Monique Archer’s love for horses began at a very early age. Despite having a physique that could easily have landed her a contract on the international modelling stage, young Monique chose the saddle instead.
In an interview with Easy about her initial involvement with horses she said: “I started riding at the age of seven and spent the next ten years dedicated to show jumping. It was during one of my vacations home from attending university that I discovered that my dad, who was 40 years old at the time, had gotten involved in playing polo.
“That was when I decided to give it a try. After playing a few chukkas on a couple of his ponies, I was hooked. However, it was only after graduating from university and being given my first polo horse that I really got into the game. From that year polo became my life and even more so when I met my husband, who was also playing the game.”
Prior to her entry into the male-dominated sport, there were a few ladies in the island who played polo but had stopped for one reason or the other. This left Archer alone to play with about 28 men.
“When I first started playing a few of the men gave me encouragement, but they were also a couple that told me point-blank that women had no right playing polo. Who tell them to tell me that!”
Archer noted with disdain: “That served as my motivator”. Around that same time the Barbados Polo Club was looking to add additional tours to their existing annual fixtures.
“The idea of an all-ladies team to oppose the men sprang to mind and I immediately set about making it a reality. At that point I realised polo was one of the only sports where men and women could compete equally due to the handicapping system.”
Since polo is played with a team of four, she excitedly set out to find three other interested players to make up a team.
“The first person I approached was my good friend Lucy Taylor, who played polo for Cheshire in Britain. She immediately jumped at the idea since this was never done. She then went on a mission recruiting some of her English colleagues to complete the team.
“With that taken care of, my next task was to find someone willing to sponsor the team. I then approached Diamonds International and put the idea to Jacob Hassid, managing director . . . and a successful union was born. With the team and sponsorship safely secured, our final hurdle was gaining the approval of the Barbados Polo Club, which we received with warm enthusiasm.”
The first event, aptly named the Battle Of The Sexes, was a huge success as the ladies defeated the men’s team 2 -1 in the tri-match series. This was after much speculation that the men would have overpowered the women in a one-sided affair.
“We were extremely happy with the result after we were initially looked upon as walk-over’s, so to have won the series was the ultimate highest feeling for the girls.”
The Battle Of The Sexes has become one of the most popular tournaments on the polo calendar. That the female supporters outnumber their male counterparts by as much as 4-1 is an indication of the tremendous support for the idea conceptualised by Archer.
The series is now being played around the world. Today, for many countries around the world, the Battle of the Sexes is a major event in their polo calendars. Thanks to Archer there are now five or six female Barbadian players involved in the game locally.
While polo remains one of Archer’s favourite sports, show jumping is easily her number one equestrian sport. For this reason, she has imported some of the best bred show jumping horses money can buy. Her dream is to jump at the highest level in Barbados, and in the regional Central American and Caribbean games, and ultimately to represent Barbados at the Olympics.
In the meantime, balancing the demands of running her business, taking care of a family of four and maintaining a six-day weekly training routine has proven quite challenging for Archer. Mindful of her motto of “Nothing good comes easy”, Easy wishes her well.