In the Laurentides, Mauricie and Charlevoix regions, leaving behind the summer heat you can still practice open-air sports, like fishing and make kayak and rabaska (the long Indian canoe) excursions, or go through wood paths by foot, by bike, on a horseback or by quad.

In this moment of the year the eyes get lost in the huge maple expanses which create an unbelievable colour vibration: red, orange, gold, brown, the colours of trees losing leaves while waiting for the winter. Between peat bogs and tee-pees, lakes and red-hot woods, from one sucrerie to the other to learn how to make maple syrup, in Quebec in this period one can enjoy a sudden rise of temperature 820-22 degrees) and a fable atmosphere.

To stay in total harmony with nature, there is the Hotel Sacacomie in Saint Alexis des Monts, co-resort fully built with pine trunks, very simple oasis of rustic elegance with 109 rooms, half of which with whirlpool bath, boutique, Spa and panoramic restaurant. After an excursion at the beaver reserve, after reaching an Indian village by canoe, fishing and dining beneath trees branches, after a tour on a hydroplane unveiling the isolation of the place, one can enjoy a Swedish massage or taste a cognac in front of the fireplace.

Of a different kind is the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, obtained by a Victorian palace. A resort with golf field and Spa, whose building has been built with huge cider trunks, rustic luxury hitting right when entering the hall, with at the centre a monumental fireplace. The game reserve surrounding the resort is wonderful: a lodge with 70 lakes, a real escape from the world.

www.bonjourquebec.com/it
www.sacacomie.com
www.fairmont.com

Italian version

The existing polo clubs are not many, especially in Europe, where to find space for such a structure is not always easy. Besides the stables, that have to be suitable for many horses, the space for animals to work, the staff houses, the club house, it is also necessary, obviously, to have suitable playing fields. A polo field is much more than a simple grass expanse of 270×180 meters: it has to be compact and flexible with a sandy bottom and a resistant grass blanket; constant maintenance and irrigation are necessary.

In Italy, the clubs affiliated to FISE, Federazione Italiana Sport Equestri (Italian Federation Equestrian Sports), are about fifteen. This can seem a small number but actually, in proportion to the only hundred-fifty members, it really offers a good choice.

What is the way to start practising this sport? It is necessary to go to a polo school where an instructor will lead you through learning the basic of this complex game. First of all, you will learn the horse-riding specific for polo that, besides the reins in the left hand and the stick in the right hand – also for left-handed people -, involves to manage the balance in a slightly different way from other equestrian sports.
Then, you will learn the eight basic shots – forward, backward, under the neck and under the tail both to the right and to the left -, sometimes helped by the wooden horse. Then, you will learn the rules and finally you’ll be ready for the first match: an unparalleled emotion.

To take part to games it is also necessary to pass an exam, consisting in a theoretical and a practical part. Once you pass the exam, it will be assigned a -1 handicap; handicap that will grow according to the performance, evaluated by a commission attending the events and that meets once a year to decide possible changes in the rating of the players.

Although it was, and it will always be, a niche sport for few people, polo has every year new members: people coming from other equestrian sports who want to try something new, people who were fascinated by it when seeing others playing, people looking for a lifestyle which is unique, exciting and challenging. The path to becoming a professional in polo is, in fact, a path lasting a whole life; the players reaching game levels beyond 2 gol of handicap are very few, but maybe it is exactly its difficulty the characteristic which makes it so attracting. And once again, this game is a perfect metaphor for life: it is not the destination that counts but the path.

Allegra Nasi
Italian version

Manufacturer of footwear for horse-riding, very appreciated in the horse world – sixty per cent of the two hundred top Italian horsemen uses its riding boots -, approached polo only few years ago, stimulated by the willingness to discover a very particular and unique reality.
In this sport, in fact, the materials have peculiar characteristics: besides being comfortable and elegant and from allowing freedom of movement, they also have to protect from the contact with opponents, with the sticks and with the ball, that can reach a 180km/h speed.

The boots, usually in leather brown and with frontal zip – facilitating their removal in case of incidents -, are thought to offer, besides comfort and protection, also a good stability on the saddle.
The knee-pads, in various styles and sizes, are also made of leather and padded and, although they repair the articulation, must not interfere with the contact between horseman and horse.

The helmets are present in various models and colours. Since head injuries are the most frequent in equestrian sports – as well as the most dangerous -, must be not only light but also able to absorb the shock of possible impacts. The eyes are protected by shockproof glasses conceived, with the lenses resistant to the impact with the ball and the structure to that with the stick, moving up to 40 km/h. Besides the glasses, one can also choose to wear a protective steel mask, installed on the helmet.
Together with the classic and very elegant white trousers and to the tops carrying the team’s name, these items constitute the polo players’ outfit.

Besides the technical characteristics, however, in a world made of trend-setter, elegance and style gain even more importance. This sport is, in fact, practised by people who demand the most; people who go on holidays on the most exclusive locations, who drive luxury cars, who wear clothes by the best designers and who, even on the field, choose materials that reflect their image.

It is exactly this union between technical and aesthetic qualities is the winning card for Alberto Fasciani, who find in this reality a new challenge: the challenge to enter an environment with its own rules and in which the password is fashion statement. “My experiences with polo, to the time being, are definitely excellent – says Fasciani enthusiastically -; although I am familiar with the horse riding world, this is one if its very interesting varieties, that stimulates me to find innovative solutions to offer to my clients products that fulfil their expectation”.

Thus, even for a brand like Alberto Fasciani, polo really seems to be a passport to the world, as defined by Winston Chirchill; a world reserved to few, aspired to by many and never trivial.

Allegra Nasi

Italian version