Farmer, 86, set to become oldest active polo player

The grandfather, from North Yorkshire, is set to become the globe's oldest active polo player, days after celebrating his 86th birthday.

By the time he takes part in the Toulston qualifier near Tadcaster this coming weekend, Mr Nash will be 237 days older than current record holder Brazil's Armando Klabin was in 2017.

The record attempt will be independently documented, with the club gathering evidence for teams at the Guinness World Records.

Now Mr Nash, with a little glint in his eye, said it just goes to show you can have fun at any age.

“I don't really think about my age when I'm playing," he added. "I just get on the horse and try to hit the ball, hopefully in the right direction.”

Mr Nash, who farms a mix of arable and pigs with some livery horses near Driffield, has three daughters who have all played at some time.

The secret to staying active is eating well and good nutrition, as much as anything, he said. Always being active on the farm helps.

"If you don't use it, you lose it," he said of agility. "It keeps me going. And the social contact. It keeps me out of the chair."

Toulston Polo Club, established in 1913 by the Riley-Smith family, has been at the heart of the sport in Yorkshire for more than a century.

Now it could put a distinctively Yorkshire stamp on an extraordinary sporting record.

Mr Nash, a longstanding figure in the region's polo scene, is a local legend having served as a president of the White Rose Club.

But as a boy in Norfolk, rugby had always been his game, he said.

It was after moving to Kenya, on a farming settlement scheme in the 1950s, that he was introduced to polo.

He was approached by a local club, short of players, who were looking for new recruits who could ride.

And he first learned to play on an elderly pony who helped show him the ropes.

Having returned to England with wife Caroline in 1969, Mr Nash joined Toulston in 1974 and has since played all around the world from New Zealand to Nepal.

Known as Nashie to friends, he describes the sport as a "cross between horse riding, a ball game and car rally driving all rolled into one".

"It's been my life over the years," he said. "Chasing that little white ball in front of me was always a great challenge."

The current record belongs to the Brazilian player who set the benchmark in Rio de Janeiro in 2017.

But Nash does not need to travel to any of the world’s great polo dynasties to set a new standard – he simply needs to get on a horse in Yorkshire.

Of the attempt he laughed as he said: "I suppose it's been an ego-trip. I'm getting some wonderful comments from friends – it's put me in the limelight in my dimming years."

The Toulston Open will be held this weekend over September 5 and 6.