This page is part of the great game PONY, and is in no way real
Polo is the most ancient sport in the world!! It was invented in Persia, over 2,000 years ago. The game was brought to England by Calvary Officers and Tea Planters. At that time, the Manipuri pony was especially suited to the new game. The Brittish were the ones to refine the game and set down the rules. Now, the game is especially polular in Argentina, although it is again spreading throughout the world.
Polo is a team sport, where 2 teams of 4 players (plus one substitute) play against each other. They play on a large field, which is 250-300 yards long, and 160-200 yards wide. The object of the game is to use a mallet known as a Polo Stick and hit a ball into the opponents goal. While trying to do this, you *may not* cut in front of or cross paths with an opponent. Handicapping rules even out the matches, and mounted referees govern the game. A polo match consits of either five or eight 7 1/2 minute periods. Each period is called a chukka.
Each team must declare a total handicap. This is reached by each player determining their own handicap, which is anywhere from 0-10, 10 being a rider of the highest skill level. If a stronger team faces a weaker team, their is a goal advantage equal to the handicap for the weaker team. We *will* be doing handicaps in PONY. So start thinking of how you and your team members will be rated.
Not every horse is suitable for polo. Even one or two chukkas may tire out a well-conditioned horse. Also, having a large or long-strided horse is not a benefit. It makes it *harder* in general to hit the ball. So, most hunter-type horses or long strided racers wouldn't be suited to the game. Also, it's very hard to hit the ball on a 16+ hand horse. The ideal polo pony is around 15 hands high. Furthermore, the polo horse also isn't always the prettiest horse. They don't always have ideal looks or conformation, but they are suited to their sport. Most polo horses rarely compete in other disciplines. So, please don't show your high level eventers, hunters, racers, etc. in this association. With some breeds, however, another compatable discipline might work out. With my guys, for instance, who are Karabakhs (a sturdy enduring Mt. breed) during the time they are not preparing for polo meets I show them in some endurance. But, when touraments start up, I will need to watch this since trying do do a polo match after competing in any long endurance race would be unreasonable and unfair to the horse.
Some breeds, of course, are much more suitable for polo. At the lower levels, nearly any extremely agile large pony or small horse would be okay with the right conformation and training. However, in higher levels this is not always the case. At the world level, the sport IRL is dominated by specially bred Argentinian ponies, who are mainly Criollo descendants. In the United States Thoroughbred blood is popular. Arabians, QH crosses, Criollo crosses, Karabakhs, Galicenos, and other breeds which are fast and agile may be used. Purebreds are definetly not needed in this sport. Especially at the lower level, sometimes crossbred ponies/horses are the best. Also, you must bring a minimum of 2 polo ponies to each tourament, unless you are a substitute.
Also, it takes at least 2 years of polo training for a horse to be ready for matches. This means that when the PPC hosts matches, your horse must be at lest 4 years old (preferably older) to attend.
The PPC (PONY Polo Club) is made up of smaller clubs, or teams. Each team must have 4 registered members with at least 2 horses per person. In addition, each team must have a substitute, or 5th, player. Also, the four main players must be real people even though the substitute, who doesn't need 2 horses of their own, can be a VR.
Currently, there are a couple of teams. If you are not on a team, please contact your friends or other registered polo individuals about forming a team! The PPC will be accepting team registeries very soon! These are the current teams
Jenn will now accept registeries!!!
Please send the following to her:
To view our registered individuals, go here
The PPC plans to hold matches between teams, team tournaments, matches with other games, clinics, and much more! In addition, the PPC will occasionally sponser Horse Game Days, where there are open polo matches, as well as gymkhana events, jousting events, horse ball events, and more!
As I said, the PPC will hold polo matches and tournaments. Soon, we will try to hold 2 matches/tournaments every month. Probably, one will be an open event, and one just for registered members. In addition, we will have Horse game days every other month. Right now, in our first season, we have had 3 shows. Our current class list is to help people get started out, and has a bunch of in hand and under saddle basic classes. Points(page IS up now) will be awarded on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 system! Click to view our Class List.