The field is 12.4 acres, the ball is 4.5 inches. Is this a spectator sport? Get to know the basics.
Polo—the basics
Although it is the oldest equestrian sport, going back to ancient Persia, the long-hitting, fast-moving polo we see today developed in America after 1909.
The polo field is a rectangle 300 yards long and 160 yards wide—12.4 acres of highly maintained grass. Lightweight and collapsible goalposts are centered 8 yards apart at each end of the field, and a team scores by hitting the ball between the goalposts. Teams change ends after a goal is scored.
Each team consists of four players, divided into four positions, numbered but not named. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are basically offensive, driving the ball toward the goal. Number 3, generally the strongest player on a team, leads, functioning as quarterback. Number 4 plays defense, and tries to prevent the other team from scoring. Positions are not rigid, and in a fast-moving game functions change. Players wear helmets, riding boots and colored shirts displaying their numbers.
Two umpires on horseback and one referee on the sidelines enforce the rules. The most material rule deals with the right-of-way between a player and the ball.
Play starts with the two teams facing one another in center field when the ball is bowled in. Players use flexible mallets with bamboo-cane shafts (fiberglass is also used), and a bamboo head. Mallets range from 48 to 54 inches, to accommodate player and horse sizes, and weigh about 7 ounces. Balls are hit with the side of the mallet. The ball is made of willow root or plastic, and weighs about 4 ounces.
In the United States, the game consists of six periods lasting 7 ½ minutes each, known as chukkers. In the event of a tie, a seventh, sudden-death chukker will be played, the game going to the first team to score.
Players are rated, and the total difference in points (also called goals) is awarded at the start of play to the team with the lower handicap. The polo mount is a full-sized horse, and the term polo pony refers back eighty years ago before restrictions on size were abandoned.
