Getting the winter training in
Ohaupo Training Sessions
Over the winter I attended two trainings run by Beth Peaker at Little Valley Farms near Ohaupo. We made use of the indoor arena so where able to continue regardless of the weather. A group of about fifteen of us practised basic but crucial skills such as line-outs, giving the young horses and out of practise players a chance to get back into the swing of things. These exercises I found particularly helpful as my young horse hasn’t played before and was a good way of familiarising her to different parts of the game.
As the morning progressed we split up into two groups and with the help of Shane and Tony practised these skills but in more depth focusing on the horse as well as the players. We were able to go over points of the game which we had any questions or things we struggled with. We did stopping and roll-backs with Beth while the other group did ball skills. This kept every one participating, there was little sitting and waiting.
Afterwards, we played some slow chukkas in which we were able to try out the new concepts and techniques we had spent the morning learning. I found this training very helpful, as it was a chance to get help from experienced players, and expose my young horses to the fundamentals of polocrosse without the usual pressures.
By Jason White
Indoor Polocrosse at Tielcey Park
Ashhurst Polocrosse has been working on attracting new players to the sport as well as providing a place for existing players to do some skills practice over the winter and train young and inexperienced horses. Organised by Ashhurst president Graham Elphick, riders have been able to use the Tielcey Park Indoor arena for two on two chukkas with coaching to help those new and existing to improve their game.
Aimed to run every second weekend, the coaching clinic has seen many new players come to try out the game with the majority returning. The game has really appealed to riders competing in mounted games and the horses and riders picked up the game like naturals.
The practices have been running from 8.30am to 12.30pm on a fortnightly basis but if you would like to attend, contact Graham at [email protected] to find out more details and when the next practice is.