What Covid Has Taught Me

Peter

5 years ago

We finally played some club chukkas yesterday at the Royal Selangor Polo Club, for the first time after six months of lockdowns. The ponies from KL Academy of Polo went really well, despite the long break. I was very pleased with the ponies, also with Julian Lancia and Noreen (pictured with Alex Lancia below), who played with our ponies, as did I. Here is short video of 14-year old Julian Lancia taking the ball to goal, on KL Academy of Polo’s Picaflor. Although Julian passed his polo test last October, he has had only a handful of chukkas because of all the Covid disruptions.

https://www.pbitg.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Julian-Picaflor-20211003.mp4?_=1

The break of six months from polo is the longest break I have personally had to endure in the last 21 years. In the past, the polo community believed the most common disruptions to polo were divorce, bankruptcy or death. Pandemics were never on the polo disruption radar. Covid has changed that.

The numerous lockdowns have changed much of our lives, taught us many things. I am grateful that I now know that an air-fryer is twice as important as a microwave or a toaster. Through Covid, I have also discovered other important innovations that have changed my life for the better, such as plant-based schnitzels, quinoa wraps, and Taste-me Chilli Padi Sauce.

I have made many other notable discoveries, had numerous learning experiences, and acquired new life skills during this pandemic. Some of the more important ones include:

Never take over an ageing riding school just before a pandemic locks down everything.
Never start a new polo academy just before a pandemic locks down everything.
Never take over an ageing riding school and start a new polo academy together, just before a pandemic locks down everything.
How to make my own videos for my own YouTube Channel.
How to do the World’s Greatest Stretch.
To not try to publish a before-and-after video of yourself doing the World’s Greatest Stretch.
That I can still do the 25 Push-Ups challenge.
That I while I still enjoy cycling, riding helmets today don’t work as bike helmets, unlike the skid lids we used to have when I used to cycle to the stables in my youth.
That I can run 5 km on Mondays and still walk normally on Tuesdays, thanks to stretching and drugs.
Finding out that the Keto diet that helped me lose 15 kg is essentially the high protein diet Capt. Tibbatts put us on 40 years ago when I first broke into the national equestrian team. Same diet, different name.
That I still enjoy challenges. Biggest challenge being teaching beginners how to ride. I usually leave that to others, and take over when they start migrating into polo. But I’ve taken on the odd few beginners. Odd being the operative word.
There is life after RMPA. Quite a good quality of life, really, with plenty of time.
I have also learned to forgive. I might never be able to forget, but to forgive is to find my own happiness and release. Oscar Wilde helped with this.
I have rediscovered fiction. One of the most enjoyable reads was Waking The Tiger, by Mark Wightman.
I have also discovered that African Horse Sickness can be brutally subjective. It killed 502 horses in Thailand but in Malaysia, we were told we had AHS on the east coast of Malaysia, resulting in Malaysia losing its OIE disease free status. Horses here were as locked down as humans, but it didn’t matter, as none died. In fact, Malaysia became the first country in the world to have had AHS, but not a single death. Nobody knows how we did it. Malaysia Boleh.
While everyone laments the horses that are starving in Malaysia, the powers that be still wash money down the drain instead of really doing something about funding The Cost of Horses.
I learned that Walk-In Vaccinations don’t mean you can walk in. Here, it means you need to get an appointment. Then you can walk-in.
Digitalized or Hybrid Horse Shows are a thing. Not a great thing, but a thing nonetheless. In a world devoid of real shows, hybrid shows are better than nothing.
I also rediscovered the Pony Club. Defunct in Malaysia, KL Academy of Polo has been able to resurrect it with Camps and Rallies and has re-affilliated with The Pony Club UK.
KL Academy of Polo also started running cushion polo tournaments, gymkhanas, and barrel racing. I had to teach my Riding For Polo students how to ride and play these games. Foremost advice: JFDI.
With Zack’s Tack we have had to get some new products market ready very quickly, while we have also had time to get some ideas off the back burner and onto the shelves. Nowadays we have ZT Equi-Shield, ZT Equi-Gold and Botanicals.
eLearning – I’m doing online University courses in Equine Business 101. It’s stuff I think I know, have learned along the way, and have probably forgotten also. Great reminders.
Editing skills – relearning to read my mother’s cursive handwriting, while I edit her amazing book of short stories.
I’ve also started writing some memoirs of my own too. At the risk of more lawsuits and death threats, my memoirs await a swift posthumous release.