Polo Horses

[LibbyL]

As above members have said it really depends on the yard/owner.

I work at a polo club, our main business is hiring out to other riders. Our horses are in work all year (for arena season too) but each will have a 2 month and a 1 month (on rotation) holiday in huge holiday fields or with as much hay as they need, checked every day, in rugs suitable for the weather. They each have their own tack which we check regularly. We ensure before we hire that we have a profile of the rider with their weight and ability so ponies are matched up to them as well as possible. Nobody is allowed to ride them in spurs.

They thrive living as a herd, we run them in to the barn every day when we get them in to exercise and each one will go in to their own stable, exercise them in groups of 3 and they live out 24/7 unless they have an injury. I treat each and every one as I would treat my own horse and any injuries will be immediately looked in to. We have had more field injuries this past year than we have had playing injuries. Yes it is a tough sport but you can tell if they love it, our top horses absolutely light up when they are playing and feel like a team mate more than anything else. If they don't love it this will normally be realised early on in their training and they will be put on a different path.

Don't get me wrong I am sure many yards aren't the same but most of the places I go regularly are very similar to ours. Certain aspects blew my mind when I first started; for instance tying them all close together on the pony lines, but due to them being such good buddies we never have any issues.

If your mare has never played before she will take a few months to train so I imagine this man wants to crack on with that because many riders are all keeping horses fit in the hope a season will start Juneish but I would definitely take Winters100 up on her offer of whether she recognises the name. The polo world is tiny! But please don't tar everyone with the same brush

 

[Tbird]

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.

I have ex polo , she’s battle scarred !!! No don’t do it !! X

 

[cobgoblin]

Ugh! No.

 

[Winters100]

But why do people feel this? I have seen good and bad owners in every discipline, including those using horses only for for recreation. To be honest most neglect I have seen is in unused or recreational horses. At our yard it is half polo and half dressage. Polo ponies are out in packs in big paddocks, dressage horses mostly stand alone in tiny ones. Mine have a good life, they are fit and well cared for, as are the horses of the pro and all others in our barn.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Mine have a good life, they are fit and well cared for, as are the horses of the pro and all others in our barn.

Good for you, but you are in Poland. Maybe things are different with you, maybe not.

Polo horse care over here is poor. Lame, crocked, shut down horses. As long as they can keep playing, they’ll be hobbling about on the polo field, often carrying oversized riders

I know that from vets who have worked with polo horses, as well as that which I observe myself.

 

[TPO]

But why do people feel this? I have seen good and bad owners in every discipline, including those using horses only for for recreation. To be honest most neglect I have seen is in unused or recreational horses. At our yard it is half polo and half dressage. Polo ponies are out in packs in big paddocks, dressage horses mostly stand alone in tiny ones. Mine have a good life, they are fit and well cared for, as are the horses of the pro and all others in our barn.

I dont think it's to do with how they are kept as such (although I dont much like how I see the local polo ponies kept) but what happens when they are working/in use

 

[ycbm]

But why do people feel this? I have seen good and bad owners in every discipline, including those using horses only for for recreation. To be honest most neglect I have seen is in unused or recreational horses. At our yard it is half polo and half dressage. Polo ponies are out in packs in big paddocks, dressage horses mostly stand alone in tiny ones. Mine have a good life, they are fit and well cared for, as are the horses of the pro and all others in our barn.

This is an old thread reactivated and my reasons are stated earlier on.

But to summarise, on the pitch, polo games are full of the kind of riding which would have the competitor in any other horse sport thrown out of the competition.
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