Playing safe with a 1,500-pound animal and a mallet

By Samantha Henry

An 850- to 1,500-pound animal, a mallet, a whip and a leather ball all colliding in the same corner of an arena sounds dangerous. With the proper precautions, however, polo players turn this tornado into a structured and orderly competition.

Dangers of the game: Falling of the horse. Getting hit by the stick or ball. The inherent unpredictability of horses.

Belinda Brody and Kaila Dowd, members of the University of Connecticut club polo team, talked about the importance of safety and how the team stays protected.

What equipment do you wear for protection?
Both the horse and rider wear protection. The rider wears a helmet with either a metal face mask or protective sports goggles to protect the head and face. We also wear boots made of thick leather to protect our legs and thick leather knee pads to cover knees during the hard bumps in the game.

What equipment do the horses wear?
One of the most common misconceptions about polo is that the horses get hurt a lot, but what people don't see is that most polo players are far more concerned about the safety of their horses than the safety of themselves. Regardless, there is a great amount of strain put on the horses and it takes a very talented animal to play.

This is why polo ponies are considered some of the most athletic animals. A lot of work goes into getting the horses ready and in shape for the season and there are a lot of precautions that are necessary while doing so. Their legs are the most delicate and require the most protection. Every game we wrap all four legs with fleece polo wraps, and on the fronts we also put on additional tendon boots of hard plastic and bell boots on their hooves.

Are you given a list of safety measures when you first start playing?
The whole game of polo is more or less a list of safety measures and rules. Some are more complex and hard to understand than others. All are made up for the general safety of the horse and rider. When a player begins polo, they are given the most basic set of rules to ensure their safety, as well as their mounts' in the slow level of polo they are playing in.

What are some hazards to be aware of while playing?
Every horse is different, with different personalities, abilities, speeds, mentalities and ways of thinking. This is why, to be a good polo player, you must not only have the hand-eye coordination, ball handling and dribbling skill and overall technique and strategy, you must also have the riding ability. This is for obvious reasons. Falling off your horse is always a long, hard fall and should be avoided at all costs. There are many ways falling could occur, especially when five other riders are galloping around full speed and without someone to control the horses.

A good rider can feel everything that is going on underneath them. He or she can anticipate the horse's next move while trying to find the individual rhythm of every horse he or she gets on. When you are playing, the four players' riding skills become a key factor to winning a game.

If the ability to ride is not up to par, playing in a full-speed game would be extremely dangerous. Although, just being an experienced rider does not eliminate all risks. Common fouls called during a game are "dangerous riding," which is riding into a play and putting someone or some horse in a dangerous situation.

"Dangerous mallet" is either taking a full swing without enough room, or swinging into a pony. "Boarding" is when one player tries to ride another player off the ball and bumping them (a form of checking) into a wall. A "sandwich" or "2 on 1" foul is exactly how it sounds - two players on one player.

All these fouls cause danger, but are avoided at all costs. There is definite room for error and the game can get rough, but we keep it clean and as safe as possible for everyone and our horses.