I Love Lucy

My Valentine's Day gift to Lucy was a kiss on the nose with red lipstick. She also got some cookies.

When I went back to the barn to feed her dinner, the smooch was still there :)

More snow today! We were supposed to go to Beach Polo in Newport, an event I look forward to every year, but it was canceled due to the existing snow and the impending snow. They're not even going to reschedule it, so I am disappointed. Snow is ruining all my fun!

Should I just cancel all my plans until Spring? Then I'll have a newborn baby and no time for anything else. Sounds about right!

Polo! Newport vs. Spain

Yesterday some friends and I went down to watch the polo game in Newport. The weather had been iffy all day but all we got were a few sprinkles right as the match started. Lauren and Dan brought homemade chili, and I made some great sangria and some sandwiches. Another friend of mine, Wendy, brought hummus and chips, and we all had the best time hanging out, chatting, and watching the game.

I loved this grey

the group, plus Cairo!

Polo at URI - Cornell vs. Harvard

I went to college at the University of Rhode Island and then worked there for four years full-time. If someone asked me what the school is most insane about, I'd say their athletic fields. They are so hard core about the grass on that campus and they even have turf management as a major! Sod farming is one of Rhode Island's main industries and anyone with nice turf around here would have a cow if you tried to ride a horse on it.

That is why I was SHOCKED to hear that URI was hosting a polo match. They were actually going to allow horses to run around on one of their precious fields and rip the turf up. Of course I had to go, so I bought tickets for myself, Kenny, and a few friends and we went to watch the match yesterday.

The other matches we've been to were professional players in Newport RI. I wasn't quite prepared for the stark differences between a professional match and a college match, but the riding yesterday was absolutely terrible. The whole thing was very unorganized, the announcer didn't know what he was supposed to say and you could hear someone feeding him lines in the background, and one of the horses sustained a horrible injury when a player accidentally hit another players horse in its eye with the mallet. AWFUL. The police officers at the game knew me from my days working at URI, and knew I had a horse. They came over and asked me if I knew of any vets in the area because the people who brought the polo horses were from out-of-state and they had no idea what vets were in Rhode Island. I gave them my vet's number and luckily there was a vet just 15 minutes away. I hope the horse is ok. It sounded like a very bad injury - the eye was filling up with blood within minutes of the initial injury.

Lauren and her boyfriend came with us and at one point, her boyfriend said he thought Lucy might be a good polo horse. I can say with certainty that even if she would make a good polo horse, I'd never let her be one! They all looked miserable.

Here are some photos.

I mean, come on...
At one point, this rider hauled so hard on his horses face that he pushed
the saddle forward onto the horses neck and had to get off the horse to
readjust his tack.

Cairo had a nice time sunbathing and getting lots of attention.

Newport Polo: Newport vs. Boston

We went to watch another polo match yesterday. This time we did it the right way, and my friend reserved a tailgating spot. We had a huge spread of three tables of food. We enjoyed everything from homemade chili to sausages to fruit to hummus and crackers, in addition to cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries and a gorgeous cheese assortment.

We were very close to the field this time, and one thing that struck me this time around was that these horses are bitted up like WOAH. I don't know if they're gags or what, but they seem to be quite severe, and I saw some terribly harsh riding out there.

the "snacks", and this was before the third table arrived.

ouch...

mega ouch...

 

photos from Argentina vs. USA's polo match

I went to a polo match at Glen Farm in Portsmouth, RI (on the outskirts of Newport). I've lived in RI for 8 years and this was my first time going to a match there! Terrible!! :) I had a blast -- the people watching would have been enough entertainment for me but as a bonus there were sleek polo ponies galloping all over the field.

Light blue is Argentina. Dark blue is USA.

As the light started to fade, I changed the settings on the
camera to practice panning.

USA won! At the end of the match all the players galloped
around the edge of the field and high-fived spectators.