"It's like riding a rugby player"

by William Gadsby Peet

William Gadsby Peet trots over to Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park to try out the sport with Jason Robinson and Matt Baker and the team at Landrover

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L to R: Matt Baker, Jason Robinson and Max Charlton

There are many sentences one can't quite believe one has found oneself writing. I imagine the reporter who crafted the headline 'Police thwarted by goat stuck on roof who "only respects one man"’ never thought in his wildest dreams that an anarchist goat with a man crush would feature in his chosen career path. Life as a journalist often opens doors that the maddest inhabitant of bygone Bedlam wouldn't envisage.

For myself, one such door and sentence are as follows: I recently had the incredibly odd experience of opening the changing room door at Guards Polo Club to reveal ex-England International rugby player and World Cup winner Jason Robinson bedecked in full horse riding gear and curios to know if I or my friend had ever ridden before. The surreality of the situation quickly escalated as Jason was joined by One Show host Matt Baker and before you could say 'Chukka' we were all out in the glorious (and surprising) sunshine of the August bank holiday being taught the sport of polo by England's highest rated player, Max Charlton.

It was thanks to the fine folk at Land Rover that I found myself atop a horse for the first time in 14 years, slowly trotting around a field with one of my sporting heroes whilst trying to whack a small white ball with a long wooden mallet, and, I must say (despite some initial nerves) I couldn't be happier that I responded to the press invite in the affirmative as it really is just bloody good fun. "It's a bit like rugby on horses," explains our instructor. Or, as a Land Rover PR later puts it, quite brilliantly: "It's like riding a rugby player". Aforementioned PR quickly clarified – having been met with a chorus of Carry On-esque guffaws – that she didn't mean it like that. Sometimes you spend hours thinking of a snappy title to a piece, and sometimes they're handed to you on a silver platter!

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The Guards Polo Academy staff deserve a huge amount of credit for getting all 12 of our party up and about on horses successfully. The club keeps a special troop of training ponies to help teach the sport to newcomers and they really are as receptive and friendly as one could hope for from an animal that weighs north of 200 kilograms. It is a testament to how good the instructors were that despite the majority of our party never having ridden before – the exception to which was Matt Baker who is as eager and full of beans a horse as he is on TV, galavanting across the pitch like a madman pretty much from the word go – we all succeeded in getting our mighty steads up to a trot and everyone managed to hit at least one polo ball without falling off.

With tutorials on riding technique and how to swing a mallet completed, there was even time for a quick chukka, and, here's another one of those rogue sentences you never think you'll write until you are doing so: the match finished 2-0 to Jason Robinson's team, both goals were scored by the man himself, including an effort where he nutmegged Matt Baker's horse to score in off the side of the goal.

After two and a half hours spent riding around in the sun – I had, in classic British form, managed to cultivate a rather impressive sunburn – we retired to the pavilion for a shower and a spot of well earned lunch (thankfully just in time to miss an audience for our little trot about as people were starting to arrive ahead of the final high-goal tournament of the season: The Land Rover Duke of Cornwall Trophy). The Mosimman's catering staff at Guards Polo Club put on a great spread, one that included a salted beef brisket and some chorizo sausages that were both out of this world.

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Having been well fed and watered my friend – a gentleman called James Bourke who I feel deserves a mention as I asked him only the night before if he wanted to come play polo in Windsor and he said yes without batting an eyelid – and I moved out of the clubhouse to the lawn where we were treated to an enthralling contest of sport in the summer sun as Park Place triumphed over the Golden Falcons in a tight match that finished 8 to 7.5. After the Land Rover Duke of Cornwall Final came the Sub Final (like the plate in rugby) where Bridge House of Twyford overcame Shoreline 7-5.

Having had the morning lesson it made the impressive display of skill by both sides all the easier to appreciate – I was missing the ball more often than not atop a horse going slightly faster than a whimper; to watch a rider at full gallop backhand the ball at a 45 degree angle to a team mate running a line behind him was truly gobsmacking. There was a particular moment of inhuman dexterity, where a Park Place player tried to chip the ball over his Golden Falcons opponent (bear in mind the ball here is travelling up to 110mph) and the Falcons player managed to successfully pluck the ball out of the air above his head and launch a counter attack as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Up until this visit to Guards Polo Club my only experience of the sport had come through Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game of polo as a spectacle and there's a similar atmosphere of fun amongst the spectators as a day at the cricket or races. Having survived my baptism of fire with Messieurs Robinson and Baker, I'm certainly planning on trotting over to Windsor Great Park to catch a match or two next summer.

Land Rover is Official Vehicle Partner of Guards Polo Club and title sponsor of the Duke of Cornwall Trophy. Land Rover has been at the heart of equestrian sport for over 30 years. landrover.co.uk

If you'd like to learn more about Guards Polo Club or book an introductory polo lesson at the club's academy (prices starting from £175) visit: guardspoloclub.com

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