Elephant polo - played originally in India by homesick Brits

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link:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/thailand/pachyderm-

polo/2006/10/25/1161749193326.html

 

 

Destination: Thailand

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October 28, 2006

 

Jodie McAlister revels in a polo contest with a difference in

Thailand.

 

Toffy as it may sound, I enjoyed watching a leisurely game or two of

polo in the small town of Chiang Saen in the north of Thailand. There

were jodhpurs, calf-length riding boots, gloves and cries of " tally-

ho " but the riding caps were pith helmets, the mallets were three

metres long and the trusty steed was a pachyderm.

 

Yes, we are talking elephant polo - played originally in India by

homesick Brits who hadn't occasion to call out " tally ho " for some

time. The game is now played to raise funds to support the elephant

populations of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

 

It was the wet season and the Saturday night before one game produced

a downpour that did little for the state of the already soggy field.

The previous semi-finals had been played on half a pitch because of

waterlogging, which only enhanced the pace and excitement of the

game. Friends had warned me that it was a " take a good book " kind of

slow but I loved every second.

 

The elephants, mounted by their regular mahouts and the polo players,

seemed excited by the chance to do something a little different and

were eager to please their mahouts. They let out trumpets of

excitement and were quick to the action. There was not a lot of room

to strike a ball - if it could be located among three or four

elephants, that is. Sometimes the elephants would unintentionally

pound the ball into the soft earth with their big pads. This called

for a break in proceedings while the umpire excavated the ball,

cleaned it off and put it back into play.

 

On that Sunday's slippery pitch, a big old lass fell. Neither the

elephant, her mahout nor the player were injured - but all were a

little shaken after those four large shock absorbers lost their grip.

Given the tournament aims to help elephants, not hurt them, the final

games were called off and the crowd and contenders had to settle for

a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner. As you can imagine, it's

not easy to pull off a well-aimed shot from atop an elephant.

Much to my dismay, the Scots won - again. They are now five-time

world champions (yes, there is a world championship of elephant

polo). Scotland is the only country without elephants to have

mastered this wily game: I'm not sure what that says about the Scots

(or the New Zealanders, who seemed to have the most improved team

this year).

 

The whole weekend was a lot of fun - from the blessing by the monk,

to the car-wash approach to removing the previous night's mud from

the creatures, to the elephant rides for children. I recommend you

look up your nearest elephant polo tournament and hurry along. In the

meantime, I am off to the races ... buffalo races, that is.

 

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