Polo - Variants

Variants

A modern variant is called arena polo which is played indoors or more commonly outdoors on an enclosed all-weather surface (the field of play is much smaller, rarely exceeding 100 yards in length). In arena polo there are only three players on each team and a small inflatable leather ball is used instead. Arena polo matches usually consist of four 6 minute chukkers, as opposed to outdoor, where there are 7 minutes chukkers. In arena polo, there can be between four and eight 7 minute chukkers (depending on the level being played). A form of arena polo seen almost exclusively in the western United States is cowboy polo.

Sagol Kangjei is a version of polo popular in the north eastern Indian state of Manipur.

Another modern variant is snow polo, which is played on compacted snow on flat ground or a frozen lake. The format of snow polo varies depending on the space available. Each team generally consists of three players and a bright coloured light plastic ball is preferred.

A popular combination of the sports of polo and lacrosse is the game of polocrosse, which was developed in Australia in the late 1930s.

These sports are considered as separate sports because of the differences in the composition of teams, equipment, rules, game facilities etc.

Polo is not played exclusively on horseback. Such polo variants are mostly played for recreational or touristic purposes; they include canoe polo, cycle polo, camel polo, elephant polo, golfcart polo, Segway polo and yak polo. In the early 1900s in the United States, automobiles were used instead of horses in the sport of Auto polo.