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CHAPTER V 



GROUND, BALLS, STICKS, GOAL-POSTS, ETC. 



To be perfect, a polo ground should resemble as closely as pos- 

 sible that on which cricket is played. It should be as level as a 

 billiard table and as smooth as a lawn. No doubt many polo 

 grounds do not fulfil these requirements, and a fair game may 

 be played on these that do not quite come up to the standard. 

 Still, playing on an inferior ground is not the same thing as 

 playing on a good one. As types of what a good ground 

 should be, let me mention those belonging to the Hurlingham, 

 Barton-under-Needwood, Ranelagh, and Derbyshire Clubs 

 that of the latter at Elvaston Castle having been laid out by the 

 Earl of Harrington, whose name is as much associated with 

 polo as it is with hound and horse. A polo ground should be 

 rectangular in shape, 300 yards long, and 180 yards wide. That 

 at Hurlingham, it maybe mentioned, is almost 300 by 175, 

 though the ends are considerably narrower. 



Opinions vary as to how it should be marked out, whether 

 enclosed by boards one foot high, merely defined by a narrow 

 strip being cut out of the turf, or marked with whiting like a 

 lawn tennis court. No doubt the former method makes the 

 game faster, by keeping the ball within bounds, but it is open 

 to two or three objections. First, that it introduces a new 

 element into the game, by enabling a man to hit far the boards 

 at an angle and get the ball on the rebound ; secondly, that 

 the keeping the ball within bounds affords no breathing time 

 to the ponies ; and thirdly, that ponies unaccustomed to boards 



