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The Game

 Polo is recognised as the second-fastest ball game in existence, played on horseback. Players work as a team to score goals, using their left hands to hold the reins and steer their horses whilst the right hand wields a mallet. Professional players can be moving at up to 38 miles per hour and this is a full contact sport. Polo is unique in that amateurs and professional compete alongside each other in all but international or a handful of all-pro fixtures.

History

The first recorded polo match took place in 600 BC, making this the world’s oldest ball game. The game was played for the first time in the UK on Hounslow Heath in 1869 and in Argentina in 1875 – Argentina has enjoyed unchallenged supremacy in the world of polo in recent years. Restrictions on the height of horses for polo were abolished post World War 1: prior to this, only animals below 14.2 were permitted, hence the appellation ‘polo ponies.’ Polo featured in the Olympics from 1900 until 1939.

Polo Today

The sport is played in 77 countries. Player numbers in Britain are around 2,500, spread amongst 68 outdoor and 20 arena polo clubs in the UK and Ireland. The highest concentration of Polo clubs is in South East England, but clubs are well established from Scotland to the West Country. With the exception of 10 or so annual women’s polo tournaments, teams are mixed.

Season

In the Northern hemisphere, competitive grass polo is played from April until the end of September. Arena polo is played throughout the winter months, but reduced numbers of players participate. Many professional players also ‘follow the sun’ and play grass polo in the southern hemisphere from October until March.

Equipment

Players wear helmets of different design to normal riding hats, and some also wear protective faceguards. White jeans are worn with brown leather boots, kneepads and gloves. Players use mallets or sticks just over 4 feet in length, with mallet heads of around 9 x 2 inches in size. Polo balls are 3½ inches in diameter and made of hard plastic. Polo saddles are flat and close-contact, to enable the player to be highly mobile. Bridles carry four reins, and are of stronger leather than normal.

The Pitch

The outdoor polo field is 300 yards long by 220 wide, making it the largest field in organized sport. Goal posts at each end are 24 feet apart and a minimum 10 foot in height. Penalty lines are marked at 30 yards from the goal, 40 yards, 60 yards, and at midfield.

Chukkas

A match is split into periods of play or chukkas, of 7½ minutes in length. Matches comprise 4, 5 or 6 chukkas, depending on the standard of play.

Players

Four players make up a grass polo team. Numbers 1 and 2 are attackers, Number 3 is normally the Captains’ position and he or she is known as the ‘pivot’ or ‘playmaker’ and Number 4 is the Back or defender.

Handicap

A polo player is rated from ‘S’ for starter up to 10 goals, with the latter handicap being applied to the world’s greatest. Handicaps do not refer to the number of goals usually scored by an individual, but to their perceived value to the team.

Umpires

A match is ‘policed’ by two mounted umpires. The Referee or Third Man watches from the sidelines and will be called upon to arbitrate if the two umpires find they cannot agree.

Rules

The rules of polo are mainly concerned with ensuring horse and rider safety. The most fundamental rules are based around the Line of the Ball and the Right of Way.  A player travelling along hitting the ball forwards on his right has the same priority as a driver on the left hand side of the road and forcing him to break by cutting in front of him constitutes a foul. On occasion, opposing players may meet right hand to right hand on opposite sides of the road: for this reason, all players may only carry their mallets in their right hands.