Prospera la meca del polo

Prince Harry and the Duchess of York aren't the only foreigners to help turn Argentina's stellar polo scene into a thriving business.

Take Logan Johnson, a 32-year-old Texas lawyer who hit the Pampas for a crash course in polo.

"The best players are from Argentina and the best instructors are also in Argentina," Johnson said. "I come here and in 10 days I would probably play more polo here and better polo than I would in an entire season" at home.

Argentina has been a glamorous polo mecca for more than 50 years. But with a weak peso after Argentina's 2001-02 economic collapse and currency devaluation, the chance to practice polo with the best is not just a privilege of princes.

Eduardo Amaya recently opened a polo school at his ranch in Lobos, 60 miles southwest of Buenos Aires and a few miles from the polo pony farm where Britain's Prince Harry worked for nearly two weeks in November.

Full-time teacher "People came here before but now, because the relationship between the peso and dollar is more favorable, there are even more people coming. This is what allowed me to dedicate myself full time to teaching," Amaya said after a morning lesson with Johnson, a Frenchman and a British woman.

They pay $250 a day for instruction, room and board and social activities, including top polo matches.

The country's premier event, the Argentine Polo Open, began in mid-November in Buenos Aires and runs until mid-December.

The stands have been filled with foreigners, including Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. On the sidelines of the polo ground, visitors pick up some of the world's best polo accouterments ? saddles, bridles, boots ? at bargain prices.

"The devaluation helped all polo products, not just the game itself," said Miguel Novillo Astrada, who ranked as the world's No.1 polo player in 2003 and won the last Argentine Open with his three brothers.

At an exchange rate of three pesos to the dollar, compared to one to the dollar before devaluation, a saddle made by top artisans now goes for $500 and the best boots cost $270.

"Foreigners have an advantage coming here because they can buy all the polo products and also see the best polo playing in the world," Novillo Astrada said.

Exporting talent Polo was introduced in Argentina in the late 19th century by the British, who represented a third of the country's foreign-born population in 1880.

A game of Asian origin, it is played between two teams of four players each, who gallop on horseback down the field at breakneck speed to knock a wooden ball through goal posts with a mallet.

A full game is eight chukkers, or seven-minute periods.

With Argentines' tradition of horsemanship and horse breeding ? a legacy of the cowboys or "gauchos" who roamed the Pampas ? the locals have surpassed the British and everyone else in world rankings.

"The country with the most professional players of a certain standard is Argentina, without a doubt. So when professional players are needed, they are sought here," said Gonzalo Tanoira, president of the Argentine Polo Association.

Argentines always have been fixtures on the world polo circuit, but their weakened currency gives them a strong incentive to go abroad and earn U.S. dollars or British pounds by playing polo and selling their fine horses.

Matias Amaya, the 22-year-old son of Eduardo, hopes to export both his skills and Argentine ponies.

Selling horses "I am planning to go abroad to play, either to the United States or England, and I would also like to get into selling horses because throughout the world, it's known that horses from here are good," Amaya said.

Many polo players have side businesses, such as raising and selling horses or producing polo-related goods.

This is true of the Heguy brothers. Their family has been playing polo for three generations.

"They go play polo abroad and where they go, they also have a market for selling horses," said Javier Serigos, who manages player Bautista Heguy. "They are selling all over the world but mainly to England and the United States."