Polo weekend with Uncle Bobby

We did not get out of the house as early as we wanted on Saturday.  Ken and I were having a difficult time dealing with the prospect that his cancer had spread, so sleeping was elusive.   


Once the car was loaded off, we drove down to Indio, CA to the El Dorado Polo Club.  We met up with Uncle Bobby who is the youngest of the Koehler brothers.  He is a professional polo player, and he has been in Indio since January for a series of tournaments.  Ken hadn't seen his uncle since 1995, and Dad hadn't seen his brother for approximately 12 years.  I loved every minute of watching the brothers argue and banter back and forth, and enjoyed watching Ken spend time with his family.  


When we arrived, Bobby took us to the barn area.  Ken was able to get a beer and we met Bobby's groom, Chris.  He's a 17-year-old kid from Arkansas that Bobby has taken "under his wing" to train.  

Once Bobby was done showing us where the horses were kept, etc. he treated us to lunch which was excellent since the three of us were starving.  Bobby explained how he travels and what he does with his time, and Bobby and Dad talked about various things from their childhood, etc.   We enjoyed listening to Bobby's stories and explanations of everything in regards to his life, his schedule, and his sport.  He was very strict with his scheduling, and as we learned where most sports have an approximate starting time, Polo is precise on their start time as is the care of the horses.


We were bummed that we missed Bobby playing.  He was in the quarter finals and lost, but we did learn that he had a consolation game on Sunday, so we would still get to see him play. When we back to the barn area, Bobby got Dad on a horse so they could ride and go hit for a while.  Ken and I headed to the Cantina for some drinks while the brothers did some bonding.

Ken had the camera and snapped this picture of me.

Yep!  This is how Dad normally looks for the camera

And this is how he looks when I start giving him shit.  An actual smile!

Dad gets on the horse, but he's unsure of himself - despite the fact that he has horses at home

Chris helps to make sure that the stirrups are at the right length for him

And off ride the brothers!

I couldn't believe the view from the Cantina.  I had no idea that the grounds were so large.  The area that we were looking at was 3 polo fields, and they were immaculate.  The fact that there were mountains and the snow in the background just made it more awesome.

That is Dad and Uncle Bobby riding their horses in the background.  Awesome!

Ken and I enjoyed our drinks and chatted to ourselves.  I found a great magazine of the Polo Club, so we flipped through it.  Thankfully, there was a great photo that explained the gear and pages that explained the game. 

After Bobby and Dad were done riding, they joined us in the Cantina for some drinks and then we headed to the store to grab some goodies for a BBQ at the house that Bobby is renting.  We enjoyed the evening with food and drink.  Bobby and I took great pleasure in making sure that Dad had some Scotch to enjoy.  

With polo also comes early bedtimes and early rising.  Dad, Ken and I stayed up late talking while Bobby and Chris crashed just after 8 pm.  Ken and I went to the hotel while Dad enjoyed the couch and morning with his brother.

On Sunday morning, we swung by the townhome to pick up Dad and then headed to the Polo Club.  Bobby and his team had lost their quarter final game, but they had a consolation game to play.  I pulled out my large lens for the pictures and the shade and got set up to watch a polo match.  What completely surprised me was how much was necessary for each player - 6 horses, a groom, and all of the tack and gear.  I about choked on my coffee when I learned that Bobby's boots were custom made from Argentina (not surprising), but that they were around $2,000 and were a gift from his boss.  Holy crap!  I can't imagine even having $2,000 to spend on my job!

So, here is what I saw prior to the game

Chris is "plaiting" the tails of the horses and made sure that each of the horses were ready for Bobby (he hated me taking his picture, and I called it "braiding" the tails which was a no-no.)

Here are three of Bobby's horses - they drive the horses over with the trailer to have everything on hand

Bobby is getting "psyched" for the game and getting ready while chatting with the other Koehler men

Here is Bobby putting on the famous $2,000 boots

And then there was the game itself.  It looked like a mess of people on horses riding around, but then I started to understand the game a bit.  It was totally confusing to me that the goals changed sides with every goal made.  If they were at the north end of the field, and Bobby's team scored in that goal, they now had to defend that goal section from the other team rather than having to wait until the end of the "chucker" to switch goals.  Totally different goal sides from football and hockey, and it took me a while to understand what was going on.

Bobby is #2 for his team, and here he is heading out to warm up his horse before the match

And I caught the ball after he hit it

Bobby is joined by his boss, Tom Sprung, who is in the foreground (#1 since he owns the team).

Tom again in the foreground and Bobby striking the ball

During play, the riders all follow the ball to hit it where they want it to go

Bobby going in to hit the ball towards the goal

I was really glad that I was able to get some great shots.  The irony for me was the scoreboard - all of this money to play the game, and they had this as a scoreboard:

Now, while the players are riding, their grooms are busy keeping the next horse warmed up and standing ready for when their rider returns and makes a quick demand.

The entire thing was mind-boggling to me.  Dad couldn't get over the amount of money that it takes to play polo.  I reminded him that this is considered the Sport of Kings, which is what it takes to play.  

Dad's favorite picture that I took is the one of Bobby without a hat on.  He had a quick break and needed to take care of something, and I snapped a picture.  Apparently, Bobby used to give Dad a ton of grief for losing his hair - as younger brothers will do.  Well, that joke caught up to Bobby.

Ken, Dad and I went with Bobby to watch Tom's son play in a match, and then we had to leave.  I stopped at the front gate in order to get a picture of Ken and Dad at the Club sign, and then we headed home.  

Once I was able to go through the pictures, I was even more happy with some added shots that I got.  For me, personally, it has been fun to meet another of the Koehler men.  They are each so different, and there's still so many to meet!