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Los Cariocas, Ham Polo Club, London (2026)

07/03/2023

The Korea Polo Federation (KPF) is changing the perception and popularity of polo in South Korea. Founded in August 2022, KPF is based at Korea's only polo facility, the world-class Korea Polo Club (KPC). Located on Jeju Island , popularly known as the Hawaii of Korea, the club has a luxurious club house with accommodation for guests, 75 Argentine polo ponies, three state-of-the-art modern stables, a field designed by Battro Polo Fields, a driving range and a swing track. Since its inauguration six months ago, KPF has focused on supporting young and promising Korean players, as well as welcoming new and potential polo players.

Currently, the KPF is made up of 50 Generation X entrepreneurs , with experience running successful companies in Korea and abroad. The first President, Steve Joonhee Joh , is active in business and government activities in Korea. He is CEO of URACLE, a mobile application and software development platform, sits on the President's Science and Technology Advisory Council, and is also President of the Korean Software Industry Association.

With a strategy focused on fundraising, the KPF plans to promote the "quarry" and support youth polo teams. Enthusiasm for the program has already materialized in the enrollment of 50 new players. In particular, fifteen high school students are taking regular polo classes and are practicing for their first official match in spring 2023. KPF will proudly sponsor college polo in Korea, including a team representing Jeju National University. In addition to the student polo, KPF is working on developing a Business Polo Team that will travel internationally.

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06/03/2023

Port Mayaca Polo Club (PMPC) in Okeechobee, Florida, is ready to welcome some of the world's most talented players. The crown jewel of its calendar, the US Open Women's Polo Championship , will serve as the marquee event and will be the next competition. First played as a USPA-Sanctioned tournament in 1990, the competition is the most prestigious women's tournament in the United States. This year will have five strong teams competing for the crown starting on Friday, March 9. The final of the elite competition will be played at the National Polo Center - Wellington's US Polo Assn Field One on Sunday, March 19.

The teams that will be taking part in the tournament are as follows:

El Cid Fitness
BTA
Dundas
La Fe
San Saba

And the schedule for the games will be:

Friday 3/10 10am 1. El Cid Fitness vs 3. Dundas
Friday 3/10 12noon 2. BTA vs 4. The Faith
Sunday 3/12 12noon 3. Dundas vs 5. San Saba
Tuesday 3/14 12noon 1. El Cid Fitness vs 4. La Fe
Tuesday 3/14 2pm 2. BTA vs 5. San Saba
Thursday 3/16 12noon Semi vs
Thursday 3/16 2pm Semi vs.
Saturday 3/18 1pm Subsidiary Final
Sunday 3/19 3pm Finale

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03/03/2023

UAE Polo and IFZA Habtoor are due to play the championship match of the IFZA Gold Cup, in the rematch of the 2022 final, when Sheikha Maitha’s lineup was victorious. On this occasion, UAE earned their spot in the final after earning an impressive 10-5 win over AM Polo, who, despite the loss, had a great season. Meanwhile, IFZA Habtoor secured their place in the deciding game after a hard fought contest against Bangash, which was only decided in the last minute. IFZA Habtoor’s highest rated player, Bautista Bayugar, scored the winning goal.

The current edition of the IFZA Gold Cup sees eight teams, up to 20 goals, compete. Teams are split into two leagues.

IFZA Gold Cup, Semifinals Results, Wednesday March 1

SEMIFINAL #1: UAE POLO 10-5 AM POLO
SEMIFINAL #2: IFZA HABTOOR 9-8 BANGASH

The IFZA Gold Cup will come to an end on Saturday March 4, and will be streamed live on PoloLine TV.

4PM, FINAL IFZA GOLD CUP: UAE POLO VS IFZA HABTOOR

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02/03/2023

The prestigious The Gauntlet of Polo will resume on Thursday March 2 with the second stage of the series, the USPA Gold Cup. El certamen, that will be played at the brand new USPA-owned National Polo Center-Wellington, set in Wellington, Florida, sees thirteen teams up to 22 goals, partake, Teams are split into five brackets. A new team, a second Shack Attack lineup, will join the twelve that played the CV Whitney Cup.

