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This page explains the principles. It is not a substitute for lessons from a qualified polo instructor or club, and it does not replace the rules of your governing body, club or tournament.
A ride-off is one player using his pony to push an opponent's pony off the line of the ball. A hook is one player using his own mallet to block an opponent's mallet as he swings. Both are legal, both are limited, and both can be dangerous when done wrong. What is legal comes from the rulebooks, so this page starts there. The technique sections that follow are principles as schools describe them. Contact skills should only be learned with an instructor, usually well after the basics of riding and hitting; Singapore Polo Club's 2019 lesson rules, for example, teach riding off and hooking in semi-private lessons that come after riding and swing lessons.
What the rules allow: riding off
| Rulebook | What it says |
|---|---|
| HPA 2026 rules, Rule 31 | A ride-off is allowed when the ponies are travelling at the same speed, shoulder to shoulder, and meet at a safe angle. Elbows stay close to the side; pushing with the head, hand, arm or elbow is not allowed. |
| HPA 2026 rules, Rule 33 (rough play) | Examples include riding off at a dangerous angle, or in front of or behind the saddle; riding off over the back line toward a goal judge; and "sandwiching", two teammates riding off one opponent. |
| HPA 2026 rules, Rule 34 (dangerous play) | Examples include riding into an opponent's stroke from behind, zigzagging, pulling across another player and intimidating riding. |
| USPA 2024 Outdoor Rules, Rule 26 | On even terms a player may ride off an opponent or put his mount between the opponent and the ball, but not dangerously. Factors include relative speed, the size of the mounts, position (dangerous if one mount is more than a foot or two ahead or behind), the angle of convergence (an angle safe at low speed can be dangerous at high speed), fatigue and blind-siding. Knocking a mount off balance is by definition a dangerous ride-off. Zigzagging in front of a galloping player and pulling across a mount's legs are also dangerous riding. |
| USPA 2024 Outdoor Rules, Rule 27 | No seizing, striking or pushing with the head, hand, arm or elbow, but a player may push with the arm above the elbow if the elbow stays close to the side. |
What the rules allow: hooking
| Rulebook | What it says |
|---|---|
| HPA 2026 rules, Rule 30 | A hook is allowed only from the same side of the opponent's pony as the ball, or in a direct line behind. The stick may not be over, under or across any part of the opponent's pony, nor between a pony's legs. All of the hooked stick must be below the opponent's shoulder, the opponent must be in the act of hitting, and no excessive force may be used. An offside backhand can be hooked during the wind-up, but only on the part of the stick below the shoulder. A nearside backhand may not be hooked behind the player. |
| HPA 2026 rules, Rule 2c | Only the right hand may be used to hold the stick to hit the ball or hook another player's stick. |
| USPA 2024 Outdoor Rules, Rule 28 | A mallet may be hooked or struck only from the same side as the ball or directly behind, never over, under or across the opponent's mount, only while the opponent is hitting (the upswing and downswing both count) or is hooking or striking the player's own mallet, with the mallet head below his shoulder, and never with excessive force. |
The USPA revises its rules each year and its 2026 book was not reviewed for this site, so check the current edition. Clubs and tournaments can add conditions of their own. For the penalties these fouls bring, see fouls and penalties.
Which side a hook may come from: sources differ
Secondary sources do not describe the hook the same way:
- Argentina Polo School (May 2025): same side only, for example right against right, below shoulder height, without reaching across a pony or rider and without touching the opponent or his pony.
- Dallas Burston Polo Club: from the same side as the ball, or from directly in front of or behind the opponent.
- POLO+10's Polo 101: from the side the swing is coming from, or directly behind.
The rulebooks are the authority. Both the HPA's 2026 rules and the USPA's 2024 Outdoor Rules name the same side as the ball or directly behind. Neither rule text, as we read it, mentions hooking from in front.
How schools teach the ride-off
- Houston Polo Club (instructors Barlee Flanders and Mark Prinsloo; Horse Nation, June 2015): the school teaches coming in parallel to the opponent and pushing him off the line of the ball, with both ponies' shoulders level and both riders at the same speed.
- Argentina Polo School (2025): a ride-off must be square, shoulder to shoulder rather than at an angle, with both ponies at similar speed and balanced. It lists high-speed or overly aggressive ride-offs, striking with the mallet, and sandwiching a player as fouls.
- Dallas Burston Polo Club: the ponies must be shoulder to shoulder at the same speed. Its common errors are using the elbows and charging in at a dangerous angle. Its glossary uses "bump" for riding off a player to spoil a shot or take him out of the play.
- POLO+10 "Playing Field" (2004): names riding into an opponent's pony from behind the saddle, and sandwiching, as fouls.
The common thread matches the rulebooks: same speed, shoulders level, a safe angle, elbows in.
How schools teach the hook
The Houston school teaches the hook as riding up to an opponent and stopping his mallet with one's own, which leaves the ball loose for a teammate. Dallas Burston Polo Club lists hooking above shoulder height and hooking in front of the ponies' legs as errors. The umpiring guidance in the HPA's 2026 rulebook (Part 2, Annex G) adds one point that links the two skills: a player may legitimately hook an opponent's stick at the same time as that opponent is being ridden off. The same guidance says a ride-off must be shoulder to shoulder, at the same speed, and at an angle that should get smaller as the speed rises.
Blocking and staying legal
Argentina Polo School (2025) advises never blocking a player who has the right of way, not crossing the line at the last moment, establishing one's own right of way legally by getting onto the line before opponents arrive, and not using the body or pony to block a swing. POLO+10 says a defender covering an opponent should wait until he can overtake and hit the ball the other way, because crossing an opponent's line with too little room is dangerous and unsportsmanlike. The rules on crossing are on the line of the ball.
On snow
The St. Moritz snow polo rules guide (2024) says riding off must be done parallel to the player with the right of way, not at an angle, and that hooking above the body of the opponent's pony is not allowed. See arena and snow technique.
Sources
- Hurlingham Polo Association, Rules and Regulations for Polo 2026 (Polo South Africa copy, PDF)
- United States Polo Association, 2024 Outdoor Rules (PDF)
- Horse Nation, Houston Polo Club riding off and hooking lesson (June 2015)
- Argentina Polo School, blockage explained (May 2025)
- Dallas Burston Polo Club, guide to polo
- Dallas Burston Polo Club, polo terms
- POLO+10, Playing Field (2004)
- POLO+10, Polo 101
- Singapore Polo Club, lesson rates and rules (November 2019, PDF)
- Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz, the rules of snow polo (2024, PDF)