It's a horse's life on Horsebarn Hill

By Elena Diaz

It's 7 a.m. Time for feeding.

A healthy portion of vitamins and grains in pellet form is waiting to be poured into the feed bins inside the stalls for the University of Connecticut polo horses' breakfast. Sparkling, 5-gallon jugs of water also stand ready for the herd.

The horses need just a few hours of sleep each night, so they are wide awake in time for breakfast. They've got a busy day ahead of them and lunchtime isn't until 3 p.m.

A collage of deep browns, duns, chestnuts and even gray and white spotted horses line the stalls in the stable on Horsebarn Hill. Their Herculean strength is evident in their muscles, which contrast with their soft, smooth, buttery fur and coarse manes.

The horses play and practice polo for many hours each day. They get aggressive workouts while training with the UConn men's and women's polo teams. Galloping up and down the indoor arena, the horses receive great cardio workouts during these team practices. They also spend some more relaxing time in the arena when newcomers are introduced to the sport.

Meg Dinger, instructor for the beginner polo class scheduled each Monday evening, said the horses know when a rider is inexperienced in the sport and will pick up the slack.

"We chase the balls -- that's what we do," Dinger said, speaking for the horses.

UConn polo horses are considerably old by some polo standards, having reached what Dinger calls their "geriatric" age. The team depends almost exclusively on donated horses for the program and often it receives horses when others label them "too old" to compete any longer.

"Twenty-five is considered old," Dinger said. "Mo is pushing 20."

Mo, a polo favorite, is one of the largest of the herd of 14 horses in the program.

Saturday is the only day the horses get to rest and not play polo. They are put out to pasture on the sprawling hillsides, where they peacefully graze away the day.