteract this.

At my clinic I do manual therapy on the bench, including remedial and sports massage. I assess joint mobility and devise exercise programmes that increase gradually in intensity, depending on a person’s mobility and joint strength. When I go to a client, we may exercise outdoors. With Yindarra we recently did a 3.5-mile run, sprint work, joint mobility and 45 minutes of Pilates-based exercises. I work on setting the body back in postural alignment after a game – for instance, polo players’ hip flexors get very tight and need lengthening.

Many harbour an injury for years, working around it. When they warm up and play, the pain disappears, but it returns. Sometimes it’s years before it gets so bad they agree to get help. All that time the injury is doing damage. Also, players may be in their comfort zone on a horse, but the body is pulled out of shape by polo. When you’re on your feet, the pelvis and back are in a completely different position and standing or walking may cause pain. One player only realised he was in agony when his wife took him shopping.

A more in-depth understanding of core stability. The core holds the body together, and you can’t stretch effectively unless you understand how it works. Improving your core stability and working on flexibility enhances your performance, reduces your injury potential and keeps you playing for longer. Pilates is vital for the core, and even in a busy mid-season, players should find time for two personalised, Pilates-based strength and flexibility sessions each week.

You need to understand what you’re doing and why. For instance, is a flexibility session about developing muscle length, maintenance or rehabilitation? A general stretching session is insufficient at high goal level because muscles that are already too long could be further lengthened, exacerbating injury potential.

Nowadays, more players work with personal trainers and sports therapists and awareness has kicked in in a similar way to mainstream sports. However, at a recent high goal practice I didn’t see a single player stretch before going out on field – and these were elite players of various nationalities. Stretching before a practice is as important as before a match. Of the components of fitness – agility, balance, coordination, endurance, flexibility, strength and so on – flexibility is very important for polo. But it’s given the least amount of time – bunged at the end of a training session – and is usually general rather than tailored. Jane Newnham runs the Midhurst Sports Injury Clinic

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From left: Pelon Escapite, Lyndon Lea, Carlos Gracida at the US Open

Canadian-born patron Lyndon Lea tells Yolanda Carslaw about the difference between high goal in the UK and the US

Seven years ago, I was on a business trip in Palm Springs and was looking for a retreat for my team. The choices were golf or polo: none of us had tried polo, so I booked a three-day clinic. The rest is history – I got back to the UK and signed up for lessons at Ascot Park.

In England, the Queen’s and Gold Cups (22-goal), and in the US the Pacific Coast Open (20-goal) in Santa Barbara [which Lyndon won last year]. This year, we played the US Open for the first time [26-goal].

Most of the world’s top players are there and with so many teams, it’s very competitive, which makes tournaments exciting, fun and desirable to win. The history of tournaments such as the Gold Cup makes it special, too.

It’s clear as day to me that the UK should raise high goal from 22 to 26 goals. First, because it’s a better game to watch and play when you have three high-handicapped pros: it’s a similar difference between 15 and 22-goal and between 22 and 26-goal. Second, it would help English players. The HPA system encourages them until they are three or four goals, but the structure makes it hard for 5 to 7-goalers to get a job in high goal. When going up to 22-goal they suddenly have to be the number-two guy [ie, the second most important] on the team. If you had 26-goal, with, say, two nines in the middle, you’d have a space for a 6 or 7-goaler as the number three guy, which would give English players an opportunity to develop. In an effort to protect English polo, the existing structure is stifling it.

Teams find ways to get round this anyway, and with or without the restriction the structure makes it hard for 5 to 7-goalers to get a job in high goal. As with any industry in the world the solution is rarely regulation.

A few, but you’d create a 20-goal league by raising the 18-goal tournaments. Then you’d have a perfect system. Now is the time to do it because you’ve got 20 teams in high goal.

Umpiring is a thankless and difficult job, and it’s notoriously hard to get people to do it. However, there’s more accountability in the US. In the US Open, a call not made lost us a game, but at least the officials had a meeting about it afterwards. They agreed that it was the wrong call and the chief umpire apologised to us. In England, we had a bad call against Atlantic and it took six months to get the HPA to review the video. They eventually wrote to apologise and admit that it was the wrong call. Umpiring will never be perfect but when you’re spending that kind of money, losing a game on a bad call feels like flushing it away. You spend more on 22-goal in the UK than on 26-goal in the US, but as a patron I’d pay more if I were convinced there was a proper professional umpires’ association with coaching, feedback, videos after the game and suspensions for umpires when it’s done badly.

The draws in American tournaments can be a little confusing, but the way the draw is done in the Gold Cup means it’s very difficult for a game to be fixed. This year, Lyndon Lea’s Zacara (the name is a blend of his children’s names, Zachary and Chiara) is formed around Javier and Eduardo Novillo Astrada.

Anna Williamson (second left) surveys an ‘economy’ pony at the Beaufort Club

Anna Williamson hadn’t set foot on a polo ground for two years when she spent a morning at the Beaufort Polo Club…

On arrival at the Beaufort we were greeted by the enthusiastic proprietors, Simon and Claire Tomlinson. The place has certainly undergone a few changes since my last visit. In 2006, Sir Charles Williams, owner of Apes Hill Club Barbados, offered sponsorship to four non-Argentine polo players to play under his club name. Two seasons later, the team is back at the Beaufort for the summer, with Luke and Mark Tomlinson, Tom Morley and Ed Hitchman living under one roof and undergoing a training regime akin to that of Olympic rowers.

For the majority of players in the UK, however, this is not a professional sport but an expensive hobby. Sponsorship is limited to a very small number of high goal teams. To become a high goal player you have to play with the best, and to keep up with them you need a string of very good ponies and a lot of equipment. This is not a sport that is easily taken up if you are not fortunate enough to be born with a silver stick in your hand. Thanks to organisations such as the Pony Club, though, the game is becoming more accessible. The idea is that with a pony and a stick, anyone can try their hand at a young age. The danger, of course, comes when you get hooked...

Polo differs from other sports in that there are animals involved, and it differs from other horsey sports in that you need more than one pony. So while it might be possible for someone to afford one horse at livery, having four match-fit ponies is an expensive proposition. Teams tend to be made up of young pros and older wealthy businessmen. There is very little middle ground in which players can keep up the sport and a career without compromising one or the other. Having had to do this myself I am very aware of the compromise. Having ridden all my life I had the opportunity to learn to play at school (Marlborough College). I went on to play at Pony Club and the Beaufort, until the necessity to get a real job stopped me just when I finally reached 0 goals and a level where I might be of some use to a team.

I absolutely loved playing, and chukkas during the week at the Beaufort were a wonderful opportunity to play and learn from some of the best players in the UK. Outside the short Pony Club season, however, I often felt like Cinderella – all dressed up with nowhere to go.

In my experience, however much encouragement you are given, once you have learnt to play, then money still talks when trying to get a place in a team, even at low goal level. Beyond Pony Club there seems to be a market for low goal teams with all members on similar handicaps and no patrons or professionals involved. The team would share entry fees equally. Essentially amateur leagues could be introduced throughout the country in a similar way to the Pony Club system. This would provide an opportunity to play with friends of similar age and standard, rather than relying on the older generation to bankroll the younger.

Polo is the best adrenalin kick in the world, and a hard habit to beat despite the blood, sweat, tears and huge quantities of ibuprofen involved. There is a great thrill in playing dangerous team sports, and the added element of the pony increases the unpredictability. I’m sure I am not the only one trying to forge a career while whingeing about not being able to play polo. In Jane Austen’s day, the only way out of an unaffordable situation was to ‘marry well’. This is one solution. My phone number is [This has been cut for reasons of space.]