Polo Horses

[Champion1969]

Would you sell your horse to a Polo team? I have her advertised but this guy has been in contact wanting to buy her to train as one of his team. I know nothing about Polo, would it be cruel of me, she is a 5-year-old ex-racer, just too small for me at 15'1.

 

[Equi]

Why would you think it cruel? It’s no different to selling her to be an eventer or a hunter etc. If she’s not up to the job it’s likely they will sell her on to something more suited, but that’s what happens when you sell a horse. It’s likely they will treat her very well, polo ponies are proper athletes.

 

[turnbuckle]

It's physically hard but huge fun for horses with the right mindset. I think there are plenty of people who treat their horses as almost all of us do, but polo does attract a few who are in it for the glamour and treat their horses as machines. But if he is willing to buy an untrained pony and bring it on that sounds like a good start. I would ask him for references.

 

[Leandy]

To a good polo yard yes, a bad one no. Same with any other purchaser/discipline really.

 

[Champion1969]

Why would you think it cruel? It’s no different to selling her to be an eventer or a hunter etc. If she’s not up to the job it’s likely they will sell her on to something more suited, but that’s what happens when you sell a horse. It’s likely they will treat her very well, polo ponies are proper athletes.

Im just not up on Polo, and how they train, routines care etc.......The thing is he's wanting to come all the way from London tomorrow and take her.....I said about the lockdown but he said he's still going to work as this is his livelihood. So this is also why alarm bells are ringing???

 

[ycbm]

Absolutely not.

There are things done every minute or two in polo which would have a dressage rider thrown out of the ring.

This kind of photo is normal, watch any youtube video of a polo match.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polo_At_the_Kentucky_HOrse_Park_(5995905109).jpg

 

[Leandy]

Im just not up on Polo, and how they train, routines care etc.......The thing is he's wanting to come all the way from London tomorrow and take her.....I said about the lockdown but he said he's still going to work as this is his livelihood. So this is also why alarm bells are ringing???

I wouldn't ideally sell to anyone on those terms no, but it depends on your circumstances. If you need to sell etc. Having said that, I can imagine a polo trainer doing this. It will be like selling to a dealer though, I would imagine. I'd do some research on this buyer and decide from there.

 

[Clodagh]

I would never sell a horse for polo. Poor little beggars with enormous men yanking on their multi bitted mouths while stabbing them with spurs.
I am totally not a fluffy bunny but polo is the pits.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I wouldn't personally sell any pony for polo. Whilst they may be well looked after at home under saddle is a different story.

 

[Skib]

That photo is from 2011 and in USA.

My OH and I started watching high goal polo when I was learning to ride. And we ride near another local polo yard. In London. Dont be scared of the idea.
Ponies can get injured playing polo - usually if they fall at speed. They do sometimes break a leg and are put down but in all these years we have only seen that happen once. Whereas we have seen several skilled players hosptalised.
It seems to me safer for horses than eventing.
Polo ponies are valuable and so receive a high level of care.
Mares take to it well. They live in a herd, and in traditonal yards were turned away all winter.
And because polo ponies are biddable and tolerant, and kept fit, they often find good retirement homes hacking.

But re the virus - he shouldnt be travelling to you, surely? And who knows if there will be polo at all this summer? Is he after her blood lines because she isnt too tall? Does he hope to breed from her.

Use your own judgement but people connected with polo have always been nice to us and one might hope they will be nice to their ponies too? Those running yards and making a living a from horses are having a tough time at the moment

 

[ycbm]

That photo is from 2011 and in USA.

And it's the same in the UK and nothing has changed in the last 9 years. Watch any youtube video of competitive polo.

 

[ycbm]

2019, UK

Plenty of what would be deemed riding abusive enough to be disqualified in any other sport but polo, in the first five minutes. I can't bear to watch any more, it's ceaseless.

