Polo And Asado

When the owner of our Thai supplier is not busy making furniture, she is spending time a few hours East of Bangkok at her Polo Club.  When I say "her Polo Club", I don't mean that it's a club that she belongs to and rides a horse a couple hours each weekend.  I mean it's her Polo Club - 100+ acres, resort, restaurant, horses and all.

Last weekend, Nuch and I had the good fortune of being invited to one of this year's Polo pre-season events.  Actually, my boss who happened to be in town on an extended business trip was invited along with his wife, kids, and in-laws, and Nuch and I were allowed to tag along.

 

I'm not a huge horse or Polo fan, but I must admit it was all pretty friggin' cool.

The Polo Club has a resort where you can spend the weekend, but Nuch and I stayed up the road in Pattaya and came down for the Asado BarBQ.  Here I am with my boss's family enjoying appetizers before the main feast.

There were several other guests staying at the club - mostly other players who had flown in for the weekend to brush up their games before the official season started.  Here's my boss with his in-laws.

and here's the Asado, of which I only had 3 bites because I had gorged on appetizers the previous 2 hours

I can't remember the last time I had seen lemon meringue pie.  Still too full, I didn't have a bite - just praying that I get invited back again someday. 

After dinner, we walked by the stables and I took a look at a young filly and its mother.

The next day we came back for the Polo match.

One thing I never knew - one match is divided into 4 Chukkas with each Chukka lasting 7 minutes.  Even more interesting is that with every Chukka each player gets a new, fresh horse.   So, I'm told that these professional polo horses will only work 7 minutes a day.

Here are some better pictures courtesy of Pattaya Days

It's amazing how much time these horses spend in the air.