Polo Player
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A
horse used in the game of polo is called a pony, but is almost always bigger than
the officially recnognised maximum height of a pony; 1.47 meters
A polo pony(14.2
hands). Most polo ponies are between 14.3 - 15.3 hands. They are typically either
Thoroughbreds (often failed racehorses) or Thoroughbreds that have been crossed
with the native Argentine criollo breed. Australian Stock Horses are very popular
in Australia, Quarter Horses, Appaloosas and Paints are also seen in use, especially
at the lower levels of polo in America.
Polo
ponies need to be almost fearless, and not afraid to bump into other horses, and
they can't shy at mallets swinging near their heads. They need to be quick and
agile so they can turn and follow the ball through it's many changing movements.
Polo ponies have their manes hogged before a match which means to cut it down
to the neck of the horse. This is done so that the polo mallet will not get tangled.
There are many different quarters in a game and so each team has one or two horses
per quarter, called chukkas. There is usually 4 - 6 chukkas per match, each lasting
7 minutes.
The
Australian Stock Horse (or Stockhorse), has been especially bred for Australian
climatic conditions. It is a hardy breed of horse noted for endurance, agility
and a good temperament. Its ancestry dates to the arrival of the first horses
in Australia, brought from Europe, Africa and Asia. It is used today in a wide
variety of disciplines, and is still valued as a working horse by stockmen throughout
Australia.
The criollo (in Spanish), or crioulo (in Portuguese), is the native
horse of Argentina (1918), Uruguay (1923), Brazil (1932) and Paraguay. It may
have the best endurance of any horse breed in the world next to the Arabian. In
fact, due to the crioulo's low basal metabolism it may be a better long distance
horse than the Arabian in prolonged races over a week in duration with no supplemental
feed. The breed is most popular in its home country, and is known for its hardiness
and stamina.
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