Polo or no polo

I headed off to Karoo Ranching’s Polo Day and photo shoot in late September 2018 with my limited knowledge of chukkas, polo ponies and mallets coming from a sneaky, early-teenage read of Jilly Cooper’s incredibly saucy and aptly-named hard-cover novel, Polo.  

I have no idea what I was expecting to find at the Addo Polo Club that day, but it was far removed from the powerhouse polo world described in Cooper’s prose of high society, travel, adultery and hugely wealthy, well-groomed men and women perched on pillowed seats in packed grandstands.

Instead, I found something completely different, better even, and much more South African. I found a gathering of people from all walks of Sundays River Valley farming and business life, who had come together to celebrate the best parts of their community; polo pony trainers and polo players, farriers and wine makers, farm owners and female farm managers, videographers and equine photographers.   

Karoo Ranching’s Julie Truter says the day was aimed at showcasing the valley and agriculture in a positive light. She started the young company with the hopes of raising the profile of farming in South Africa, and has found no lack of creatives in the Eastern Cape willing to dedicate their time and expertise to telling positive narratives about farming as a profession.

It is easy to imagine the Addo Polo Club in its heyday when you take a stroll through the clubhouse which now shares its facilities with Hermitage House school, and peruse the photos of days gone by hanging on walls of the pub with its honesty bar, or listen to some of the more “experienced” members reminisce about the old days when players used to walk their horses from towns many kilometres away just to play a day of polo. Those were the days when tournament weekends were family affairs.

Hugh Oxenham and his brother, Ray, have been riding horses since they were young boys, and were appropriately dressed in full polo gear for the photo shoot. Their parents live and farm in the Addo area and the family has been involved with the polo club for decades.

Hugh, who works at ACS Investing and is based in Port Elizabeth, says he went to his first polo tournament at 16 years old as the youngest member of the team.

“Why do I love polo and riding? That’s an easy one. It is the ultimate combination between human and animal.”

““There is nothing that beats it. Horses are the most athletic, powerful, agile creatures in the world.””

He fondly remembers Sunday tea as a prestigious valley event when he was growing up.

”The spread was incredible. Wives, kids, non-polo players, everyone who was anyone from the valley was there and participated in some way. The place was an absolute buzz.  The polo club used to be the heartbeat, the centre for recreation, in the valley,” Hugh explains.  

“An active club can have a huge impact in a farming community. When it is no longer active, you lose a sense of that community, and a sense of identity too, I suppose.”

Hugh believes that just because polo is no longer a popular pastime in the valley, does not mean the club cannot thrive again in the future.

“We have a huge opportunity in the next five to 10 years in Addo to grow the club. There is a phenomenal bunch of spirited young adults in the valley with small children. We can create ways for these kids to try to play and learn about the sport of polo, or we can focus on something different,” he says.

Ryan Roberston is part of the younger generation of polo players in South Africa but says he only discovered his love for the sport when he attended a polo clinic in Grade 11.

“I have the best childhood memories of growing up on the farm. There was always polo being played in Addo but I never took an interest in the sport. My dad played, so I was always around horses and enjoyed riding very much,” the 25-year-old says.

Ryan on horseback with polo mallet in hand certainly resembles some of the uber-talented characters in Cooper’s novel.  He was 17 when he tried polo for the first time and has been hooked ever since.

“I think polo is an insane sport because it (involves) angles, speed, adrenaline, (physicality), skill and finesse. “

““You have got to be able to ride well, and it is just so cool to be playing while riding an animal which has a mind of its own.””

Ryan was selected to represent South Africa for the first time in December 2017. He spends much of his time playing in Plettenberg Bay at the Kurland Polo Club, but also runs a programme in Addo where he buys horses off the race track, schools them into polo ponies and sells them on to other players.

“It makes me sad that polo is not played competitively in Addo any longer. I wasn’t part of it all as a youngster, but can imagine how fun it was to play locally, as well as the camaraderie and vibe among the (participants). I would be keen to be involved in reviving the club,” Ryan says.

And he is not alone in this. Henriette Bouwer, one of the winemakers at the Addo Polo Day, started making wine in the valley not long ago when a small piece of ground near the family house was cleared and she had the opportunity to plant something there.

“My first thought was a small vineyard. There is beauty in a vineyard that is difficult to describe, but perhaps we can compare it with our own lives; the beautiful green leaves with bunches of sweet fruit with our own happy years – we bear fruit and give out joy, but in the more difficult times, when we are pruned, we look dead until with the right food and care, new life comes and we bear fruit again.”

The Bouwers’ first white wine – Isabella - was bottled in 2018.
“Its name? If I had a daughter, she would have been named Isabella. Instead, my husband Willem and I were blessed with three beautiful sons,” Henriette says.

“I don’t think we will ever sell the wine. My vineyard is small and I get so much more joy from giving someone a bottle as a gift and to say, ‘Enjoy, this is from the farm.’”

Henriette’s first red wine, Rebekka, was already barreled and would be bottled before the next harvest. She admits that it would be amazing to see more polo being played in the community.

““It’s a farming community, so people love to get together, and people getting together bring opportunities to the valley.” ”

At just one such gathering in one small farming community in the Eastern Cape, there are so many beautiful tales to tell. These are the good stories waiting to be told in rural farming communities all over South Africa.

The Sundays River Valley locals dream of the polo club returning to its former glory. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but what is certain is the strong sense of community which lives on in the photos on the walls and the stories passed down through the years, and in the visions of the next generation. 

Perhaps this is not so much a story about the sport of polo, and more about human spirit and the will to keep on keeping on.

Until we meet again, Jilly Cooper.

* All information and interviews were correct as of December 2018. Phambili believes that this story was too important to be buried in the piles of paper of times forgotten.

**To find out more about Karoo Ranching, click here to check out their brand new website. You can also search for Addo Polo Club on Facebook.

***Thank you to Karoo Ranchers Madeleine Mahieu and Renette Kleinhans for the incredible photos.