And who was playing? The black and red teams of the sixty-first cavalry, one of the world's last full cavalry regiments! They are based in Jaipur, and quite the romantic heroes. It was the finals of the Northern India Polo Championship.
Dashing shiny ponies, of incredible obedience and skill, handsome hunks in tight white pants and boots swinging sticks around, macho bravado within playing ground rules, and even a real prince or two..what more could a girl want for a thrilling Sunday afternoon!
The black boards on the scoreboard are changed manually, see the steps? the digital board displays time remaining in the chukker.
After the match and awards, a display of tent pegging skills, marvellous control and power of man and beast. Below you can see the rider homing in at high speed, he speared a tiny piece of paper off the end of that pike.
Malti with the dashing, splendid player, Maj. Navjit Sandhu
a scyce, groom of the 61st
Dashing shiny ponies, of incredible obedience and skill, handsome hunks in tight white pants and boots swinging sticks around, macho bravado within playing ground rules, and even a real prince or two..what more could a girl want for a thrilling Sunday afternoon!There are four players on each team, two referees, and an umpire.
The black boards on the scoreboard are changed manually, see the steps? the digital board displays time remaining in the chukker.Each play is called a "chukker". The polo ground seems huge, and they thunder from end to end, hitting the balls though the goalposts. Our reds and blacks were very well matched, the blacks won by half a point. His Royal Highness Maj. Tunku Ismail Ibrahim of Malasia was number 2 of the reds. The minute to minute commentator was terrific.
In the audience we had some famous Indians, Nawab M. Ali Khan Pataudi, Farooq Abdullah, Pickles Sodhi, and His Highness Bhawani Singh, maharaja of Jaipur. There were also some ladies in hats!
Wine, champagne, juice and fresh tea were served in the stands.
After the match and awards, a display of tent pegging skills, marvellous control and power of man and beast. Below you can see the rider homing in at high speed, he speared a tiny piece of paper off the end of that pike.Malti with the dashing, splendid player, Maj. Navjit Sandhua scyce, groom of the 61st
After the game, Lt. Col. Tarun Sirohi rests
lathered pony, and the badge of the 61st Cavalry
