Blood ties

England is regarded as one of the top polo nations in the world and, since the 1800s, English polo pony owners, players and breeders have been refining the type of pony used. Back in the 1850s, polo breeders imported Arabians from the Middle East and India to breed with smaller thoroughbreds to create their ideal pony. By the 1850s, the first Polo Studbook was published with a foundation stock of 57 Arab and thoroughbred stallions including the famous Arabian Mootrub as well as the thoroughbred Rosewater (GB) 1885. With the advent of war in the early 20th century, the need for polo ponies diminished and the Polo Pony Society blended into the National Pony Society so this record has no bearing on today’s UK Polo Studbook (PSB).

With the modern era of computer data technology, it has been possible to create an online Polo Studbook, documenting details such as the breeders, countries of birth, stud fees and availability. PSB is capable of registering the breeds with their back family as well as showing off these bloodlines as tabulated pedigrees, which is unique. After the first year, there are more than 22 UK-based polo stallions, many archive stallions from all over the world and a total of more than 300 top-quality polo ponies already registered. Every breeder, player and owner is encouraged to become a member online at polostudbook.org and to add their pony to the directory, following the basic steps as required on the website. Owners can apply to enter all ponies to the PSB and may succeed after passing the required criteria as stipulated.

A select team that is truly passionate about establishing the polo-pony breed carefully administers PSB. It was the brainchild of Emma Tomlinson and Nick Wood, with founder members, Alan Kent, David Morley, Charlie Hanbury, Claire Tomlinson and Piers Plunket.

While some question the worthiness of a UK-based polo studbook, others who understand breeding are excited to see this development. Argentine polo-breeding wizard Gonzalo Pieres merely smiles and says: ‘Now the ponies are beginning to get their airtime!’ Claire Tomlinson is of the view that ‘It’s lovely to see our best breeding stock properly recorded in clear format for everyone to access and see at last.’

A few UK players will argue that it is not economical to specifically breed and break your own polo ponies, and that reaching for the thoroughbred throw-outs is the answer, especially as there has been a glut over the past 15 years… and they have managed this with a reasonable degree of success. However, the cream always rises to the top. Players and teams

Above The growth of the latest breeding technology has helped develop sought-after bloodlines and led to the creation of faster and sounder polo ponies

with the highest proportion of purpose-bred polo ponies are the most successful. Ellerston and Ellerstina have the most successful breeds in the world and, interestingly, while they began with thoroughbred stallions such as Rainbow Corner, (2nd in two Group 1 races) and Australian breeding legend, Jim Gilmore’s Norman Pentaquad (sire of Melbourne Cup winner Doriemus), they wisely mixed them with their polo-pony broodmares and, to a degree, vice versa.

In the UK, Alan Kent’s Madams Farm breeding operation in West Sussex has successful thoroughbred stallions such as Stuart (UK) 2004 (The Catisfield Kid x Mullins). Modern-day examples of the specifically bred polo stallions are the thoroughbred-influenced Ellerstina Picaro (ARG) 1995 (Pucara x Simpatica) based at Ellerstina in Argentina, as well as the likes of Javad (AUS) 2006 (Norman Pentaquad x Java) or Open Maestro (ARG) 2006 (Sportivo x Grappa Ilustrada) who are based at the Beaufort Embryo Transfer Centre in Gloucestershire. Top breeders will now always go with this selective breeding and it will include an infusion of thoroughbred as well as the purpose-bred polo pony. PSB will help with this selection process as well as evaluate what stock you might have in hand.

Breeders strive for a more refined finished article, because breeding ponies specifically for polo produces animals uniquely suited to the sport. The cost of breeding and keeping a homebred is higher, but this balances out overall with the success ratio and the knowledge of the dam’s and sire’s performance as well as basic soundness and handling techniques. With a homebred, many of the required attributes are already installed with thoughtful breeding. Even a pony that is superb at the lower levels of polo can come unravelled after making the move to high goal. With the expansion of the polo season, top players need more good horses than ever before and this has been made possible by the use of highly selective breeding techniques.

This growing movement to use the latest breeding technologies, such as equine embryo transfer, helps propagate desirable bloodlines and create swifter, handier, sounder and more trainable polo ponies. Selective breeding today includes an important infusion of thoroughbred as well as purpose-bred polo pony. PSB, as a reference point, helps with this selection process and the evaluation of what stock you might have in hand.

PSB expects to take five years to establish itself. As it grows organically, it can expect more PSB Best Playing Pony awards and Breeders Cup matches. The marketplace could become much bigger as the likes of Brazil, China, India and Russia throw their helmets into the ring. PSB will serve as a historical perspective of the polo-pony breed and a reference to evaluate those all-important pedigrees.

The future for UK polo pony breeding is encouraging, with many young passionate breeders such as Charlie Hanbury, Richard le Poer, Ollie Cudmore, Guy Schwarzenbach, Emma, Luke and Mark Tomlinson already deeply involved. PSB is proving invaluable to the breeder, owner, patron, player and sport as a whole.