306 POLO ABROAD. [Chap. XIII. 



take him in order to get the ball away from him, and 

 is not allowed to put on a short spurt and hook his 

 stick. No. I is of course much better off in the 

 American game, and competes on even terms with the 

 Back, instead of being at a great disadvantage, as in 

 the English game. 



Several American players are well known in this 

 country as first-class performers, and it is greatly to be 

 hoped that a representative international match will be 

 played before long. We shall find the Lakewood team 

 to be far superior to the one which Hurlingham easily 

 defeated in 1886. We should remember that Ameri- 

 cans, when trying to take the cup back to their own 

 country, labour under the great disadvantage of having 

 to play under Hurlingham rules, and they will have 

 all the more credit, if they win. 



The best known American players in England 

 are Messrs. Foxhall Keene, Lawrence and Walter 

 McCreery, F. J. Mackey, and the brothers Eustis, all 

 of whom are fine players and good horsemen. The 

 more that come, the better pleased will be their brother 

 polo players on this side of the Atlantic. 



In a letter which I recently had the pleasure of re- 

 ceiving from Mr. Foxhall Keene, he tells me that we 

 English polo players are inclined to underrate American 

 ponies, which he thinks are as fast as our animals, a 

 trifle more handy, and more consistent in their form. 

 He considers that superiority in weight is a decided 

 advantage in favour of English ponies. To my ques- 

 tion, " Can America produce as good ponies as the 

 best in England ? " he replies as follows : "I do not 

 think, even with the hundreds of ponies that are sent 

 to us every year from Texas, Colorado, California and 



