Chukkas, bells and golden goals.

How many chukkas?

The number depends on the level of the tournament and on whose rules apply.

• HPA 2026 (Rule 8a): a standard game is 4 to 6 chukkas, not counting extra time, though the Tournament Committee may vary this according to the level of the polo.
• USPA 2024 Outdoor (Rule 16): at most 6 regular periods, plus as many overtime periods as it takes.
• Argentina: the top Argentine Open is longer. El Ancasti's report on the 2025 final at Palermo says it was played over eight chukkers, about two hours, and La Nacion's guide to the Campo Argentino de Polo (2001, updated 2020) also describes matches there of 8 chukkers of 7 minutes.

The HPA's own introduction to polo describes four to six chukkas per match.

How long is a chukka?

The bodies read here agree on the basic shape: seven minutes, then up to 30 seconds more.

• HPA 2026 (Rule 10a): a normal chukka lasts at most 7.5 minutes. A first bell at 7 minutes signals that up to 30 seconds remain. The chukka then ends at the next break in play or on the second bell. If the ball is already out of play when the first bell rings, the umpire ends the chukka there.
• USPA 2024 (Rule 14b): after 7 minutes a single horn or bell signals up to 30 seconds of overtime. A double horn ends the period, and if the second horn fails the period ends at 7:30 on the official clock. A goal scored after time has expired does not count. Except in the final period, the period ends after the 7-minute horn when the ball goes out, a goal is scored or the whistle blows; the ball hitting the boards does not stop play.
• AAP 2026 women's regulations: 7 minutes plus 30 seconds, with a bell at 7 minutes, up to 30 more seconds if the ball is in play and a second bell at 7:30. Low-handicap events may instead use 4 chukkers of 5 minutes so that two games can be played in a day.

The HPA's introductory page describes chukkas as seven minutes long. Its 2026 rulebook gives the maximum as 7.5 minutes, that is, 7 minutes plus up to 30 seconds after the first bell.

The clock stops only for the whistle

Polo time runs while the ball is out and after goals. Under both the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 10d) and the USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 15), the clock stops only when the umpire blows the whistle. Meadow Brook Polo Club notes that a player may ask for time out for broken tack or an injury, but not to change horses in the middle of a chukka or to replace a broken mallet; a mallet may be replaced at any time.

A foul awarded at the end of a chukka is taken at the start of the next one, under both the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 10a) and the USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 14b(1)).

The last chukka: the main disagreement

This is where the two rulebooks part company.

Intervals and half time

Both main rulebooks use 3-minute breaks between chukkas and 5 minutes at half time, with small differences in detail.

• HPA 2026 (Rule 8b): 3 minutes between chukkas, 5 minutes at half time and before extra time. In a 5-chukka game half time comes after the third chukka. A bell signals the end of each interval.
• USPA 2024 (Rule 16): 3 minutes, but 5 minutes at half time in games of four or more periods and before the first overtime. With an odd number of periods, half time follows the middle one.
• AAP 2026 women's regulations: 3-minute intervals and a half-time interval of at most 5 minutes. The AAP also schedules a general change of horses about halfway through each chukker, during neutral play, limited to 1 minute.

Before the game, the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 11) have the timekeeper ring a bell five minutes before the advertised start. Under the USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 14a) a horn sounds two minutes before each period as a warning, and two horns sound when it is to start.

Ties: extra chukkas and golden goals

When a result is needed and the score is level, both bodies go to sudden death.

• HPA 2026 (Rule 10c): an extra chukka is played as sudden death (golden goal), until a goal or the second bell. Goals are normally widened for the second chukka of extra time, or from the first extra chukka if the tournament conditions say so or the captains agree, to save ponies and time. When goals are widened, a coin toss decides direction and the ball is thrown in from the starting tee.
• USPA 2024 (Rule 14c): a tie at the end of regulation goes to overtime periods until one side scores.

The Museum of Polo describes a tie as leading to a 5-minute break and then a sudden-death chukker.

Shootouts

Some events settle a tie with penalty shots at an open goal instead. The two rulebooks set them up differently.

Unfinished games

Under the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 9), a game that cannot be finished is resumed later from the same score, chukka and ball position.

Why ponies change every chukka

Chukka length is tied to pony welfare. The HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 2.4e) say that in normal match time a pony may not play more than 7.5 minutes without a 10-minute break, nor more than 15 minutes in total, and not more than three full chukkas (or the equivalent time) in a day. Meadow Brook Polo Club notes that players switch ponies after each chukker and may reuse a pony after at least one chukker's rest. The welfare rules page sets out these limits in full.

The USPA rulebook calls each period a chukker; the HPA uses chukka. They mean the same thing.