Arena polo is a fast-paced version of
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
played outdoors on an enclosed all-weather surface, or in an indoor arena.
[{{cite web, title=Arena Polo , url=http://www.us-polo.org/new_08/arena_polo.htm , access-date=2010-01-06 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929170951/http://www.us-polo.org/new_08/arena_polo.htm , archive-date=September 29, 2011 ] Hurlingham Polo Association
The Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) is the governing body for polo in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries. The Federation of International Polo produces the International Rules of Polo through a coop ...
(HPA, Great Britain) and
US Polo Association
The United States Polo Association (USPA) is the national governing body for the sport of polo in the United States.
Introduction
Established in 1890, by David Grubbs the USPA provides resources to over 4,500 individual members and 250 polo clu ...
(USPA, USA ) have established their own rules for arena polo, and these rules are often used in other countries as well.
Unlike outdoor polo, which is played on a 10-acre field, arena polo is played on 300 feet by 150 feet field, enclosed by walls of four or more feet in height. The normal game consists of four chukkas, or periods, of seven and one-half minutes each. A polo ball is similar to a mini soccer ball, larger than the hard plastic ball used outdoors. The arena game is played on a dirt surface with the ball bouncing on the uneven surface and off the arena wall.
Arena polo is typically far more financially accessible than outdoor polo. Club membership fees are usually lesser in comparison, in large part because an arena does not have the high annual maintenance cost of a grass field. Player investment is often smaller because, at a minimum, only two horses are needed to play a regulation arena polo match. Rather than a dedicated truck and large trailer, a bumper-pull trailer and a SUV is usually sufficient for transporting the horses of the arena polo player.
Arena polo can be played year-round, which is attractive to many players because it makes progress in the sport easier and quicker. The most popular season for arena polo is winter.
See also
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U.S. intercollegiate arena polo champions
*
Beach polo
Beach polo is a team sport and close variant of arena polo.
Game play
A game of beach polo consists of two three-player teams as opposed to the usual four-player teams in field polo. A game consists of four seven-minute periods of play, called ...
, a variant of arena polo played on sand
References
Polo