Y E S T E RY E A R S
The match was held at the Ranelagh Club in London in front of a well-heeled crowd.
school their mounts, if they did not, indeed, in the first instance lasso them off the plains! Ladies have lately played in polo matches privately in Ireland and elsewhere; whilst it was only at the end of last summer that the now famous “ladies’ polo match” between the “rainbows” and the “whites” took place at Ranelagh before Queen Alexandra and the large and enthusiastic audience who had collected to witness so picturesque and novel a sight, and it was on this occasion that, owing to the courtesy of Mrs. Hume Spry and the other members of the two rival polo teams, the photographs which illustrate this article were taken. The necessary mounts having been lent by various men players, a double row of smart polo ponies fitted with side saddles provided an arresting sight alongside of the barrier to the new polo ground. The ponies, totally unused to feminine riders, behaved with delightful appreciation of the spirit of the game, boldly approaching a flapping habit skirt, when required to “ride off” its wearer, and taking sundry unavoidable knocks and blows from polo sticks wielded by unaccustomed hands in the utmost good part, besides cheerfully standing with their riders while still mounted during the intervals between the “chuckers” – an unpardonable breach of all usual observance in a polo pony’s eyes! - for few players changed ponies, and the rest for the most
part pronounced it “too much bother to get off and on!” and indeed, the game being of necessity a very slow one (most of the players having only had the sticks in their hands on one previous occasion in their lives), there was little need for them to do so! On the opposite side of the ground from the grandstand where the audience was seated, a long table set forth with huge jugs of lemonade in which ice chinked, flanked by a long row of tumblers, provided very welcome refreshment when poured out and handed up to the players between the “chuckers” by various men-friends of the rival teams, who during the game sat in a row on the boundary board to jeer, chaff, or applaud the players, and subsequently to give a word of advice, a “good tip,” or perchance, a warning during the intervals of rest, whilst a few privileged feminine intimates also made their way round to praise the sportsmanlike appearance of the riders, who, clad in stiff habits and skirts, made a vivid enough contrast to their lace and muslin clad friends! Whether a ladies’ team will ever be formed for more serious play, who will devote time to constant and serious practice before attempting to play in matches, and will become serious exponents of the game, still remains to be seen. To be able to hit the ball with some degree of certainty at a canter is a difficult enough matter, and much time must POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 61