 

[rextherobber]

Polo ponies do not have a great level of care, the minute the last game is over, the shoes are removed and they are turned out, where they then spend the next 6-7 months largely being ignored. They are rugged to the eyeballs all summer, despite the heat, and in winter left either rugless or with a rainsheet (one size fits all) which is not removed for literally months. This year particularly, have seen a lot that have wintered very badly, scabby, ribby, with dreadfully neglected feet. If they gets abcesses they are mostly just left to get on with it. And that's not considering the huge riders and ill fitting tack as ycbm has said. Once they are too old for play, they are sold for peanuts to literally anyone. Polo as a game is also changing, some of the older owners do not like the way the game is going either, it is much rougher, if you can imagine that...

 

[Clodagh]

Polo is like Donkey Derby’s back in the day, and people were appalled by those.
A friend who is a photographer often posts photos he has taken at matches and they make me wince.

 

[Trouper]

Never.

 

[AmyMay]

It would be a no from me too I’m afraid.

 

[Winters100]

Totally depends on who is buying it. Polo is quite a small community, so if you want to PM me the name of the person I can tell you if I have heard anything about them.

In general polo is the same as other disciplines, some good owners and some bad, but I think that there are some specific problems in polo related to some players / owners who do not ride well or understand horse welfare. That having been said they have quite a good life in other ways, living in a pack for example. I always used to think that dressage horses had better lives that polo, but since moving to a yard which also has dressage horses I have begun to feel a bit sorry that the dressage horses are only ever alone in the paddock and never get to run.

I would not rule it out, but I would definitely want to know something about the buyer and their plans for the horse, and the situation that you outline has some red flags for me.

 

[Tiddlypom]

No.

Arrogant dicks with zero interest in equine welfare. It’s all about winning.

 

[ycbm]

In general polo is the same as other disciplines,.

No, it's not.

Playing the game competitively depends of spinning on a sixpence by hauling on the mouth, stopping on the spot by hauling on the mouth and riding off, with clashing legs, which would not be tolerated in the ring in any other competitive discipline.

There is no single competitive polo video in existence, I don't think, which does not show riding which in any other discipline would earn a ban for abuse of the horse.


.

 

[HashRouge]

Absolutely not, no. My sister worked for a polo yard for a bit as a groom and I think they were generally quite nice owners. BUT it was common for lame horses to be ridden and the horses were really pushed hard. The other groom was Argentinian and did not have the same ideas about riding and horse welfare as my sister. The game itself is very hard on the horses and they are not pets in the way that most horses in the UK are. If you want a better chance of your horse having a good home, I would avoid polo.

 

[Pinkvboots]

It's also a no from me

 

[paddy555]

Im just not up on Polo, and how they train, routines care etc.......The thing is he's wanting to come all the way from London tomorrow and take her.....I said about the lockdown but he said he's still going to work as this is his livelihood. So this is also why alarm bells are ringing???

if this was an amateur playing at a low level for fun on their beloved horse it may be different but to someone whose livelihood it is then I wouldn't.
If someone wanted a horse so quickly alarm bells would definitely be sounding. Why tomorrow? why such a hurry. I would want time to check someone out first, where the horse would be kept etc. It doesn't sound as if he has been to see your horse, ride it, vet it etc etc.
To me that sounds as if he doesn't care too much and if your horse doesn't work out there will be another one. In that case what will happen to yours when it is on the scrap heap? PTS or just sold on anywhere.

 

[Equi]

I stand very much corrected then. I assumed polo would appreciate their animals like other sports people do.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

A good number of 'failed on the track' TBs used to (and still do) go straight to some polo yards. If they don't suit then they get let go without much fuss.
I used to take job lots of 3 or 4 at a time FROM a local polo yard - as these ex racers had failed at that too - to rehab into riding horses. Most did train on well and went on to good homes, I can think of only 1 that I pts as wasnt safe to rehome.
But, I paid about £100 per animal....... a local to me polo yard still takes a dozen or so once a year for under 2k the lot, prices havent changed much.
OP, be very careful as to what yard your horse might go to (do a lot of homework), if in doubt and you cannot keep, then pts instead, please x

Skib, a polo pony is only valuable when it's made, not in training as they are 2 a penny till trained.

