How polo works.

The teams

Outdoor polo is played by teams of four. The HPA's 2026 rules cap a team at four players on the field in every game, and the USPA's 2024 Outdoor Rules (Rule 1a) say each team starts every game with four. Arena polo, covered on its own page, is played three a side.

Each team has a captain. Under the HPA's 2026 rules the captain is named to the umpires before the game, wears an armband and is the only player allowed to speak with the umpires. Under the USPA's 2024 Outdoor Rules the captain alone represents the team on procedural matters with the umpires.

Players wear numbered shirts that match their positions, 1 to 4 (the positions page explains what each number does). The HPA's 2026 rules require the numbers on the back in a contrasting colour, with no duplicates, and ban black-and-white vertical stripes. Meadow Brook Polo Club notes that the umpires wear black-and-white shirts. The USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 4b) require jerseys that are at least 75 percent one dark or one light colour, and teams must be ready to play in either.

A short-handed team is handled differently by each body. The USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 1d) let a team with no substitute play up to half the game short-handed, as long as the handicap on the field stays within the event limits, and a team not mounted and ready within 15 minutes of the scheduled start forfeits (Rule 1e). The HPA's 2026 tournament conditions (Annex C) let a team start with three players if its total handicap stays within the tournament limits, with the late player joining only at the start of a chukka.

The mallet hand

Under the HPA's 2026 rules only the right hand may be used to hold the stick, whether hitting the ball or hooking an opponent's stick. The USPA's 2024 Outdoor Rules (Rule 28e) also require the right hand, with an exception for left-handers registered with the USPA before 1 January 1974. The St. Moritz snow polo rules leaflet (2024) states the same for snow polo: the mallet is always in the right hand.

How a goal is scored

Under the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 7c), a goal from play is scored when the ball passes between the posts, or between imaginary vertical lines rising from their inner faces, and goes across and clear of the goal line. A ball hit directly over the top of a post does not count.

The USPA's 2024 Outdoor Rules (Rule 18) agree that a ball through, lodged in or directly over a post does not score, and add that a ball sitting on the line is still in play.

When the officials cannot tell, both bodies lean toward the defenders, in slightly different ways:

• HPA 2026: if the umpires still cannot decide after consulting the goal judges and the referee, the defending team gets the benefit of the doubt.
• USPA 2024: if officials remain unsure whether the ball passed between the posts, play resumes with a knock-in or a safety, as the umpires decide, with the benefit to the defence in the rulebook's worked example.

Under both rulebooks the team with the most goals wins. That total counts more than goals from play. HPA 2026 Rule 7 includes goals awarded on handicap and goals awarded from a Penalty 1, and USPA 2024 Rule 18 says goals may come from play, handicap or penalty. The handicaps page explains goals on handicap.

The HPA notes that an outdoor goal always counts one, and that in arena polo a goal scored from behind the 25-yard line counts two.

Starting play: the throw-in

A game opens with a throw-in at the centre of the field. Under the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 11) the two teams line up along the centre line, at least 20 yards from the boards or sideline. They stand on their own sides of an imaginary line, at least 2 feet (60 cm) apart, with nobody within 5 yards of the umpire, who bowls the ball underarm, low and hard between the two ranks.

The USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 20) describe the same start: players at least 5 yards from the umpire, an underhand throw that is hard and in front of the players, always more than 20 yards from the boards or sideline. The teams decide by lot which goal to defend first.

Meadow Brook Polo Club in the United States describes players lining up front to back rather than side by side, so that a teammate can follow up if the ball is overrun.

Changing ends after a goal

In outdoor polo the teams swap ends after a goal. Under the HPA's 2026 rules (Rule 13), play restarts with a throw-in on the centre line, and players get 25 seconds before the restart. If a Penalty 1 goal was awarded, play restarts with a Penalty 5b instead. If no goal has been scored by half time, ends are changed then.

The USPA's 2024 rules (Rule 22e(1)) also change ends after each goal, except goals awarded on handicap or from a Penalty 1, with 25 seconds for the teams to return to the centre line. The Rule 20 examples add two edge cases: a goal hit into the wrong goal counts for the opponent, and if the umpires accept a line-up facing the wrong way, goals count for the team that scored them.

When the ball goes out

The clock and the ponies

Play is continuous. 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, not when a goal is scored or the ball goes out. The chukkas and timing page covers how each period ends.

Meadow Brook Polo Club says players change ponies after each chukka and that a pony can be reused after at least one chukka's rest, and the HPA's 2026 rules cap how long any pony may play in a day. The pony welfare rules page sets those limits out.

The HPA describes polo as more than 2,000 years old, played in over 70 countries, with men and women competing on equal terms.