Palm Springs - Polo at the Empire Club

This was a first for me. We went last night to a polo game. The Empire Polo Club in Indio, Palm Springs, has games on Sunday afternoons and one Friday evening a month. We opted for the evening figuring the day time game would be very hot.

As we arrived the sun sank on the beautiful grounds. Large fields, bordered by palm trees,
at the base of the mountains.

We drove in not really knowing what to expect. We had read that you could "tailgate"; bring your own food and drink and have a party off the back of your car, like at a football game. This is in fact what was happening as the cars parked along the edge of the field and people had chairs, BBQs, coolers etc. We were able to snag three plastic chairs and had bought some wine, water and snacks.

This goes beyond tailgating and was reserved for the family of the president of the polo club

The visiting team, Mexico, arrived and tacked up behind where we were sitting.

A game usually has 6 "chukkers" or periods, each seven and a half minutes long. Each rider can change to a fresh horse between each chukker. As there are 4 players on the team, and substitutes, that can mean a lot of horses.

A competitor and one of the two umpires (in stripes)

A young player on the Mexican team. They were playing Germany

My camera battery died after that shot so the rest of the pictures on this post are Anita's. There was an announcer who explained the game as it went along and there was also a written handout with the terminology and rules. Sundays there is a $10 fee for parking but Friday night is free. There was a bar set up to purchase beer, wine and cocktails. All very civilized.

Eve and Bentley sipping and enjoying the action

Unfortunately it was too dark to get action shots of the game. It was scarily fast with flying mallets, bumping horses going at a flat out canter and the little white ball being hit back and forth. As a spectator it was not only fast but a little confusing as the teams goal end changed after each goal was scored. We were impressed by the speed, physicality, horsemanship and aim of the competitors.

At half time we all walked on to the field to replace divots and then we wandered into the rose gardens
at one end of the field.

In the rose garden, a statue of a horse. "He gave his all"

I believe Germany won and I think the score was 7 to 4.