Arena Polo - Upcountry Maui Hawaii

Here's some pictures taken at the George Manoa Sr. Polo match on Father's Day, June 15th 2008. The location was at the Manduke Baldwin Polo Field, on the slopes of Haleakala, Maui. I'm not sure if that's Kula, Pukalani or Makawao... it's sort of at the junction of that upcountry area. It was a beautiful sunny day as you can tell, with gorgeous views toward Maalaea Bay to the west, and Haleakala behind. The Maui Polo Club hosted 2 games on Sunday - the first was a round robin match with 3 teams of 3 players switching off. The second game featured a Maui team playing an Oahu team. Afterwards, a big barbecue was laid on, compliments of Haleakala Ranch.

This was the first time for me, to attend a polo match on Maui, or anywhere. They call it cowboy polo, but it's been going on for over 100 year on this island. This venue is the smaller field, or "arena" polo, which they play in the summer. In the fall, after the horses have rested up, they play on the larger full sized "outdoor" field, up at the Oskie Rice Arena above Makawao. That's when the action gets really heated up. I'm looking forward to seeing some of that in September.