Polo at Great Meadow

“Give it a whack” is the motto at Great Meadow, home of Friday Night Twilight Polo and a polo school for adventure-seekers. Just moments by car from The Grey Horse Inn, Great Meadow offers the exciting sport of polo every Friday. For those unfamiliar with the sport, polo is a form of hockey on horseback – a great spectator sport. General Admission admits a car with up to 6 people, and tickets are available at the gate. Tailgating picnics abound, so think about packing along refreshments and food – conveniently available at The Farm Store in The Plains, the country store at Old Tavern across the road from Great Meadow, the Marshall IGA and the BP Deli.

The Action is in the Arena

by Julie Reardon

Arena polo is fast-paced action that’s easy for spectators to follow – if a player hits a ball in the goal area, marked at Great Meadow by the blue and gold areas at each end of the arena – his team scores a point. It’s a sport of teamwork, and as in other team sports, frequently you’ll see players “set up” a shot for team members to score. Occasionally, a player hits a ball in the goal from beyond the centerline, and these goals are worth two points.

            In arena polo, there are three players on a team, and games consist of four chukkers, each lasting 71/2 minutes. At the start of each chukker, the goal changes sides for each team. Players have four minutes to change to fresh horses for the next chukker, except at half-time when they are allowed 10 minutes.

            The rules in arena polo are designed for the safety of the players and the ponies, and trained umpires watch the games for infractions. These range from the minor – such as interfering with a player’s right-of-way to the ball – to major, such as rough or dangerous play, or unsportsmanlike conduct.

            Many arena games are won or lost on the strength of a team’s penalty hitting. Even if spectators don’t hear the penalty call, it’s easy to tell by the way the teams line up which team make the foul and how severe it was. If the umpire stops play, and it’s determined that no foul was committed, he’ll bowl the ball back in where play was stopped. If a player hits the ball outside the arena, it’s also bowled in at the spot where it left play. Umpires carry extra balls for this purpose – fans are welcome to pick up stray balls, but they should never be thrown back in the arena; they should be taken to the announcer’s stand.

            For minor infractions, such as interfering with right-of-way, the umpire will call a “penalty 4.” The team that was fouled gets a free hit at the goal from the 25-yard line; but the fouling team gets to defend the goal. A penalty 3 is the same, except that all the players form the fouling team must be behind the 25-yard line, so the team that was fouled gets to hit an undefended goal.

            A free shot taken at an undefended goal from the 15-yard line is a penalty 2; and for the worst offenses – such a dangerous play – the umpire can award and automatic goal to the fouled team, which is a penalty 1. Umpires can also remove a player from the game, or cause a team to forfeit a match, but these actions are rarely needed.

            “Riding off” or bumping another player is allowed as long as the angle – and therefore the impact of the collision – is not so great as to endanger the pony or rider. It’s also allowed for a player to “hook” another player’s mallet when he’s taking a swing at the ball, as long as the hook is not above  the level of the pony’s back and the player is behind of on the same side of the opponent as the ball.