The Villages - October 2016 - 18

Jack of All Trades
Meet Marcelo Torres, Barn Manager

N

early all day, every day, Marcelo Torres has
horses on his mind.
As barn manager, he takes meticulous
care of The Villages Polo Club's four-legged
beauties. He has been looking after the club's 18 or so
ponies from teeth to tail for the past five years, including
those McCabe and her stepdad play and those for visitors.
Torres covers a wide variety of tasks to prepare the
high-speed, thousand-pound thoroughbreds for the game.
The highly skilled manager trains them, transports them,
treats them - you name it.
"In polo, it's different because the groom does
everything," he said.
On game days, he watches the rewards of his diligent
work. He even jumps in to play on occasion.
"When they perform good, it makes you proud," Torres
said. "It's like kids."
Torres' knowledge of polo runs deep. He has about 25
years of experience as a polo groom at clubs across the
U.S. He was raised around the sport in Mexico.
"I grew up on the ranch," Torres said. "We are a polo
family."
Torres' father and his four brothers all are polo grooms
across North America. Torres' son, Fernando, already
has taken an interest. The seventh-grader at The Villages
Charter School helps his father at the barn every weekend
and at 10, he was the youngest player at the club last year.

The current barn horses are 8 to 15 years old, and
they require a lot of upkeep. Torres feeds and bathes
them, cleans their stalls, brushes and clips their bodies,
shaves their manes, braids and ties their tails, changes
their steel shoes, inspects their tendons and rubs an antiinflammatory on them, wraps their ankles for stability
and prepares all their equipment for play. He also calls in
the veteranarian for acupuncture, chiropractic care and
other treatment.
"I know what they need," Torres said.
Torres' passion for the sport is contagious. He especially
has a heart for teaching the babies. He exposes them to
sticks and balls, builds their speed and manuevers, and
then scrimmages with them. He is ecstatic about the three
babies the club is breeding, expected in January.
Soon, he'll start the preparation process all over again.
18

OCTOBER 2016



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - October 2016

Contents
The Villages - October 2016 - Cover1
The Villages - October 2016 - Contents
The Villages - October 2016 - 1
The Villages - October 2016 - 2
The Villages - October 2016 - 3
The Villages - October 2016 - 4
The Villages - October 2016 - 5
The Villages - October 2016 - 6
The Villages - October 2016 - 7
The Villages - October 2016 - 8
The Villages - October 2016 - 9
The Villages - October 2016 - 10
The Villages - October 2016 - 11
The Villages - October 2016 - 12
The Villages - October 2016 - 13
The Villages - October 2016 - 14
The Villages - October 2016 - 15
The Villages - October 2016 - 16
The Villages - October 2016 - 17
The Villages - October 2016 - 18
The Villages - October 2016 - 19
The Villages - October 2016 - 20
The Villages - October 2016 - 21
The Villages - October 2016 - 22
The Villages - October 2016 - 23
The Villages - October 2016 - 24
The Villages - October 2016 - 25
The Villages - October 2016 - 26
The Villages - October 2016 - 27
The Villages - October 2016 - 28
The Villages - October 2016 - 29
The Villages - October 2016 - 30
The Villages - October 2016 - 31
The Villages - October 2016 - 32
The Villages - October 2016 - 33
The Villages - October 2016 - 34
The Villages - October 2016 - 35
The Villages - October 2016 - 36
The Villages - October 2016 - 37
The Villages - October 2016 - 38
The Villages - October 2016 - 39
The Villages - October 2016 - 40
The Villages - October 2016 - 41
The Villages - October 2016 - 42
The Villages - October 2016 - 43
The Villages - October 2016 - 44
The Villages - October 2016 - 45
The Villages - October 2016 - 46
The Villages - October 2016 - 47
The Villages - October 2016 - 48
The Villages - October 2016 - 49
The Villages - October 2016 - 50
The Villages - October 2016 - 51
The Villages - October 2016 - 52
The Villages - October 2016 - 53
The Villages - October 2016 - 54
The Villages - October 2016 - 55
The Villages - October 2016 - 56
The Villages - October 2016 - 57
The Villages - October 2016 - 58
The Villages - October 2016 - 59
The Villages - October 2016 - 60
The Villages - October 2016 - 61
The Villages - October 2016 - 62
The Villages - October 2016 - 63
The Villages - October 2016 - 64
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The Villages - October 2016 - 66
The Villages - October 2016 - 67
The Villages - October 2016 - 68
The Villages - October 2016 - 69
The Villages - October 2016 - Cover4
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