Arena, snow and beach polo.

The formats at a glance

Arena polo

The HPA describes outdoor polo as the summer game on grass and arena polo as the winter game. According to EBSCO's reference summary, arena polo was developed in the United States to create a winter season.

The arena and the teams

The HPA's Arena Polo Hub describes an all-weather arena of roughly 300 by 150 feet, with three players a side, usually four chukkas, and ends changed only after each chukka (the HPA says outdoor teams change after every goal). The Museum of Polo explains the smaller team simply: four a side would be crowded in an arena. EBSCO gives the arena as 100 by 50 yards, the same size in different units, and says wooden perimeter barriers keep the ball in play. Topend Sports describes walls at least 4 feet high, with play outdoors on dirt or indoors.

Scoring

The HPA says a goal scored in arena polo from behind the 25-yard line counts two. Not every competition uses that rule: the Student and Universities Polo Association (SUPA) says it does not award these "two-pointers" in any of its divisions except international matches.

Ball, spurs and goal

The HPA's Arena Polo Hub says the arena ball is larger than the outdoor ball, the goal area has a height limit and spurs are not allowed. The arena and snow gear page covers the ball in more detail.

Chukka length

The HPA hub gives no chukka length. Topend Sports describes four chukkas of 7.5 minutes. Other figures, including a six-minute chukka attributed to FIP's arena procedures, come only from secondary summaries that could not be checked against an official arena rulebook, so the length should be confirmed with the event's own conditions.

Arena handicaps and membership

The HPA's Arena Polo Hub says arena handicaps derive from the outdoor handicap, normally one goal higher to widen the spread, and that the Arena Handicap Committee can vary this. Players who have never held a handicap must pass the HPA Rules Test. The HPA's 2026 rulebook says the same membership joining process applies to arena polo with no additional charge from the HPA (Rule 2.2a), and that the annual subscription covers both the summer and the arena season (membership regulations, paragraph 4).

Where it is played

The HPA's Arena Polo Hub lists 33 HPA-registered arena clubs across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, and an international test match for the Bryan Morrison Trophy each January at the All England Polo Club, Hickstead. Internationally, FIP reports that the United States beat Argentina 16-14 in Virginia in 2025 to win the second FIP Arena World Polo Championship, its first title in that event.

Snow polo

Blue News reported in January 2025 that Reto Gaudenzi invented snow polo and staged the first tournament on the frozen lake at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1985, making 2025 the 40th edition. Wikipedia notes that snow polo is played on compacted snow, on flat ground or a frozen lake, and is not the same sport as the historical game of ice polo.

The St. Moritz rules (2024)

The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz rules leaflet for 2024 says professionals play under FIP and Swiss Polo Association rules. Its main points:

• Field: smaller than the official international field, which the leaflet gives as 182 by 274 m, because of the extra physical strain on snow and at altitude. The St. Moritz field usually measures about 90 by 220 m, depending on the snow.
• Teams: four players a side.
• Goals: 7.3 m wide, with no crossbar.
• Chukkas: high-goal snow polo normally has four chukkas of 7.5 minutes, the last being 7 minutes.
• Ponies: a pony may play at most two non-consecutive chukkas in a match.
• Handicaps: -2 to 10, with tournaments graded low, medium or high goal. The direction of play changes after every goal.

Blue News adds that the snow pitch is smaller because the ball bounces less on snow, which makes contact more intense.

Where sources disagree

• Team size: the St. Moritz rules say four a side; Wikipedia says snow polo usually has three.
• Field size: the St. Moritz 2024 rules give about 90 by 220 m; EBSCO gives 230 to 275 m by 150 to 180 m for snow fields in general.

Ball and shoes

The St. Moritz programme (2023) says snow polo balls are larger and orange for visibility, and rigid, smooth and air-filled. It also says ponies need special shoes that funnel snow out of the hoof, with studs commonly fitted on front and rear shoes rather than the single stud on the outside of the hind shoe used in traditional polo. Blue News credits St. Moritz's Peppino Cattaneo with a method of stopping snow packing under the hooves.

Beach polo

The sources for beach polo are thinner than for the other formats. According to Wikipedia, Reto Gaudenzi and Rashid Al Habtoor created beach polo in Dubai in 2004, followed by the Miami Beach Polo World Cup in 2005.

• Teams and arena (Wikipedia): three players a side in an enclosed sand arena with sideboards about 4 feet high. Some arenas have enclosed ends; others have 20 yards of run-out and standing goal posts.
• Ponies (Wikipedia): traditional polo ponies, changed each chukker, with otherwise the same equipment as field or arena polo.
• Field (EBSCO): a smaller field with boards, sized to the space available.
• Ball, a disagreement: Wikipedia describes an inflated leather or rubber ball of at least 12.5 inches in circumference; EBSCO says beach polo uses a plastic ball.

No beach polo rulebook was read for this site, so details vary by event and should be checked with the organiser.

Related sports that are not polo

Polocrosse is a different sport. The UK Polocrosse Association describes teams of six in two sections of three, a racquet with a loose net, and, unlike polo, only one horse per player in a normal tournament. The HPA's 2026 rules require polocrosse players taking up polo to pass the rules test and be seen in chukkas before a starting handicap is set.