It’s not always easy to get Fede Cendoya to sit down for more than a few minutes – as the owner of El Venado, he’s always busy doing and thinking about a million things. But recently we were lucky to pin him down for a chat, and learned a few new things about our beloved coach!
How did you get started in polo?
I grew up surrounded by horses on the farm, and my dad played a bit of polo and all my friends did too. I started playing polo at my friend’s place, probably in my early 20s, and I loved it. After a few years, I had my own horses, and I started playing professionally.
What were some highlights from your career?
It’s hard to pick a highlight; there were good and bad bits. The good parts were that I got to do what I love – be around horses, and travel. I went to England, France, Germany, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay… but the US was my favourite place to play, it became like a second home. I spent about 20 years playing at a club called Brandywine in Pennsylvania which I still go and visit. I coached in India too. One of the hard parts was that back then, we did not get paid to play – that didn’t happen until the late 80s – before that, to make it work you had to sell horses. I would have made and sold hundreds of horses in my life, I love that part. Horses is the passion of my life.
What’s changed about polo in the last few decades?
A lot! The game itself has changed; the lines are shorter and there’s more control of the ball. That means you need a different type of horse now. All the stopping and starting they have to do now, it sucks the energy out of the horses. So you need a horse that’s more like a sprinter so it won’t get tired. Of course now, when a horse gets tired you change it – but in the old days, you just kept playing!
Apart from horses what are you passionate about?
Family! Ines and I have been married since 1976 and we have three daughters Martina, Delfina and Inesita. When we travelled, I loved to travel all together, like gypsies. Now we also have 9 grandkids. They come here a lot which we love.
Favourite book?
Shantaram. I also love to read Argentine history.
Favourite movie?
I’m not sure about my favourite but I can tell you the movies I’ve seen the most! Many years ago I was in the military service – back then it was compulsory – and we’d go to this village every Saturday night all winter. And the only two movies that played were The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and the Godfather. So we watched them over and over! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen those movies!
What do you love about El Venado?
Everything. I love everything about it. But my horse breeding operation is probably the thing I’m most proud of, I started that back in my twenties. Over the years we’ve had horses play at the Open in Palermo, and exported them all over – Nigeria, Germany, England, Kuala Lumpur, the States. The breed is called Polo Argentino; they come from thoroughbred mainly with a little bit of Criollo from way back. This breed has evolved, it’s only officially been around for 30 years. I took it for granted at the time, but now I’m proud to have played a part in establishing this breed. Another good thing about El Venado and polo in general is I’ve made a lot of friends, in
every country across the world. Having a good friend is a very valuable thing.
