Grass Polo in Nigeria

Two-thirds of Spring Break were shipped off to Nigeria recently by 14 Bike Co to deliver some polo bikes to Fifth Chukker horse polo resort in Kaduna. (We were also required to play some charity exhibition matches in-between the horse polo games.)

It was an odd trip with an unsettling divide between rich and poor (although it was encouraging to hear that the bikes we delivered would be used by the resort to enable polo to be played by a much wider demographic). Playing on grass was an interesting change of pace from hardcourt and required a different mindset entirely… digesting the ruleset was a bit of a task in itself.

Some highlights from the trip were: talking with Nicholas (high profile horse polo expert) about the history of horse polo and him having a genuinely interested in our sport in return; working with the horse polo staff to show them how to maintain the bikes; practicing grass polo with the London contingent as the sun set each day; endless mini beers and downtime; the trip to Kaduna central market and larking about in the swimming pool at the party.

Thanks to 14 Bike Co for asking us to get involved, we may dabble in grass polo in the near future (although nothing beats the thrill of hardcourt).

Here’s a video edit of the trip, there’s very little polo but you should be able to get a feel for where we were and what we were up to.