mounts are usually five or six years old when they be¬ 
gin to play in important matches. There are many 
examples of ponies playing polo until they are fifteen 
and sixteen years of age. 
Besides being easy to handle, the polo mount is very 
fast. He must possess the racing speed of the Thor¬ 
oughbred. Of two teams with players of equal ability, 
the side with the faster horses has a great advantage. 
For this reason, most polo mounts are Thorough¬ 
bred in type, although not usually purebred Thorough¬ 
breds. After all, it is performance that counts most in 
a polo pony, not royal blood or high price. The Mal¬ 
tese Cat, a polo pony in the story by Rudyard Kipling, 
is an example of what a good polo mount should be. 
Endurance and ruggedness are also required of 
horses that play polo, because the wear and tear on 
the mounts is great. There are quick starts and stops, 
abrupt turns, collisions with other horses, and long 
runs the length of the field. 
Players change to fresh ponies at the end of each 
period in a game. With four players on a side, and a 
mounted umpire or two as well, quite a few mounts 
are used during the course of a match, because in a 
game there are six or more periods, called chukkers, 
lasting seven and one-half minutes each. A well 
mounted polo player needs at least five or six ponies; 
some players have a great many more. 
14 