In addition, prior to the semifinals on Wednesday, March 22, the final of the US Open Women’s Polo will be played on Sunday, March 19.

Pilot are the current reigning champions; in 2022, they narrowly beat Park Place 11-10 in extra chukka, with a golden goal produced by Facundo Pieres, which marked Curtis Pilot’s lineup first title in three years.

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01/03/2023

Women's polo is making a name for itself in Guatemala thanks to Las Canchas Polo Club . Last weekend the second edition of Pink Polo was held with great success from February 23 to 26. On this occasion, the tournament featured four teams made up of women of different nationalities, with the TTR Sotheby's International Realty team being the champion.

The competition began on Thursday, February 23 with the first qualifying matches, and continued on Saturday to reach the big day of the finals, on Sunday, February 26. Four teams with girls from Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States and Iran participated , which was undoubtedly a super ambitious and fun proposal for the players and the public that came to the Las Canchas Polo Club grounds. Among those who make the arrival of these players possible are Celina Fernández Ocampo and Kasey Morris who coordinated the groups of Argentine and American girls.

The tournament had the support of the National Polo Association of Guatemala and was played without handicap in 4 chukkas with the rules of the National Polo Association of Guatemala and USPA regulations. All the matches were played on pitches 1 and 2 of the Las Canchas Polo Club property.

📷: y .g_85

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28/02/2023

The Autumn season in Argentina is just around the corner, with many competitions organised by the Argentine Association of Polo (AAP) in sight . On that note, the governing body of polo in Argentina has announced new dates for the use of mandatory standard helmets, in addition to brands and models that meet the requirements, in order to reinforce safety within the sport.

Although the use of mandatory standard helmets has been in the rule since October 2022, the AAP announced two new dates for players to wear these mandatory helmets that meet the requirements – March 1, 2023, and July 1, 2023.

”Polo is quite a bit delayed on the safety issue as well as the innovations. It is a potentially dangerous sports, and we had to work really hard to improve safety due to the large number of accidents during 2022,” says Delfín Uranga, the President of the AAP

Do you think the introduction of mandatory helmets is a smart move for Polo?

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24/02/2023

Equine First-Aid Basics

Lacerations, punctures, colic, abscesses, eye injuries, choke. Equine emergencies happen every day (and night). And the next horse involved could be yours. Would you be ready to handle it?

Bandages and Padding

Smart horse owners keep a good stock of 100% cotton bandages, such as sheet cotton, in their first-aid kits. “I like to cut 1-meter (3.28-foot) strips and roll them up in rubber bands to have easily on hand in an emergency,” Shipping quilts (aka pillow wraps) or ample sheet cotton can serve as padding beneath bandages. And our sources agree that quilts combined with polos or elastic track or stable bandages also work very well for leg wounds.

Wound- and Eye-Cleaning Products

Before you wrap that wound, be sure you guard against trapping dirt and germs with it. Your kit needs to include a good wound cleanser. A liquid or spray disinfectant such as Betadine can be useful, but apply it with care. Overcleaning can be detrimental.

For eye injuries, stock a small bottle of sterile saline solution. Your veterinarian might prescribe non-steroidal ophthalmic ointments such as Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates after examining the case.

Thermometer and Stethoscope

Thermometers are critical to any first-aid kit. Keep a digital probe (not an over-the-skin or in-the-ear) thermometer in your kit, and mark it for horses so you don’t accidentally use it for humans later.

Also throw into your kit a standard stethoscope, available through your veterinarian or online. With a stethoscope you can check your horse’s pulse and his respiration rate.
Communicate these critical vital signs—temperature, pulse, and respiration—during that first emergency call to the veterinarian.

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17/02/2023

The IFZA Gold Cup, the most significant polo tournament in Asia and the Middle East, commenced on Wednesday February 15, with double action at Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club. The series, that is celebrating its 14th. anniversary, has been established by Mohamemd Al Habtoor, and currently it is one of the highlights of the international polo calendar. The 2023 edition sees eight teams up to 20 goals, partake, split in two leagues.

