LAKEWOOD RANCH — Take away the horses, and what you have left are opposites — cowboys that bring to mind leathery skin and sinewy muscle, and polo players, perhaps more elegant than dirty.
Mix cowboys and polo players and have them compete in each other’s events, and you might have a bit of danger, and some outrageous comedy.
The public is invited to watch SMR Cup roping/team penning 2 - 5 p.m. Saturday and the SMR Polo Cup 9 a.m. Sunday at the Sarasota Polo Club free of charge. There will also be a horse race between cowboys and polo players at halftime of the regular afternoon polo match where admission is $10.
At the end of the weekend, one polo player and one cowboy will be selected as the “most valuable player,” and each will receive a sterling silver-and-gold belt buckle.
In 2006, the SMR Cup, which takes its name from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, was revived after a 10-year hiatus.
There are two events in which the cowboys and polo players find themselves chuckling at each other.
First, there are the cowboys competing in polo. Polo players have the clear advantage. And cowboys, well, they will be cowboys.
“Cowboys foul like demons,” said Rene Strickland, who is a rare combination of cowboy and polo player. “They don’t know the rules so even if you tried to teach then, they don’t care anyway. They come out and foul left and right. A few polo players have said, ‘Man, I don’t wanna play them.”
Cowboys have what these competitors call a “green eye,” for the ball. They see the ball, and it seems they’re going to get it whether they run you over or not.
“We watch and think, ‘That’s a wreck waiting to happen,’” said Strickland, who has competed in every competition except one.
On the other side, picture a polo player in the team roping competition. “It’s hysterical,” Strickland said. The cowboy almost always lassoes the calf’s head, setting the polo player up beautifully to lasso the hind legs. Try as they might, it happens very, very, rarely.
Speaking of wrecks, the barrel horse race during halftime of the polo competition is one of the most dangerous events.
And the selection as to whom from each team will ride their horse through a goal post, 100 yards down field, around a barrel, and back through the posts is simple.
“It’s always the craziest person on each team,” said Maggie Mitchell, polo club manager. “Or more dare-devilish. There’s always someone who wants to do it and it’s a risk.”
In the end, the sport is more about intermingling between cowboys and polo players and not taking yourself too seriously, said cowboy Jason McKendree.
Nick Walter, Herald reporter, can be contacted at 748-0411, ext. 7013.
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