The History Behind International Polo Hospitality

Polo is a game associated with high society where royals, celebrities and English gentry gather at prestigious locations such as Guards Polo Club. Guards is the best of the best, and membership is reserved for only the elite. Its reputation comes from associations with the British Royal family and it is the host ground to the Polo Associations International Day, sponsored by the world's finest jewellers, Cartier.

All this glitz and glamour seems fitting for what appears to be the world's most exclusive sport, but with all things quintessentially English, surely the roots of the game lie in some far flung land, and with a little less glamour? After bit of digging around in the divots of Polo history, it transpires that the sport goes back as far as the 6th Century BC, originating in Persia. The game back then was a fair bit different to what the Polo players of today play.

On the Polo pitches at Windsor, 8 players hammer out a game that lasts as little as 45 minutes on pitches around 300 yards long. The play is divided into chukkas, which are bouts of play that last 7 minutes, although depending on the level of play, both the amount and duration of the chukkas can vary. The Persian version that was being played over two thousand years ago had up to 200 players at a time on a pitch and was used as a way to train for battle.

It became known as the Game of Kings as the players were all from noble backgrounds, and was glamorised in literature and the arts from the beginning. So, although not of British origin, the game has most definitely come from a noble background and has enjoyed an opulent reputation around the world. There are other variations of the game that although closely linked to the Polo we know, have a lot to be desired when it comes to glamour.

Buzkashi is a sport played on the steppes of central Asia. The game is played on horseback, and in accordance with the origins of Polo, serves the purpose of practicing for battle. However, the major differences lie in the fact that a game of Buzkashi can last several days, and the carcass of a goat or calf is used instead of a ball. The battle to win is just as fierce in both games.

Other variants of Polo include Elephant Polo, Snow Polo, Canoe Polo, Yak Polo and even BMX polo. The way in which these versions vary from Polo proper is in the name, but the game of play is more or less the same. The only real changes are for practical reasons, such as shortening the pitch for play involving elephants due to the slower pace of movement, and the use of a river rather than a field for water based variants!

It is hard to imagine some of the derivatives of the game gaining as much classy kudos as the International Polo we are accustomed to in Britain. Somehow, divot stamping in the wake of charging elephants doesn't strike me as something the Royals would take part in. As for quaffing champagne in a hospitality suite at the highly regarded Guards Polo club watching a beheaded goat carcass flying about? I was going to conclude that maybe the gentry would decline that kind of activity too; but to be fair, the British have a national game that comes from kicking a pig's bladder around a pitch. As long as there is a glass of champagne and a hospitality suite, I vouch that Polo is Polo and any steed will do.

Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the hospitality industry. Find out more about cartier international polo hospitality and the packages on offer with Keith Prowse.

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