I. Can’t. Wait.

We finally had t-shirt weather in Calgary today, which got me all restless and dying for polo to get started. Last year we played right through September. These are my photos from the final day of the season:  September 30, 2012.Hair before the match  is looking halfway decent, which is nice, because it won’t after I put my helmet on. Meanwhile, Lobo catches a pre-game snooze and misses his first photo op of the day. On the other side of the trailer, groom extraordinaire Andres Felix uses his trademark move to get the tail braid just right. I made it my goal last summer to learn how to do this, thinking I was setting the bar a little low for my polo achievement of the year, but it is so damn hard. However, by the time the leaves started turning my tails were staying together through the games… usually with a lot of tape. And never as pretty as the ones pictured here.Speaking of pretty, see if you can spot the pair of bipeds having a tandem pre-game pee on a tree.Back to Andres! Besides being able to prep a pony with effortless efficiency, most grooms are usually skilled players themselves. Andres often gets recruited to round out a team in Kyle Fargey’s coaching league. If he doesn’t have a pair of boots handy, he’ll MacGyver up some vet wrap. And why not, if the color matches the helmet?I was too busy playing to take any action shots. Looove saying that! But after the final game of the year, I had to take some time for a little love-in with Lobo.It may not have been totally mutual… But he managed to PR the moment eventually. Shirt and pants, both US Polo Association. Boots, Friedson Brothers.The matches in Indio have wrapped and the horses are on the road, heading back to their summer home. The countdown to the Calgary Polo Club 2013 Season is on!