horses in the suburbs

we went out of town, about an hour north, near the small community of pilar for a tourney at the ellerstina polo grounds. there are eight polo fields here and people pay big bucks to stay and take polo lessons. the grounds are as immaculate as any top flight country club, just much larger. no blade of grass on a polo field, or the open spaces between them would dare stand more than five eighths of an inch, and at attention. everything is dead level flat, perfectly manicured. it's like standing on the tee of a 10,000 yard par twelve. ellerstina is one of eight polo estancias in this vicinity and they are all resort like, i hear. this club won the most prestigious end of season tourney last year and we were privileged to sit in their section of the grandstand for the final. as noisy as a soccer match, but everyone was much better dressed. the best argentine players are not in attendance at this tourney as they are preparing for an international event next weekend which we will most definitely attend. an argentine team, brazilian, british, and combined international team, perhaps an american or two.