Do polo ponies understand the game?

Meanwhile, the polo ponies know what they're doing. I cannot count the number of times the horses would spin out from underneath inexperienced players because they saw the ball changing direction before the rider did. read more

Actually, yes, a well trained polo pony with experience can start to, if not understand, at least follow and anticipate common plays in the game. Some of my ponies would start to “balance back” (set themselves on their haunches) in anticipation of a player in front hitting a back shot, for example, because they knew they would soon be asked to turn. read more

Meanwhile, the polo ponies know what they're doing. I cannot count the number of times the horses would spin out from underneath inexperienced players because they saw the ball changing direction before the rider did. read more

Either that, or players take turns donating a pony from their collection (called a “string”) to mount the Umpire. Breeds. In the UK and the USA, most of the time ponies enter polo from the racing industry or Argentina. read more