Volunteer at a Polo school in Argentina

Join a team of volunteers to indulge your passion for horse riding and improve (or learn!) your polo skills whilst working alongside gauchos at the El Retiro Polo School, an amazing estancia 60 kms from Buenos Aires. The estancia is owned and run by the Llambias family who are brilliant hosts, great fun and excellent polo players. It consists of a main house, three guest houses, a swimming pool, tennis court, 9-hole golf course, three polo grounds and all the facilities required for keeping around 100 polo ponies in training – what more could you need!

Spend your mornings working alongside the gauchos exercising the horses and helping out with general stable work. After a long traditional siesta, when you can swim, play tennis and generally relax, you will learn to play polo with stick and balling, ‘baby chukkas’ and matches either against the other Leapers or the gauchos. You will play according to your skill level and will be taught by Marcos, a 4 goal player, Marcos’ son Maco, a 7 goal player and the head groom, a 4 goal player. No previous experience of polo is necessary but you must be able to ride confidently.

There is plenty of time to sample traditional Argentinean hospitality, whether that’s chilling out with the gauchos drinking mate or going to parties in Buenos Aries. Top of the list is a visit to a high goal tournament as the Argentinean passion for this sport creates a tense and unforgettable atmosphere.

Placement outline -This is an excellent program, which enables volunteers to gain a wide experience of Argentina’s amazing polo/riding as well as its diverse countryside and habitats. Volunteers will get weekends off to travel and explore independently. Although you can communicate in English you will only be able to communicate in Spanish with the gauchos so it is an excellent way of improving Spanish.

Note: August departures are 6 weeks duration only. This is an ideal programme to suit those school leavers who do not want to take a full gap year or undergraduates wanting something exciting to do in their holidays. You depart early August and return mid September in time for University. Polo and Riding - You should be keen on dealing with horses and will be asked to help the Polo School in every activity they do, e.g. training polo ponies, exercising them, keeping them in shape and in good condition. You will be asked to keep their tack clean, to do the boxes’ work, to mow the fields (when necessary), to collaborate with the grooms in their daily activities (stable work), to feed the horses, to ride them, to play polo chukkas both when the school is short of players and when the horses need to be familiarised with stick and ball. Volunteers will play according to their skill level, including taking part in low goal tournaments when they are organised and will be brought on gently. They will be supervised by Marcos, a 4 goal player, Marcos’ son Maco, a 7 goal player and the Head Groom, a 4 goal player. No previous experience of polo is necessary but you clearly must be able to ride pretty well. Activities available in spare time include: polo, tennis, golf, swimming, walking and cycling.

Helping in the Polo School - If the school is fully booked with other paying clients (mainly from the US), you will be asked to help with the organisation of all activities whilst not necessarily playing polo. Volunteers will assist with hosting guests, maintenance, front of house, possibly catering (if skilled) and in any other areas that would help in the running of the School. Playing polo is the main activity though and if you loose some days due to looking after guests then they will try and make up for that with extra polo when they can.

Improve your Spanish - Working alongside gauchos will improve your Spanish.

Adventure - This experience will give you the opportunity to learning or improve your polo with instruction from professional players – no experience necessary. You will watch some of the world’s best players compete in high goal tournaments, while being looked after by the wonderful family owners.