In the opening day of the prestigious competition, IFZA Habtoor and the recent runner up of the Silver Cup, AM Polo, were victorious over Bangash and Mahra, respectively. Moreover, the match between AM Polo and Mahra was a thrilling contest, despite Mahra’s Jacinto Amadori had to leave the field in the fifth chukka, after a heavy fall.

The scores for the opening two games are as follows:

IFZA HABTOOR POLO 10-7 BANGASH
AM POLO 11-10 MAHRA

The Gold Cup will continue on Thursday February 16th, with two games between:

Dubai Wolves vs Ghantoot
UAE Polo vs Clinova NOA Capital

Are you watching the IFZA Gold Cup? If so, who are you rooting for to win?

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17/02/2023

'Polo is about the aspirational lifestyle of the sporty person, on and off the field.'

Polo isn't just a sport, it's a lifestyle.

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15/02/2023

(Post 1) Movement Asymmetry in Working Polo Ponies

From starting and stopping to turning and galloping, the repetitive movements of polo ponies place demands on their muscoluskeletal system that could predispose them to injury and lameness. Researchers recently determined that, compared with performance horses in other disciplines, polo ponies display a high degree of movement asymmetry, though this doesn’t always mean the animal is lame or in pain.

To take a closer look at this movement asymmetry, Thilo Pfau, PhD, a senior lecturer in bio-engineering at The Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom, evaluated 60 polo horses using inertial measurement units (IMUs) and compared the results to two established thresholds for movement symmetry. The current thresholds are based on slightly different approaches.

“One commonly used and cited threshold is 3 mm asymmetry for pelvic movement and 6 mm asymmetry for head movement,” he explained.
The other system, which Pfau used in his study, results in slightly higher asymmetry values. “The threshold for pelvic movement in our system is more like a 4 to 5 mm threshold and for head movement it’s more like 8 to 9 mm, but we accounted for the difference,” he said.

The team placed IMUs on each horse’s poll and between the tubera sacrale, the highest point of the hipbone on either side of the croup.
Of the horses studied, 60% to 67% of horses fell outside threshold limits for symmetrical movement. Pfau stressed, however, that, “very importantly, asymmetry in movement is not always caused by pain, which would then be clearly a lameness.”

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14/02/2023

Gastric Ulcers in Polo Horses: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Researchers know that gastric ulcers are common in horses competing in a variety of disciplines, such as endurance, racing, and show jumping. And recently, a Canadian research team added another discipline to that list: polo.

Heath MacLeod, a veterinary student at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Alberta, Canada, presented the study results in a poster presentation at the 2015 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum, held June 4-6 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Ulcers can develop in both the squamous (top) and glandular (bottom) portions of a horse’s stomach. The lower glandular part of the stomach contains a mucosa with glands that secrete acid and pepsin, which aid in early food digestion. The glands also produce bicarbonate and mucus, which help form a protective barrier over the mucosal surface. This protects the glandular stomach from acid and pepsin’s damaging effects. The squamous region, however, has few defenses and is particularly susceptible to injury (i.e., ulcers) caused by stomach acid.

Many performance horses live in single stalls and are turned out and/or ridden alone or in small groups. Polo horses, on the other hand, often live and exercise in groups, MacLeod said.

“Therefore, ulcer occurrence and risk factors may differ in this performance discipline compared to previously studied populations,” he explained.

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10/02/2023

Equine Bandaging Do’s and Don’ts

Every horse owner has been there: You walk out to the pasture to catch your horse, you peek into his stall, or maybe you open the trailer door upon arrival and see it immediately—a fresh wound, a swollen leg, or other evidence your horse has injured himself.

As you begin to investigate the injured area more closely, you might wonder if it requires a protective bandage. You might also wonder whether it’s serious enough to call your veterinarian.

Here, we’ll give you a few tips when it comes to bandaging your horse. Of course, you should call for professional assistance in any kind of emergency, but this overview will prepare you for when your vet says it’s time to apply or replace a wrap, or when you simply want to protect and support the legs of an uninjured horse.

When Should You Use a Bandage?

