Lesson Schedule

Where, what and when. Come join us and play polo! Questions can be emailed to the Aggie Polo club: aggiepoloclubucd@gmail.com

Fall Quarter 2023

October - December 2023

 

All practices will take place at the Sutter Buttes Polo Club at 373 Shannon Rd, Yuba City, 95991. There are no dedicated carpools for Tuesday and Friday but we are more than happy to help facilitate carpools between members coming from Davis!

 

Starting times reflect when students should arrive at the club to pull out horses, and the end time reflects a rough estimate of when we expect to finish. These 3-3.5 hour blocks account for tacking up and putting away horses, plus a generous ~90 minutes of saddle time per lesson (sometimes more). Students should bring appropriate riding wear (long pants, boots or close-toed shoes), water, a snack, and their excitement for polo!

 

Note: We enforce a strict 24 hour signup and cancellation policy. 

​

Location

Sutter Buttes Polo Club 373 Shannon Road, Yuba City, CA 95991

​

Lesson and Riding Time Structure

The week is split into polo and non-polo days to keep our ponies happy and healthy. The goal of this structure is to give our horses more days of other activities such as trail riding, sets, and general riding. 

 

Polo Lesson Days: Tuesday, Friday

Beginning lessons are currently held on Tuesdays. Intermediate and Advanced lesson groups are on Fridays. 

We Are grateful to have a wonderful and talented group of instructors joining us for Fall Quarter 2023. While the club officers will teach some lessons, the majority will be taught by our instructors. All of them have many years of polo experience and have so much knowledge to share! 

Fall 2023 Instructor Team: Page Drucker, Farris Scott, Anna Tolle, and Olivia Cords

 

Stick and Ball Days

Open Stick and Ball days are listed on the master calendar (available from aggiepoloclubucd@gmail.com) when the officers are out of town. In order to reserve a horse for stick and ball, members must sign up on Calendly. Signups close at noon the day before open stick and ball days. Please restrict mounted time to 30 minutes, and clean your tack/roll your wraps after. No shortwork, trail rides (without officer approval), or scrimmaging/drills that involve 2+ people playing against each other are allowed. Horses being used for lessons or clinics outside of the UC Davis program must be rented and are not included for open stick and ball.

 

Lesson Levels: 

 

Beginner Lessons: This group is for true beginners, beginners to polo (but who already ride), and people who don’t fit the criteria for the other groups yet. All new members who don’t have a polo background must start in this group. 

- Learn to put on polo tack independently

- Grooming, bathing, horse care and equipment maintenance

- Learning to walk, trot, and canter. 

- Learning to control the ball at a walk and trot

- Learning the basic rules 

- Learning line of the ball, safety concerns

- Learning basic game strategy 

- Basic positioning and techniques, learn all of the different hits 

 

Intermediate Lessons: 

Comfortable and balanced riding at the walk, trot and canter

- Working on horsemanship, independent aids and using the horse

- Working on positioning

- Understands the basic rules

- Learning to control the ball at all gaits

- Learning more advanced game strategy 

- Focus on horsemanship, teamwork, and communication 

- Many of our regulars fall into this group.

 

Advanced Lessons: 

Rides with an independent seat, is comfortable hitting and playing at all gaits

- Strong understanding of horsemanship, positioning, and aids

- Strong understanding of rules

- Able to tack and untack independently

- Ball control at walk, trot, and canter

- Focus on refining game strategy and teamwork.

- Most players in this group have been playing for a while or have a background in other disciplines.

 

Varsity Team: 

By invitation only

- Undergraduate or graduate student carrying at least 12 units

- Advanced understanding of the game, strategies, riding, and technique

- Fits all other USPA intercollegiate eligibility requirements.

 

The UC Davis Varsity team currently operates on an invite-only basis, though we anticipate to hold tryouts for Fall 2024. The 2023-2024 team is coached by Bonnie Magill and captained by two-time National All-star Liliana Gonzalez. Other members of the team include Marisa Carelli, Elise Pardue, and Emi Angie-Buss. We are currently recruiting for Fall 2024. If you know someone interested in coming to Davis with a background in polo, please send them our way!

 

Members are strongly encouraged to audit varsity practices and games if they have the time!

 

Wednesday Club Chukkers

Club chukkers are hosted by Sutter Buttes Polo Club and are NOT an Aggie Polo Club event.  Horses for Wednesdays club chukkers are not included in membership. Please see fee sheet for rental details and fees. Priority for UCD horses goes to Officers and Instructors. Signups close at noon on Tuesday. Contact aggiepoloclubucd@gmail.com for details. 

 

Quarter Rules & Strategy Meeting

One in person/zoom meeting will be held this quarter to review rules, strategy, and safety. All club members are required for this meeting. The meeting date for this quarter is November 30th on campus and on Zoom. This date can also be found on the master calendar attached to this email. Time and exact room are TBD.

 

Winter Quarter 2023

The schedule will be announced soon, but is likely to be very similar to Fall Quarter with a mix of beginning, intermediate, advanced lessons. Please contact us by email if you have any questions. A schedule update will be posted here when finalized. 

 

 

Winter Break & Horses' Time Off (Dec-Jan dates TBD)

Following our Fall quarter tournament on December 8th, our polo lessons and amazing ponies get a much needed vacation for UC Davis' Finals Week and Winter break. Dates TBD