The Oldest Team Sport has a long history in
Lancaster Polo celebrates its 67th consecutive season in
Four
Ben Forney built a field on his farm in Rothsville in 1956. Forney kept dozens of polo ponies, many rescued from the New Holland auction-enough to mount his own and visiting teams. Many current
Forney was truly dedicated to and loved the sport of polo. He continued to play polo well into his eighties and was featured in Sports Illustrated as
The Game of Polo
A polo match lasts about one and one-half hours and is divided into six 7 minute periods or chukkers. Since a horse in fast polo can cover two and one-half to three miles per period, he'll be too tired to play a second one right away. After resting for two or three periods, some horses can return to the game. Still, in championship polo, a player will come to the field with at least six horses. The mounts are horses, mostly thoroughbreds, not ponies.
The object of the game is to score as many goals as possible. There are four players on a team and each assumes a specific position - either offensive or defensive. However, given the enormous size of the playing field (160 x 300 yards), the momentum of the galloping horses and the ball's unexpected changes of direction, the game is very fluid, hence positions continuously change. There are few set plays in polo, and good anticipation necessitates almost a sixth sense.
With thousand pound animals running at speed there is a preeminent necessity for a right-of-way rule. The central concept in the rules of polo is the line of the ball, a right-of-way established by the path of the traveling ball.
Like the rules of the road, there are dos and don'ts governing access to this right-of-way and crossing it. Within these limitations, a player can hook an opponent's mallet, push him off the line, bump him with his horse or steal the ball from him.
Penalties are awarded as free hits. The more severe, the shorter the distance to the goal mouth. The closer hits are almost certain goals.
After every goal is scored, the teams change sides in order to compensate for field and wind conditions. A typical score would be 10-7.
Polo games are played on the flat or the handicap. Every registered player is awarded a skill rating from C (-2, the lowest) to 10 (the highest). Only a handful of US players are rated above 6. When a match is played on the handicap basis, the sum total rating of the players on the team is subtracted from that of the opposition. Any difference is then awarded to the lower rated side in goals on the scoreboard.
Two mounted umpires on the field and a referee in the stands officiate the games.
A 2,000 year History
The sport of polo probably began in
Within ten years there were polo clubs throughout the east. The first US Open Championship was played in 1904. At the time, only ponies standing 14.2 hands and under, who were issued certificates attesting to their size, were permitted to play. In 1916 the height was raised to 15.1 hands, and in 1920 all height restrictions were removed, opening the door to larger, stronger, faster horses, and no doubt, harder bumps. But the term "ponies" stuck.The 1930's were polo's Golden Age--polo was an Olympic sport and crowds of 30,000 and more regularly attended matches in New York.References to women playing polo have been found in ancient Chinese and Persian art and poetry.
A series of international women's matches between the
Polo is an international sport, played in - US Polo Association
The Oldest Team Sport has a long history in
Lancaster Polo celebrates its 67th consecutive season in
Four
Ben Forney built a field on his farm in Rothsville in 1956. Forney kept dozens of polo ponies, many rescued from the New Holland auction-enough to mount his own and visiting teams. Many current
Forney was truly dedicated to and loved the sport of polo. He continued to play polo well into his eighties and was featured in Sports Illustrated as
The Game of Polo
A polo match lasts about one and one-half hours and is divided into six 7 minute periods or chukkers. Since a horse in fast polo can cover two and one-half to three miles per period, he'll be too tired to play a second one right away. After resting for two or three periods, some horses can return to the game. Still, in championship polo, a player will come to the field with at least six horses. The mounts are horses, mostly thoroughbreds, not ponies.
The object of the game is to score as many goals as possible. There are four players on a team and each assumes a specific position - either offensive or defensive. However, given the enormous size of the playing field (160 x 300 yards), the momentum of the galloping horses and the ball's unexpected changes of direction, the game is very fluid, hence positions continuously change. There are few set plays in polo, and good anticipation necessitates almost a sixth sense.
With thousand pound animals running at speed there is a preeminent necessity for a right-of-way rule. The central concept in the rules of polo is the line of the ball, a right-of-way established by the path of the traveling ball.
Like the rules of the road, there are dos and don'ts governing access to this right-of-way and crossing it. Within these limitations, a player can hook an opponent's mallet, push him off the line, bump him with his horse or steal the ball from him.
Penalties are awarded as free hits. The more severe, the shorter the distance to the goal mouth. The closer hits are almost certain goals.
After every goal is scored, the teams change sides in order to compensate for field and wind conditions. A typical score would be 10-7.
Polo games are played on the flat or the handicap. Every registered player is awarded a skill rating from C (-2, the lowest) to 10 (the highest). Only a handful of US players are rated above 6. When a match is played on the handicap basis, the sum total rating of the players on the team is subtracted from that of the opposition. Any difference is then awarded to the lower rated side in goals on the scoreboard.
Two mounted umpires on the field and a referee in the stands officiate the games.
A 2,000 year History
The sport of polo probably began in
Within ten years there were polo clubs throughout the east. The first US Open Championship was played in 1904. At the time, only ponies standing 14.2 hands and under, who were issued certificates attesting to their size, were permitted to play. In 1916 the height was raised to 15.1 hands, and in 1920 all height restrictions were removed, opening the door to larger, stronger, faster horses, and no doubt, harder bumps. But the term "ponies" stuck.The 1930's were polo's Golden Age--polo was an Olympic sport and crowds of 30,000 and more regularly attended matches in New York.References to women playing polo have been found in ancient Chinese and Persian art and poetry.
A series of international women's matches between the
Polo is an international sport, played in - US Polo Association
Lancaster Polo celebrates its 67th consecutive season in
Four
Ben Forney built a field on his farm in Rothsville in 1956. Forney kept dozens of polo ponies, many rescued from the New Holland auction-enough to mount his own and visiting teams. Many current
Forney was truly dedicated to and loved the sport of polo. He continued to play polo well into his eighties and was featured in Sports Illustrated as
Lancaster Polo celebrates its 67th consecutive season in
Four