A good polo pony is an extraordinary animal: fit, agile, well-balanced and fast, but also well able to cope with crowds, shouting, close flying objects, and all kinds of other commotion that would overwhelm even the most placid of normal horses. It all begs the question: how are these special horses trained for the job?
First of all, a lot of effort goes into selecting the right pony in the first place. Not only must they meet certain physical requirements of stamina, build, and agility, but they must have an intelligent disposition which makes them suitable for the game.
An outstanding polo pony will be bold and enjoy the thrills and spills of the pitch, but also be intuitive enough to pick up on his rider’s signals in an instant and be ready to respond. A pony that has the speed and strength, but is too flighty and headstrong when ridden, will not progress far as a polo mount.
Once the right pony has been identified, he will be prepared with many months or even years of training for his first match. The pony will be taught to accelerate fast, turn on a halfpenny, and pull up short.
Hours will be spent gradually getting them used to a swinging mallet, first from the ground, and then with the rider drawing the mallet past the pony’s eye while mounted. The ball will be thrown around to desensitise the animal to its movements. Once the pony is comfortable, he will be ridden in slow chukkas, which are 7.5-minute segments of the game.
Of course, all horses are different, and none can tick every box at once. Some will naturally be forward going and need more encouragement to stop, while others will need a bit of a push to reach full speed, but are safer mounts for novice players.
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