It is a little known fact, but the Singapore Polo Club is a pretty good place to learn how to play polo. It's not that the facilities are grand or hi-tech. On the contrary, the 120-year-old polo club has all the quaintness of an old colonial building even though it recently extended its facilities at a cost of S$10 million ($49 million).
Polo is usually pretty elitist, but players coming to Singapore find the cost of riding and training here is a fraction of what you would have to pay somewhere else.
Also, the field is available for training throughout most of the year, only closing during the rainiest months of June and December.
'There is no way we could have learned how to play otherwise. Here, it costs us S$75-$120 per chukka [a 71/2-minute game - apparently the sport's so strenuous that sometimes that's all one will play], compared with over S$200 in London,' quipped a British couple at a recent tea party to celebrate the opening of a new equestrian competition covered arena.
The new facility boasts a state-of-the-art floor surface, or 'footing', in the form of a waxed blend of sand and fibre manufactured in Britain and specially treated to be used in the tropics.
This product has apparently become all the rage at race courses in the Britain and the United States because it is designed to be dust-free and does not require any sprinkling with water prior to use.
While the tea party had a heavy mix of westerners and locals, a look at the playing board by the field revealed that most of the players had distinctive Anglo-Saxon names, with quite a few Indian ones sprinkled in, as well.
