Learn

Imagine, somewhere in the distant past, warriors riding on horseback leaning over their animals to thwack a ball or stone with a long stick. Sound crude and unrefined? You know it was! What is now viewed as a gentleman’s sport, once was the past time of gruff warriors from Constantinople to Japan. Clearly the sport allowed military men the luxury of sport while keeping their horses in top condition.

British tea planters witnessed the game in India during the early 19th century, and took it back to England. By 1869, the British Cavalry wrote official rules for the game, and it became a national past time. In 1876, an American publisher, balloonist and adventurer named James Gordon Bennett brought the sport of polo across the Atlantic, and within ten years, polo clubs were formed up and down the eastern seaboard. When the 1930’s rolled around, polo was basking in a golden era, typified by the wealthy, gallant gentleman. It had been recognized as an Olympic sport, and tens of thousands of onlookers attended international matches at exclusive clubs. A bit of a change from those gritty military exercises, wouldn’t you say?

A polo match is divided into 6 seven-minute periods called chukkers. A match lasts for about an hour and a half. Guess how many horses each player brings to a championship level game? If you guessed six ponies, you get a biscuit! Seriously though, in a quick-paced polo game, a horse can run up to 3 miles in a chukker. All of that sprinting is exhausting for the creature, so it’s glad to have a break.

The object of polo is to score as many goals as possible. Four players occupy positions on each team. Although the players are given offensive and defensive positions, the enormous field (spanning 160 x 300 yards) and the unpredictable direction of the ball requires that players cover all positions.

One important rule in polo is that players allow for the rider who has the right-of-way to pass through. Otherwise, the consequences of a horse galloping at full speed on a collision course with another player would be grizzly– and expensive. But, as long as the right-of-way rule is respected, the players are allowed some leeway as far as rough play is concerned– hooking other player’s mallets, bumping each other with their horses, and stealing the ball.

As one would expect of gentlemen and women, polo is played with concessions for the underdog. After a goal is scored, the teams change sides in order to compensate for wind and field conditions. Penalties are awarded in the form of free hits. The more severe the penalty, the closer the free hit is taken to the goal. The closer the penalty shot is to the goal, the more likely the player is to score. See how that works?

Every registered player is given a skill rating from C -2, which is the lowest to 10 which is the highest. Few U.S. players enjoy a ranking above 6. When matches are played by unevenly ranked teams, a handicap is given to the lesser team. The sum total of the rankings of the lesser team is subtracted from the other team’s total rankings. The difference in sum total ranking is then given to the lower rated team in the form of goals on the scoreboard. Get out your calculator and tally ho!