The galloping game, explained

Polo is one of the world's oldest team sports — cavalry training turned into a game of speed, angles and nerve, played on the largest field in organised sport. Global Polo Hub explains it all in plain language: the rules, the ratings, the horses, the great tournaments, and how ordinary mortals actually get to play.

Understand the game

• What is polo?

  The game in one page: chukkas, goals and the line of the ball.

• The rules

  Right of way, fouls and penalties — why the whistle blew.

• Positions 1 to 4

  What each shirt number actually does.

• The handicap system

  From -2 to 10 goals: polo's universal rating.

• The field

  Nine football pitches of grass, and why size shapes tactics.

• Polo ponies

  The real athletes: breeding, training and the string.

Follow and play

• The great tournaments

  Palermo, Cowdray, Wellington and the calendar that matters.

• Polo around the world

  Argentina's dominance and everyone else's story.

• Arena, snow & beach

  Polo's smaller, faster siblings.

• Learning to play

  Lessons, fitness and your first chukka.

• Watching polo

  A first-timer's day at the polo, decoded.

• Glossary

  Chukka to zone — the vocabulary.

Heading to Southeast Asia? Our companion site covers Thailand's polo country at Khao Chee Chan.