Polo Equipment
Polo is a sport played either
inside or outdoors which requires specific polo
equipment. When playing outdoors, the field size
must be as follows: 274.3 meters in length by 146.3
to 182.9 meters in width. The goals consist of two
posts at a distance of 7.3 meters from each other;
they are placed at the end line of the field. When
polo is played indoors it is usually played in a
large arena or horse stable. The size of this field
varies, depending on the space available, although
91.5 in length by 45.1 meters are considered to be
the ideal measures.
The ball that is used when playing outdoors, which
originally was made out of wood, is now made out of
plastic, and its size is about 7.6 and 8.9
centimeters in diameter and it weighs between 99 and
127.5 grams. The ball used to play indoors, is well
inflated and covered with leather, and it has a
diameter of 4.5 centimeters.
The maze is the term used for the polo equipment to
hit the ball, it has its head made out of wood and a
very fine and flexible shaft made out of bamboo or
graffiti, it has a length of 199 to 137 centimeters.
The protecting polo equipment gear is formed
by a helmet, knee pads and some bands for the
horse’s legs. Falls from a horse can be very
dangerous and it is always pure logic to protect
your head and at least a few others of your body
parts. The horses use bands on their legs, first of
all to protect them a little more from any injury
that could happen to them and this way the teams can
identify other teammates if the team is playing with
all the same colored bands.
The final essential item of polo equipment is
of course the horse. To have a well trained polo
horse, it takes many years and the horse and the
rider must be in constant training so that they can
reach a state of total control and become one. Most
of the time these horses are purebred and are
trained by professionals who make this job a little
easier for the rider and player later on. The horse
is probably the most influential part of a polo
team; in other words you could say that, whichever
team has the better horses is more likely to beat
the other team.
