Sussex Polo

Terence Lent

Can you tell me how you started playing polo?
I started riding at around 5 years old but fell off and did not want to ride again for three years. But when the Old Surrey and Burstow Pony Club started at Sussex Polo, Viv Young got me to sit on the legendary (Mum’s word!) pony Wispy! I wasn’t very good at first but he was so safe I started to have fun and got my confidence back. My parents then put me on several of the Sussex polo ponies especially Choci as he was my favourite.

Tell me about your first pony?
I was excited when one day my Mum bought me a grooming kit and said I could go to the stables and groom Choci but when I opened the stable door there was a new pony called Pepsi that my parents had bought me.

Pepsi changed everything for me as now I had a pony that was the right size for me and I could practice more often.

How was your first year playing polo in 2006?
I was more nervous that I would get thrashed by the others rather than falling off. The first part of the summer I was asked to play for Cowdray but we lost everything apart from the last game. I was then asked to play for Northern Ireland on the pony club tour which was great fun. I was so excited that I even slept in my whole polo kit the night before the finals.

Did you win anything in your first year?
We won most of the games that we played for Northern Ireland andI won the sportsmanship award which made my Mum very proud.

Do you play polo all year?
In the winter we go to El Casal in Argentina for a few weeks and I get to ride lots of new horses and eat lots of ice-cream and swim in the pool. We stick and ball every day and play chukkas with the professional players. I also enjoy playing arena polo back in the UK at weekends.

How was your 2008 season?
Last year I was in the best team and we won all of our games and even managed to win the Jorrocks UK Championship. The best thing was seeing my Mum and Dad’s face as I came of the pitch knowing that we had won the Championships. Our team was also invited to lead the parade at Cartier and I was worried that the horses might get spooked by the hounds. My pony was quite young and started prancing around so much that I couldn’t look for the queen as we rode past in case I fell off.

What’s it like to be voted – NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR?
I thought other people deserved it like Liz and Simon. I thought I might get third or fourth place but to win meant that lots of members thought I deserved it which is very nice.

What is your ambition?
To play at Cowdray in the Handley Cross finals in 2009 and to meet my hero Pikki Alberdi. Eventually I would like to have a job playing polo – how about it Dad? It would be great to get paid for something I love to do rather than a boring office job.

What do you dislike most about polo?
The thing I hate most about polo is hearing the bell for the end of the match.

Terence Lent (age 10)