a publication for
October 2022
VAL DE VIE ESTATE RESIDENTS
In the Here and Now
WORDS BY RYK NEETHLING, VAL DE VIE ESTATE MARKETING DIRECTOR AND VAL DE VIE POLO CLUB MEMBER At a time when we are all living in a digital age, many of us
they can go back to grazing and just being. We can learn a
changing positions of my teammates and our opposition – all
struggle to be present. With mobile phones, social media
great lesson from horses. When we lack presence, we are
while trying to stay in the saddle. I hope that you will support
and work – technology demands our constant attention.
in danger of missing out, of misunderstanding and making
the Val de Vie Polo Club with your presence this season. Our
It shifts our focus, impacting on our ability to concentrate
mistakes – all of which, over time, can negatively impact our
matches and tournaments are for everyone to enjoy either on
and in our busy, modern lives our minds are frequently
physical health and mental well-being. I have been playing
thefieldorfromthesidelines.Aplacetogatherwithfamily
somewhere other than where our bodies are. Horses on the
polo for just over two years, and it has been a life changing
and friends for picnics or playdates, where children can
other hand are always present in the here and now. They can
experience. My anchor to the here and now. It requires my
run and play and just be in the moment. Polo is part of the
graze and play in one moment and in the next, their survival
complete concentration, and hours pass by in what feels like
fabricoflifeonValdeVieEstate.Ourpolofieldscreatewide,
instincts kick in and enable them to move quickly, should
minutes as I work to stay focused on the speed of the ball in
open spaces that provide us all with space to breathe and to
they detect a threat. Once the perceived threat is over;
play, the twitch of my pony’s ears indicating her mood, the
reflect–andtobemorepresent.