The always entertaining Lordy Lyall kicked off Polo 103 by explaining the schedule for today's events.  Attendees will see demonstrations on the shoeing and dental care of The Villages polo ponies, followed by a penalty shot contest with several of The Villages polo players and ending with a panel discussion on the in's and out's of keeping The Villages’ polo fields in such top-notch condition.
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Lordy introduced Marcelo Torres who handles the blacksmithing and shoeing responsibilities for the polo ponies.     Nine-year old “Quigley” was introduced as the volunteer pony for today’s demonstrations.  Marcelo noted some interesting facts about a polo pony's shoes:  (1) shoes are for the safety of the horse and are replaced every four to five weeks; (2) the front and back shoes are different from each other with each set having a particular purpose; (3) a horse knows that a shoe is missing because it can be painful; and (4) it takes him about 45 minutes to shoe all four feet.  An interesting question was raised as to whether traveling across poured concrete can be slippery for a shoed horse -- definitely!
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Dale Gavitt followed with a demonstration of horse dentistry and explained the importance of good dental hygiene for horses and especially the polo ponies.  He explained that polo ponies “listen” to the left hand of the rider through the bit in their mouth to know which direction to go.  The bit rests in the horse’s mouth on their tongue and the tongue rests on their teeth so any dental issues can be very painful to the horse.  Horses are born without teeth, grow their baby teeth, lose them and then have all of their 44 permanent teeth in place by age five.  Horses' teeth continue to grow throughout their lifetime so it is necessary to have their teeth filed down at least once a year.  The upper jaw is 40% wider than the lower jaw so horses actually chew in a figure eight pattern and graze about 85% of their day -- no wonder they need dental care.
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Following a short break, the penalty shoot-off commenced between players Lordy Lyall, Frankie Bilbao, Paige Boone and Charly Quincoces.  A guest goal flagger from the audience, Mark Jessop, was assisted in dressing for the part in a bright red inflatable suit and yellow hardhat — safety first — before making his way to the goal line.  Prior to the shoot-off, event attendees had an opportunity to further the club's philanthropic efforts by buying raffle tickets to select the player they thought would win the shoot-off.  Goal shots were taken by each player at the 30-, 40- and 60-yard lines.  The winner was Lordy Lyall and prizes were awarded to three lucky attendees holding the winning player's tickets.  Prizes included a Wawa gift card, a Bluefin Bar and Grill gift card and a Chop House gift card.  The Chop House gift card was generously donated back and then auctioned.  Today’s program raised a total of $1,722 after Lordy's generous match and will be used to benefit the Polo Booster’s contribution efforts for the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital in Orlando.
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The day’s events continued with a panel discussion regarding the maintenance of polo fields.  Bruce Chestnut is in charge of maintaining the fields and has been with The Villages for nine years applying his knowledge of turf maintenance gained in the 23 years he spent in the golf industry.  Bruce noted the grass used on the polo fields is 419 Bermuda grass, sometimes referred to as 419 Tifton, grown in Tifton, GA.  This type of grass has to be spaded in when planted and will grow approximately an inch per night.  Traits of this grass include that the roots “walk” across the field rather than going down into the sandy soil.  Bruce noted that the mowers used on the fields cut with a scissor action rather than a rotary action and the height of the grass is kept at one inch.  Each  field encompasses 15 acres which takes three to four hours to mow and two fields are mowed every day.
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The irrigation for the fields is located underground and each field has an average of 320 sprinkler heads with 30-40 damaged heads being replaced each year.  A massive overhaul on the irrigation system was done in 2012 on Fields 1 and 2.  Watering of the fields with reclaimed water starts at 9:00P and finishes at 6:00A and is done at night to help avoid evaporation and wind shift.  The field scheduled for play is watered one day before the game.  The Polo Club is allocated a fixed amount of water per year, and the annual allocation is divided into 2 three-month periods (Spring and Fall) so watering is only done when the fields are being played on.  The Villages Polo Club is a directed dump site for excess water during periods of heavy rain.  The excess water is channeled from the golf courses located at Route 466 and Buena Vista and can be pumped as far north as The Savannah Center if needed.
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Bruce went on to explain that the fields are revitalized twice a year and that 26 dump trucks are used to bring in the sand that is spread across the fields.  This process is usually done two weeks prior to the season start.  He added that the fields are aerated every other year.  He went on to explain that army worms and mole crickets are just several of the pests they try to prevent by being proactive, and occasionally may have to trap a mole or two for relocation.

Paige Boone added that what makes our polo fields better than most is due to a number of factors:  (1) the quality of the turf; (2) the quality of the drainage of the soil; (3)  the controlled amount of use the fields receive;  and (4) the cooler climate in that there is no play in January or February when the ground is dormant.
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The day was concluded with watching polo’s U.S. Open Championship played in Wellington between the Pilot and Park Place teams.  Curt Pilot, who owns the Pilot team, has played here in The Villages.  Congratulations to the Pilot team for their win.