Anuario Raza Polo Argentino Anuario2017 | Page 247

Matías Colombres
“The most important thing up North is our
horses’ health care”
“Matías, what is your perception of the
Polo Argentino breed at the present time in
Tucumán?”
“From my point of view, everything has improved
enormously; we see them in the tournaments and
the level of both polo and of the players has also
improved thanks to the horses.”
“What do you think of their evolution in the last
years?”
“What surprised me most was that now we see
much tidier horses; more docile. Before they
looked more like farm horses that ran fast and were
more dangerous, today it is all more organized.”
“The important thing is that the breeders
together, each with their own bloodstock,
drove this growth, right?”
“Yes, that was key here in Tucumán. The fact
that we were able to work with a goal in mind; a
guideline and with advice, helped to improve all
the work related to breeding our horses.”
“You work with Roberto Martínez Zavalía’s
bloodstock, how did you manage to train and
change it?”
“He began with a breeding-stock of Arabian-cross
mares that he started taming, and following the
advice of the AACCP, we started changing towards
Polo Argentino, in search, mostly, of docility, and
that is how we were able to progress. First we got
hold of a six-month-old stallion that we tamed, and
all that process continued on the farm. Another
important point was to improve our pastures, and
the change was very noticeable.”
“What points differentiate horses raised in
Tucumán from other parts of the country?”
“The most important thing here, up North is health-
care. This contributes towards having a horse that
is well developed and has no problems. It is like
the strong point in this region, but if one gets good
advice as to pastures, one can obtain a horse that
is complete and healthy.”
“Did the AACCP support this growth?”
“Yes, of course, the AACCP was always present
during that growth. From helping in the organization
of exhibitions to managing to improve treatment
towards horses; train our people on how to care
for them from the moment they are born, and bear
with us during break-in. And we all started to learn
about how to carry out this exciting work.”
Santiago Ballester
“In Tucumán they do
things with passion”
“The first time I went to visit breeding-stock in
Tucumán was in 2006, and from then on what
surprises me most is the stamp of breeders to go
on breeding, because none of them was born a
breeder; they worked at it. From the AACCP we
can accompany their effort, but it is they who grow
because of the effort they invest.”
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