Polo

   

    Polo is another ancient sport, and is thought to have originated in Persia (Iran) about 2000 years ago (one source said more than 2,500 years ago).  At least at that time, the sport was played by both men and women.  From there it spread to China, Mongolia, Japan , and eventually India, where it was discovered by the British in the 19th century.  Its popularity has since spread all over the world.  It makes exacting demands on the horses, requiring considerable speed, agility, stamina and courage.
    Polo is one of the roughest, toughest games played today, and playing in the snow adds an extra dimension of excitement.  Polo ponies must be brave and obedient; they must be able to stop and turn like lightning.  (The picture of polo in the snow above is taken from the St. Moritz Polo Club--the only place in the world where polo is played on grass in summer and snow in winter!)

    Persian art depicts colorful riders on rotund Oriental horses, unmistakably playing polo--with curiously modern-looking sticks.  The game, portrayed on ancient Persian manuscript illuminations, originated from "Savlajam," a variety of Tchigan, which was a dangerous mounted form of tennis.  Polo came to England, via India, in 1869 and still remains a very popular pastime there.  The game was introduced in the United States in 1883.
    In Isfahan, more than four centuries ago, the renowned Shah Abbas used to sit on the high, wooden-pillared balcony of the Aali Qapur, to watch polo being played below.  This beautiful pavilion, and the original stone goal posts, still remain.  But instead of the sandy, hoof-printed space of long ago, the meidan is now flower-filled, with an ornamental pool reflecting the slender spires and blue and gold domes of the centuries-old mosques.

    The first public polo game was played in England in 1870.  It reached Australia in 1876 and the United States in 1883.  The United States and Argentina are among the world's great polo-playing countries today.
    The Duke of Edinburgh's enthusiasm for polo matches his skill and he is now considered one of the better British players.  Prince Charles is also as keen as his father and is becoming an increasingly experienced player.  Their ponies, like most polo ponies since the abolition of the height limit, are usually between 15.1 and 15.3 hands.
    Top-class Polo Ponies are usually
Thoroughbred or Argentine (Criollo) x Thoroughbred (the x stands for "crossed with") costing between $3,000 and $15,000.  They normally winter out, come up toward the end of February, and from then onward require skilled schooling, mostly twisting and turning at the canter.  They must be fast, obedient, capable of sudden starts, stops and changes in direction, and be responsive to neck-reining.
    High-class polo is possibly the most expensive of all sports, but an increasing number of clubs are managing to enjoy moderate polo at reasonable expense.  Many pony clubs have sufficient young players to stage an annual tournament.  Almost any well-trained horse or pony will play slow polo, provided it has confidence in its rider.

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