About Polo

The aim of Pony Club Polo is to provide members with an introduction to Polo and to train children to understand the basic principles, rules, riding, tactics and striking the ball for polo. As well as how to care for and look after the welfare of their ponies. Polo provides high standards of conduct with a competitive spirit in a team sport and provides a bridge to the adult game.

Pony Club Polo started in 1933 but it was not until 1959 that it emerged in its modern format. Brigadier Jack Gannon and Major Claude Davenport organized five Branch teams to play at the Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot on 8th September 1959 (New Forest, Hampshire Hunt, Old Berks, Staff College and Bisley participated). Today PCP is run by a voluntary committee and is an independent discipline under the auspices of The Pony Club. There have been seven Chairmen: Col Jacobs 1959-60; Col Cubitt 1961-66, Col Pat Langford 1967-76; Buff Crisp, 1977-89; Brigadier John Wright, 1990-97; Luke Borwick 1998 and David Cowley (1999 - 2007) and Theresa Hodges is the current Chairman. The Championships have been played at six different locations: Aldershot 1959, Cirencester 1964, Kirtlington 1968, Windsor 1971 and Cirencester 1974. Since 1977 the Championship finals have been held at Cowdray Park. PCP polo saw an explosion in interest in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1985 23 teams competed, by 1991 the number of teams had grown to 84 with over 100 teams competing in 2003. In 1988 four-chukka polo was introduced for the Gannon competition and has been a great success. In 1997 the Jorrocks Section was introduced. In 1998 the Langford Section, playing three chukka polo, and in 2003 the Surtees Section for U14’s on polo ponies were introduced. In 2008, Rendell will become two chukkas and a new section called Ledner will provide 1 chukka polo for under 21’s. Also, this year along with the HPA a new section, Hipwood, is to be introduced for players under 15 playing three chukka matches. Many Pony Club players are registered as junior members of the HPA. Today a large majority of the 50 best players in the United Kingdom played Pony Club Polo. In 2007 all the players in the Golden Jubilee Cup played Pony Club Polo, as did all the England team in the 2007 Coronation Cup.

There are six Sections based on age groups: Jorrocks (JOR), Handley Cross (HX), Surtees (SUR), Loriner (LOR), Ledner (LED) and Rendell (REN); and three sections of Junior HPA polo based on age groups: Hipwood (HIP), Langford (LAN) and Gannon (GAN). The best teams in each Section, other than Jorrocks, play the finals at the Pony Club Polo Championships at Cowdray Park over the second weekend of August. The Jorrocks Championships are held at Hurtwood Park in the second week in August. In addition to a full programme of tournaments and training in the summer holidays, there are arena tournaments and training courses in the Easter holidays.

As of 2008, Junior HPA polo is being incorporated with Pony Club polo. The HPA will be running the Hipwood, Langford and Gannon sections in conjunction with the Pony Club

Pony Club Polo is based on the principle of "one player, one pony". It acts within the rules of the governing body of the sport, the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), except where specifically shown in the rules of the Pony Club Polo.

For some years Polo has been one of the fastest growing activities in the Pony Club. Pony Club Polo is played by over 500 Members, from 6 to 21 years of age in a season of competitions played over the Summer.

For details of the Pony Club and Junior HPA polo structure please click the link below.

Pony Club / Junior HPA Structure