Page 83 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 81
when you’re a gangly yearling versus a nation of professional wrestlers, they’re going to win. Some shaky hands from the British team meant that some unfortunate equine souls had to undergo double brand like a cheap shadow effect.
Branding also coincides with
the Arag ceremony. Arag is
a traditional Mongol drink
made from fermented mare’s
(yes, mare’s) milk. I can only
compare it to sweeping up all
the leftover beer from a party,
mixing it in a massive vat and match that quantity in rancid milk. The result is something quite invigorating. The final touch of the ceremony is to immerse the still glowing and smok- ing brand from that morning’s branding, into the Arag. The resulting bubbly, slightly hairy, highly curdled mixture is said to affect astonishing health effects upon the drinker. Team UK managed to dodge the drinking which I thought was unsporting, so I polished off two pints. I can not comment on these pages on its effect on my health.
We had arrived in 20 degrees, the autumn of the Mongolian steppe. We trained for a single day in this temperature, in t shirts, enjoying the sunshine. The third day we woke up to -12 degrees and snow billowing under Colonel Dicky’s side of the Ger. In this respect, it is much like BATUS. We struggled as best we could but playing with white plastic balls on powder white snowfield isn’t an act of war. Crisis watch ensued. As a tool of the British Embassy, we were a star piece in the GREAT Britain campaign. No set-match would be a disaster. Luckily the snow melted within three hours on the penultimate day and we were back to +20; the only displeased about this were the mounts. They play six straight chukkas with only a brief break between chukkas. I challenge anyone to find a beast in the United King- dom that could match that.
Overall the final match result was 4:3 to the Brits, but the Mongols could still give us a run for our money when it came to general equine skills. Their most famous Mongol Horseman can scatter coins on the veld and collect them from the saddle at full gallop. An attempt by me to do the same at even a brisk canter with polo balls did not see the same result.
Finally, with much Imodium
and with many heartfelt hand- shakes we parted company after a week with the Mongol team having left them with refreshed sticks and new polo skills, and us with multiple digestive problems and a new impression of how to undertake horse husbandry. The APoloA Mongol expe- dition runs every two years; some may question whether such an event is suitable in this time of economic austerity. I would point out that it is exactly this kind of event that we as an army used to be outstanding at and this that we must get used to again. The British embassy see the event as a vital selling point for British- Mongolian liaison (and an affordable tool for what it offers) and it is surprising how well cemented these bonds have been estab- lished from three iterations of this soft power excursion. If we consider strategically where Mongolia is you can see the use in
making sure we have good relations there.
As always, a huge thank you to Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Si- mon Ledger who has kept an eye on RL polo players (and al- ways welcomes more); Army Polo would be nothing without the APoloA and APoloA would be nothing without Lieutenant Colonel Simon.
AJP