Not every situation requires a bandage, and bandaging can cause more harm than good in some cases. In general, bandages or wraps are useful for:
- Keeping a wound clean and contamination-free.
- Reducing swelling.
- Providing support and offering protection from trauma during training, transport, or turnout.
- Promoting a healing environment.
- Stabilizing an area.
- Triaging hemorrhage.

Before you find yourself in this situation, familiarize yourself with the materials required to bandage a horse properly.

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10/02/2023

Polo helps balance and coordination! 🏇

Your balance will be developed while riding a moving horse and hitting a ball with a mallet, which can also aid you with your hand-eye coordination. Additionally, it is fantastic for your core 🙌

09/02/2023

Did you know Polo is a record-breaking sport?! 🏇

Polo fields, which are required to be 300 yards long and 160 yards wide are the biggest playing fields of any sport. This is almost exactly the same space as would be covered by ten acres, or little over nine football fields!

08/02/2023

"Polo is like tennis – you literally have to live it.” ~ Sylvester Stallone" 🙌

07/02/2023

Your ponies in polo are just as important as your own individual skillset. So much in the same way that you would take care of yourself, and nurture your body to reach optimum performance, so too should you look after your ponies. We’ve compiled a list of 5 top tips, to make sure that your ponies are as looked after as they can be.

1 Feeding starchy feeds

Excessive starch not only contributes to ulcers but also upsets the delicate microbiome in the horse’s gut and this can lead to personality changes. More and more research is linking gut bacteria to personality and behaviour.

2 Not feeding enough fibre

Fibre is key to a horse’s diet. Why? Because the digestive system has evolved on the basis of the horse grazing almost 20 hours per day and fibre in the stomach acts as a shield for the acids.

3 Tight girths, tight breastplates

A study by John Bowers, BVSc, MACVSc, and Ron F. Slocombe, BVSc, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVP, Chair of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, found that most grooms in the Australian racing industry tighten the girths to a point that could have a detrimental effect on their charges’ performance. This study found that a tight girth (more than 10kg of pressure) cost nearly 20% of a horse’s performance on a long run.

4 Bandages overheat tendons

The science on this is unequivocal and the research has been around for a decade or more, yet the polo world has been slow to respond. Fleece bandages heat tendon fibres up to the point of cell death. This repeated damage (gradual degradation) can then cause a breakdown of the fibres to occur – and suddenly you have a pony that needs the season off at best.

5 Ditch the ‘one size fits all’ approach to fitness

Do you remember at school that there were some people who seemed to be naturally fit, and others who always struggled? Horses are the same, yet polo ponies in particular tend to be treated the same way regardless of how they may differ.

12/01/2023

Today we are very excited to present to you Part Two of our History of Polo Series! Today we follow on from the sport’s humble beginnings, and explain how it started to explode in popularity in the early 1900’s.

Polo was introduced into India by the Muslim conquerors in the 13th century; but, although the game had been described in Sir Anthony Sherley’s Travels to Persia (1613), the first Europeans to play the game were British tea planters in Assam, who formed the first European polo club in 1859 at Silchar. The Calcutta Polo Club was formed in the early 1860s. Before the year ended, informal matches were held between British cavalry units stationed in India. At this time there were eight men to a side and almost no rules. Polo grew rapidly in England, with matches at Richmond Park and Hurlingham attracting more than 10,000 spectators by 1875.

In 1876, the sportsman and newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett saw his first polo game and introduced it in the United States. Later that year informal games were being played in New York City and by 1877 at Jerome Park racetrack in Westchester County, N.Y., where the Westchester Polo Club was founded in this latter year. In 1881 the Meadow Brook Club was formed in Long Island, N.Y., by such early outstanding players as Thomas Hitchcock, Sr., August Belmont, and Benjamin Nicoll. The size of the team was reduced to five and then, in 1881 in the United States and in 1883 in England, to four, the present number.

The first international competition took place in 1886 when the United States unsuccessfully challenged the English, then the undisputed world leaders in polo, for the Westchester Cup. England defended the Cup successfully in 1902, but the United States won in 1909. After 1909 the style of the game changed from the relatively slow English form of play characterised by short, controlled hitting. American polo players used a long-hitting, fast-moving, wide-open style that revolutionised the sport.