 

[J&S]

deleted

 

[onemoretime]

Polo ponies do not have a great level of care, the minute the last game is over, the shoes are removed and they are turned out, where they then spend the next 6-7 months largely being ignored. They are rugged to the eyeballs all summer, despite the heat, and in winter left either rugless or with a rainsheet (one size fits all) which is not removed for literally months. This year particularly, have seen a lot that have wintered very badly, scabby, ribby, with dreadfully neglected feet. If they gets abcesses they are mostly just left to get on with it. And that's not considering the huge riders and ill fitting tack as ycbm has said. Once they are too old for play, they are sold for peanuts to literally anyone. Polo as a game is also changing, some of the older owners do not like the way the game is going either, it is much rougher, if you can imagine that...

An ex boss of mine had polo ponies for his sons. Neither could ride nor had any knowledge of horse care and management. The they had so much tack on you could hardly see the horse and it was ill fitting. I could have cried for one little mare they had recently bought, she was only 4 years old and had a great big 16 year old boy on her who was far to heavy for her and a saddle that didn't fit also a standing martingale, gag snaffle leather breast girth, caverson nose band, drop noseband non of which she needed. Anyone else would have been done for abuse. It was all for social climbing for this particular lot! Would never sell to a polo home.

 

[TPO]

Years ago I did a saddle fitting for a family who had polo ponies for the son to compete at pony club level.

They lived in london and just summered up here for the season...

The horse backs were wrecked; so tight and sore. The whole horse was stiff and they were lame.

The owner assured me they were seen to by a "physio" and he was also a polo player. I wasnt to be concerned because "everyone gives bute before a match they'll be fine".

Their groom was lovely and she assured me she looked after the horses but everything was out of her hands for the summer season. She couldn't bring herself to leave because she worried about their care if she wasnt there.

Despite being stinking rich and the wealthiest people I'd sold to the mother was the most difficult and awkward client I'd dealt with when it came to payment as well

ETA I drive past a polo yard pretty regularly and I wouldnt want a horse of mine kept how they appear to. The poster above about the "one size fits all" ripped rugs and turned away with no grazing etc is spot on with what I see only from the roadside

 

[Champion1969]

I stand very much corrected then. I assumed polo would appreciate their animals like other sports people do.

Me too

 

[paddy555]

Me too

dare I ask, does she get a reprieve and can perhaps go to a potentially nicer home idc?

 

[Toodledo]

Im just not up on Polo, and how they train, routines care etc.......The thing is he's wanting to come all the way from London tomorrow and take her.....I said about the lockdown but he said he's still going to work as this is his livelihood. So this is also why alarm bells are ringing???

Huge alarm bells are ringing at this. Should only be moving horses in an emergency. And how is he going to work? He can't teach or play. I would avoid.

I've known two polo yards, people were lovely and the horses were so well behaved, was smitten with some of them. But. I can echo everything said above, they just didn't seem to see the same issues - one saddle would be used for ten different horses with no adjustments because apparently "polo saddles fit anything". Horses left over rugged in heat and the rugs would be the wrong size and falling apart. I've never seen so much poo in paddocks - and small ones that could be easily poo picked.

The stables were always clean but lameness was common as was bute. And huge guys riding tiny horses. One of the chaps was six foot 4 and was riding 14h, his legs could pretty much tie a knot under the belly!

They were always lovely to talk to but I'm afraid more interested in the bottle of bubbly in the club house than looking after the horses.

And the ponies were always well behaved because any naughty ones got shipped out quick and they didn't care who to - definitely some went to slaughter as they told me themselves, said at least they got something for them.