When I first became interested in polo I already had a South America trip planned, so I added a week in Argentina to my itinerary so I could check out polo in the best place in the world for it.

PALO ALTO POLO
After researching many different clubs online, I was sold on Palo Alto.  With the abundance of “polo holiday” offerings in Argentina, it’s really daunting to choose one, but I landed on a pretty great place.  Set on a lovely estancia about an hour outside of Buenos Aires, and about 40 minutes from Pilar, (where most of the polo clubs are) the place is just serene.  Everyone who comes there falls in love with it instantly.

I did a week long holiday there in 2017, where I frustratingly and embarrassingly was too sore after the first few days to play much polo!  It was enough to get me hooked though, and I returned in 2018 for two months as a guest/groom hybrid, which let me live out my lifelong fantasy of living on a farm…  and I loved every minute of it!

The farm’s primary business is providing polo experiences for foreigners, so it was really fun to be part of hosting people from all over the world.  While I was there, we played with people from Australia, Ethiopia, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Kenya, Switzerland, the US, and the UK.  Local Argentine professionals play at the farm nearly every day and I learned so much from them!  I counted and was able to play a total of 106 chukkers, which is a ton of polo.

Upon arriving I realized that even though I had spent the whole past year playing polo at home, and working out in the gym, I still had a lot of work to do to be fit enough to survive an entire game.  Especially at the pace these guys play.  I also had a lot of work to do on my swing…  After playing mostly arena polo all season in Pittsburgh, I needed to actually develop a full swing and learn to hit the ball at a faster speed.  I had some great lessons with Leo Rossolini, Palo Alto’s polo manager… which basically consisted of him chasing me around the field passing me the ball over, and over, and over while giving me different parts of the swing to focus on.  I also went out for multiple solo stick & ball sessions to practice.  Just as it was time for me to leave, I finally got it!

Apart from the polo, the highlight of Palo Alto is the people, as my two months there felt like adult summer camp. I made friends from all over the world who all share this crazy polo passion and I’m pretty sure I laughed until I cried at least once a day.  We went to Palermo for the Argentine Open, hosted a Ladies Tournament, went to several horse auctions, had a million asados (barbecues) and did many more things that I am probably forgetting.

My favorite times at Palo Alto, though, were the quiet moments: taking my favorite pony out for an early morning solo stick-and-ball session, or cleaning tack as the sun sets after another awesome day of polo.  Being on the farm with nothing to do and nowhere to go, with a view like this is pretty priceless.  Part of my heart will definitely always be in this place.