Here, dear readers, is my new toy, absolutely indispensable for polo of all levels, and it came about most unusually, because it was the last thing I thought would ever happen.

You see, it’s a John Deere Gator, 2x4X, the very entry level of all Gators. Two seats, controls, a bed. And oh, yes, it has lights and a light switch. But entry level all the way. N.b. George Colonna, our neighbor and hay source, went the other way and got the top-of-the-line Kubota. “Different strokes….” And his machine is a beauty. But so is mine.

A couple of years ago the Thoroughbred Breeders Association out in Lexington had a contest, the prize for which was a Gator just like mine, two yellow seats, a bed, etc. And I entered it with my article It Started As A Joke, and, in all modesty, I thought it would win: great art, good story, ongoing lesson. As it happened, it didn’t even make the contest. But in the meantime I went up to Atlantic Tractor in Pokomoke City just to check them out.

So when a postcard arrived this September saying that since I was living the equine life, I might be eligible for as much as a 24 % discount on select John Deere products, mainly Gators, mowers, etc., the implements one associates with polo, no sooner said than done. Virtually the next day here was a shiny new Gator in our driveway, and I didn’t have to do anything for two months.

As it happens, I’m now 80 and don’t ride anymore, getting tossed just hurts too much. So I no longer had a means to be out with the darlings, except on foot. But here came the Gator, I’m out there with ’em, and we’re having the same great times as always.

And I din’t like Gators.