Let’s continue the polo and fitness conversation from last week, shall we?

Maybe add a bit of travel too?

Oh and did I convince anyone to take a lesson yet?

The best part about polo? Getting dirty on the field, sweating and burning tons of calories, enjoying beautiful horses! Then, at the end of the day, being able to shower, put makeup and a beautiful dress on and look glamorous at the club’s social festivities.

I can think of no better sport!

The city of Calgary is lively, fun and cowboy chic. There are green rolling hills, beautiful trees and down to earth people. A true cowboy town, if you love meat, I’ve been told the steaks are to die for. However, if you’re trying to make more compassionate choices by eating a vegan or pescetarian diet like I do, there are plenty of great restaurants serving vegetable and fish dishes that are excellent!

The Calgary Polo Club is about forty five minutes from Calgary’s downtown. The drive is beautiful! There are no fancy hotels nearby so if you seek luxury, it’s best to stay in the downtown area. I enjoyed a quaint hotel about twenty minutes from the club which was convenient for the amount of polo I wanted to play.

Their official polo playing season starts soon and goes all summer long so you better hurry up and make plans!

I traveled with a girlfriend and although it rained almost the entire time we were there, we still played and enjoyed the game (perhaps a bit more than normal, check out how much mud I got on me after riding through a huge mud puddle and having an opponent slap the mud up into my face when he hit the ball lol). If you’re a girly girl, this probably isn’t the club for you. They’re hard core and play under most any conditions.

Definitely not the most glamorous shots of me! This is how I look after playing a sweaty hour and a half of polo in the mud. We hit, we trained, we did riding drills and we played some. My thighs were never more sore the next four days. Talk about the best workout for your inner thighs ladies (I’m currently working on a pilates sequence that mimics this intense burn so stay tuned)!

As I said in my Fitness & Polo article previously, there’s nothing like the workout polo gives you. It’s perfect when you’re on vacation and want to enjoy a few cheat meals too :). I had a few orders of french fries I must confess- but with the amount of calories burned, I think I earned them!

Remember how I said polo is a social sport as well? Well, check out our new friends. We met some really neat people playing during the day and even more during the club’s annual Presidential  Ball.

The Presidential Ball is held at the end of Calgary’s polo season in late September when they award top players, teachers and amateurs.

If you think polo players are a calm, quiet group, then think again! We were up until late enjoying polo talk and stories. Being able to dress like this after a day of dirt and grass flying in your face, stains covering your jeans and brawls between players, is really awesome!

SO… who is ready to try their first game for free? Or at least come check out a game locally in your area. There are polo fields all over the world! I encourage you to watch just one game and see what you think! Before you know it, you’ll be falling in love with the sport just like me!

xx Shanna

PS: If you are ever in Southern California, come out to Indio during their December through March winter season! Kyle Fargey and beautiful Megan run the best polo school in the country for players and riders of ALL levels. They’re excellent, safe, fun instructors. I guarantee many laughs and a few stories shared at happy hour after your play time!