Playing polo started during a gap year for Tommy Martin, 23, after he finished school.
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What was meant to be a year long break has instead created a career for the now professional polo player.
Martin, who is from New South Wales, has set his sights on his team winning the 2018 Barnbougle Polo on Saturday.
“It’s pretty high adrenaline, and a lot of skill involved, the biggest thing that got me was the challenge … trying to hit a ball on a horse and play as a team.”
Returning to Barnbougle for the third time, Martin will join some of the best players from Australia and New Zealand on the field.
Punters would be treated to high quality games they wouldn’t see anywhere else in Tasmania, he said.
“It’s such a beautiful spot here, and we’re often turning people away as opposed to looking for more people to come. It’s a pretty popular event in the scheme of things.”
The horses Martin brought over had all gone through three months of rigorous training.
“They have to have quite a lot of endurance, because they’re running up and down the field which is 400 metres long for seven minutes at a time at a fast pace.”
Agility, speed and good senses were all important qualities for polo horses, he said.
As a professional polo player, Martin was riding horses five to eight hours each day, along with running, practice matches and gym work.
The Barnbougle polo field was immaculate as it had plenty of sand and was well tendered to, he said. The Tasmanian weather made for a better game as it was about 20 degrees cooler than playing back on the mainland in summer, he said.
Tess Brunton
I recently returned from across the ditch where I worked at New Zealand Fairfax paper The Timaru Herald and developed a love of mountains. Originally I'm a mainlander from an area known for cheese, the Bega Valley, who also dabbled in radio at ABC RCAFF before finding a place in newspapers. I can often be found hiking, caving or climbing when I'm not cursing at my work computer or technology in general.
I recently returned from across the ditch where I worked at New Zealand Fairfax paper The Timaru Herald and developed a love of mountains. Originally I'm a mainlander from an area known for cheese, the Bega Valley, who also dabbled in radio at ABC RCAFF before finding a place in newspapers. I can often be found hiking, caving or climbing when I'm not cursing at my work computer or technology in general.
