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CHAPTER XX. 



POLO AND POLO PONIES. 



Polo is a game which is gradually gaining ground 

 in this country. There are many classes of Polo, 

 but so long as ihe players are equally matched the 

 sport may be as interesting amongst second and 

 third-class as it is amongst first-class players. 



ORIGIN OF THE GAME. 



Polo, like Tent -pegging, is an Indian importa- 

 tion, and was introduced to this country by the 

 officers of cavalry regiments who had previously 

 been stationed in India. In fact, it was first played 

 in this country by the officers of the loth Hussars 

 on their return from service in India in 1872. The 

 game seems to have originated in certain parts of 

 India somewhere between 1850 and i860, though 

 no very definite or reliable record of the place and 

 date can be found. The game, in its general aspect, 

 appears very much like ''Shinty" — a rough-and-ready 

 game with which every schoolboy is familiar — with 

 the primary difference, however, that while " Shinty " 

 is played on foot, Polo is played on horseback. 



