So you want to play polo in Argentina?
Yes, that's why you're here. But as you know, you can learn how to play polo anywhere, and certainly in a hundred different places in Argentina. So why the Argentina Polo Academy? Read on.
In short, this can be the best way to get the whole experience... Immersion. Culture. Horses. Spanish. Mate. Asado. Polo.
First, let's get some basics out of the way. The Argentina Polo Academy (henceforth referred to as APA) is in Lujan. It's about an hour from Buenos Aires and half an hour from Pilar by car. There's also a train that takes you pretty close, to a nearby town called Open Door. The APA's training ground (where most of the horses are kept and where you play polo) is co-located with The Polo Hotel, which is a fairly upscale resort hotel. There are three polo fields and about sixty horses. You'll spend most of your time based out of La Matera—the building where gauchos traditionally congregated to drink mate. Your primary contact is Marion, who also has a great command of English. Most everyone else primarily speaks Spanish, though some of the teachers, like Thomas Ezcurra and Santiago Novillo Astrada, will instruct in English.
I spent the better part of two months at the Argentina Polo Academy—from October to December—in a version of the Polo Working Holiday. This is a review of that program.
Let me first say that the Polo Working Holiday is what you make of it. Read that again: it is what you make of it. If you go in not knowing anything and with no idea what you want, you will learn in spite of it, but you will not get the most out of the program. Argentina is not Europe. It is not the USA. If your goal is to spend as much time as you can learning about horses and learning about polo, you have to make that happen for yourself. The academy is very flexible (read: not very structured), and this can be a huge advantage or it can be extremely frustrating. It is what you make of it.
If you want to go to Argentina to experience a slower pace of life and chill out and have fun with horses and learn some polo, you're all set. This is the place... as-is. If you're making the long trip out here because you want to learn polo intensively from people who do this all day, every day, this is also the place, but you need to be good at asking for that.
In that sense, the program caters to those who have a clear vision of what they want and have the discipline and communication ability to exact it. Though it is billed as an academy, you should think of it more as a counseling center. You're not there because you plan to sit back and have someone evaluate your ability, hand you a curriculum, lecture at you, and give you some homework. You won't get that. It's not that turnkey. Communicate what you want and what you need and how you think you need to get it, and they will bend over backwards to accommodate you. They want you to be happy, but you have to empower them to do that.
Marion and Fidel (the proprietors) are like family to me now. I don't mean that in the sense that they're perfect; I mean that in the way that real people have real family. Family is great and sometimes crazy. Family is helpful and knows you like nobody else. But family is always there for you. You'll always be welcome, and they'll always have your back.
When you sign up for the Polo Working Holiday, you're signing up for family. This is the lifestyle. Day in and day out, you live with your family, you work and learn, play and compete; you do it all with your family. And this is a good family to be in. Marion and Fidel and everyone else really care. There is so much to learn. And when you join the APA, you'll get the family insider's view of polo in Argentina. This is real polo. This is Argentina. This is why you're coming all the way out here.
Accommodations. You'll likely be staying at the academy ranch, which is beautiful. It's in the country very close to the Polo Hotel and Open Door. It has a pool. It has animals. It has horses and a garden. The grounds are beautiful; the house is beautiful; the horses are beautiful. It's a good setup.
Transportation. This is tricky. You can take a taxi, you can call a car, you can take the train. APA can even arrange transportation to various places, but if you want true autonomy and the flexibility to go where you want/need to go, when you need it, you'll want your own car. Just watch out for the potholes!
Food. Are you a vegetarian or gluten free? That's really unfortunate. APA will accommodate you, but it's just a fact of life in Argentina that the staples are pastry, bread, and meat. Breakfast is normally cafe con leche and either media lunas (small, usually sweet croissant-like things) or other small, usually sweet things. Lunch is really hit or miss. If you can't stand going 5-6 hours without something to eat, make sure you bring something with you from the house or ask when you're going to be eating lunch. Dinner is usually a mix of asado (BBQed meat), but can easily be a bunch of other things, since APA has a broader repertoire than the local fare.
Schedule. Highly variable, but generally breakfast is around 9am. Work begins around 10 or 11. Lunch can be anywhere from 1 to 5pm. Lessons and chukkas can be all throughout the day. Dinner is normally around 10pm. In summer (November/December), the sunset isn't until 8pm or thereabouts, so there's plenty of time to play in the evenings, which can be great when it's hot out. Temps are generally in the 80s and 90s. Tournaments and organized chukkas are on the weekends. The weekends are the busy time for both play and work, as the academy hosts broader classes, social events, and tournaments. During the Argentine Open, you can also go and watch the games in Tortugas, Hurlingham, and Palermo on the weekends.
Work. How much work is involved? What kind of work? This is something you should ask ahead of time, as it varies.
Polo. You'll get lessons from a variety of teachers on a variety of horses. You'll have the opportunity to play in chukkas and tournaments, providing you're riding/playing at an appropriate level. You'll get to do stick and ball. You'll get to practice hitting the ball with foot mallets (i.e. not on a horse). You'll get riding lessons specifically for polo. There's a lot to learn here; it is an academy after all.
Language. It's Spanish. But no, it's probably not the kind you're used to. The Argentinean variety has different pronunciations and different words. It takes getting used to. If you don't know Spanish, you really, really owe it to yourself to spend a month learning it before you go. It's so key for maximizing the program and for just feeling comfortable learning. Let's put it this way, you only need one of the following three skills to make this work: strong riding/polo/horse experience, strong knowledge of the Spanish language, strong internal drive and learning ability. But be careful with just having that last one. The more you have, the more fun it'll be, and the more you'll get out of it.
Timing. High season is October through December. It's a great time to go to see all of the tournaments in the Argentine Open, which culminate in the finals in Palermo (Buenos Aires). I highly recommend spending at least a month in the program. Especially if you're new to horses or to polo. Why? This is how long it takes to truly get the knowledge engrained. Practice, practice, practice. The first week is getting used to everything. The second week is improving at everything you've learned. The third week is where you get into a groove. The fourth week comes all too quickly and is really the sweet spot when you don't have to think as much about everything and can have fun exploring your newfound skills.
There's a special place in my heart for the Argentina Polo Academy. The experience will be different for everyone, but they get a qualified five-star rating from me. If you're considering committing a few weeks or a few months to the program, reach out to Marion and find out more. Think about what you want and figure out how you learn best. You can make it an incredible, unforgettable experience.
