Polo

Skip straight to polo news from Horse & Hound

Although the sport of polo has an elite image fed by glossy photos of celebrities sipping champagne on manicured lawns while top players and patrons jet around the world with strings of ponies, polo is played at all levels from Pony Club upwards.

Participation is growing across the board and it is quite possible to play polo on a budget, with one pony, and enjoy both the game and the social life for similar costs to competing in other disciplines. If you want to give it a try, you can book a lesson at your local club, which will typically include horse hire.

The sport has hit the headlines recently due to concerns over the safety requirement of players’ headgear. Guards Polo Club is set to introduce a new rule requiring a higher safety standard of polo hat for next season after one of its players was left in a coma following a serious fall during summer 2014. The sport’s governing body, the Hurlingham Polo Association, is to discuss whether to change its headgear rules at a forthcoming meeting.