Polo & Holder’s Hill
Watching the "sport of kings"
A pleasurable, leisurely afternoon can be spent watching the “sport of kings” at one of the island’s four polo venues: Apes Hill, Lion Castle, Clifton or Holder’s Hill – home to the Barbados Polo Club.
With its origins in Persia (present-day Iran), polo is an ancient sport that was adopted by the English (and later British) military and aristocracy. Brought to Barbados by cavalry officers in 1884, it was soon taken up by the plantocracy (plantation-owning elite), which explains the limited demographic profile of the players.
Still, sipping a glass of wine while watching eight players hurtling round the field on horseback, brandishing their mallets is a lot of fun. Then you need to get to grips with chukkas (the eight time periods), bumps (legitimately barging into someone) and cross hooks (a foul of sorts), plus the fact that teams change ends after each goal! Local and international matches are played during the season (March–May).
Segway polo
A far cry from the elite sport of polo, a more down-to-earth segway polo (pictured above) is growing in popularity in Barbados.