What does circling have to do with “lions, and tigers and….butterflies?..oh my”
Circling is also a great way to calm a nervous horse. You let them trot or canter in a circle. They will begin to settle as they realize they are not really going anywhere, but there are at least able to move. If you are heading across an open field….it is a whole different story, [...]
Reining Techniques-Direct and Indirect Reining
No, we are not talking about the stuff that falls from the sky and cancels polo, we are talking about the four pieces of leather you hold in your left hand. Who cares about severe draughts anyway when there is polo that needs to be played ?? So, turning a horse? Oh that’s easy. There [...]
Propping & Stopping
Now stopping is one of the key characteristics in properly assessing top value in a polo pony, whereas the same movement would render a horse nearly useless in both horse racing and show jumping. But the key is to find a horse that will willingly and consistently stop whenever they are asked to through the [...]
Proper Polo Position
The older hunt seat of days gone by called for longer stirrup length, longer reins, and a deeper seat. Today’s polo position has been fashioned by the top players in the world coming out of Argentina. Their domination in the sport has caused the world to sit up and take notice, literally. We have had [...]
Posting versus Bouncing to the Trot
ok….who is going to want to read an article about trotting on a horse when the game of polo is played at a gallop. I know…I know….big morning yawn. I can’t help it, it’s on my list of subjects under horsemanship. I put it off as long as I could, but it has to be [...]
Leg yielding? Is that a sport in the Olympics?
Well, now that you ask, it is a big part of the equestrian competitions. Another easier way to say it is applying your leg to get the horse to move laterally away from your leg pressure So even though you are moving forward, you are adjusting the horse laterally at the same time. So why [...]
So…you like playing horses half your age??????
Well, if you are in your forties or later, that may be somewhat of a concern…unless you are just getting started and looking for that “experienced” horse. First off, horses have a life span of about 30-35 years. Their years of productivity are usually from around 3 yrs of age to late 20’s. The following [...]
Goodspeed on Speed
My surname certainly lends itself to my authoring this tip. However, it was my four legged friends that gave me the opportunity to live up to my name in my playing career. Prior to mounting my first horse, speed was only a label and had nothing to do with my personal performance. I grew up [...]
Field Positioning-Anticipation
The polo field is an incredibly large area of play in the world of sport. An outdoor field is ten acres, which defines itself as nine football fields. That is more than an acre for each mounted person in the game. It is easy to see how we can do a lot of running without [...]
Backing up…in polo??
The good riders are doing it all the time, while they are going forward. What….?? Backing a horse properly is the same as properly collecting a horse, even at a gallop. “We need to go back to the basics”, as a very famous football coach once said “ This is a football” That is what [...]
