Finding the perfect polo pony
Having the right polo pony is crucial to your game. The pony needs to be agile, athletic with the ability to twist and turn to enable you to be a good player. The importance of how well a player gets on with a certain pony and how well a pony has been trained for the game are key.
Choosing The Right Polo Pony
Why Polo Pony And Not Polo Horse?
Over a certain size a pony becomes a horse, this is measured at the withers, any height over 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147cm) is classed as a horse. However, in Polo a Polo Pony can be any height and indeed of any breed. For more information on the term Polo Pony see our previous blog.
Starting Out In Polo, Ride A Variety Of Ponies
If you are starting out in Polo it is a good idea to ride as many different ponies as you can. This is easily achieved as you will be taking Polo Lessons, if you take your lessons at Polo Clubs such as Dallas Burston there are plenty of top quality ponies to choose from. This will not only improve you as a rider but will also help you to understand the type of Polo Pony is right for you. Choosing a Polo Pony is not about your size and the Ponies size, its about what sort of Pony works best for you. Smaller Polo Ponies can be more agile and sharper, where as larger ponies are excellent with ride-offs and of course give you that extra height.
A Polo Pony Needs To Be Brave & Obedient
What Are The Typical Breeds Used In Polo
Thoroughbreds or Thoroughbreds crosses are used by most of the high end Polo Players these typically have the stamina and speed to gallop the long distances. Other breeds used are cutting or Argentine gaucho ponies.
Jason Webb recently announced that he will be bringing over to the UK this year Australian stock horses. This breed are known for their athletic agility in polo, polocrosse and campdrafting. He is quoted here from an article in the Horse & Hound “We are delighted to be importing Haydon Oracle, a two-year-old chestnut colt, who’s pedigree comes steeped in history and performance. His dam is full sister to Haydon Angel Jewel, one of Adolfo Cambiaso’s top playing horses (Cambiaso has been the top-rated polo player in the world for the past decade), and his sire, Murrabong Victory, has bred numerous top performing polo, polocrosse, showing and working horses. We are incredibly excited about his prospects and can’t wait to get him over to the UK.”
Read more about Jason Webb here.
By getting a specifically bred Polo Pony from successful playing stock you can be fairly certain of a pony that will be brave, willing, and obedient.
We can recommend ‘The Complete Guide To Polo’ by Lauren Dibble if you would like to learn more about Polo. The book can be found at Allen Books
