Guide to Polo Pony Welfare Issues

As the world changes and becomes more sensitive to everyone’s causes, it is clear that we all must tell our story to ensure that our message about our appreciation and respect for our horses gets through to everyone. This message includes the reason and purpose for our organization, the reason as to why we need to grow our organization and finally, and most important, our concern for our equine polo partners—our horses. As an organization, the United States Polo Association seeks to share its philosophy and positioning with regard to our horses to ensure adherence to our guidelines and to enforce our equine rules when a violation occurs.

Over the last several years the USPA and its members have been pro actively taking steps to insure the welfare of the ponies that make this sport possible both in terms of the care and treatment they receive while participating in competition as well as their post-polo retirement. These initiatives include: 

The organization of a permanent and continuous "process improvement" effort directed at equine welfare throughout the Association and the identification of initiatives needing Board level support and funding. These should be promoted and monitored by the USPA standing Committee on Equine Welfare.

Preparation and publication of a bilingual (English/Spanish) Polo Pony Care Guide distributed at no cost to every member of the association as well as several thousand distributed to grooms and trainers.

Tightening of the USPA regulations on and enforcement of proper equine treatment -- including actions by the Rules and Umpiring Committees.

Sanctioning of USPA members -- to include fines and suspension from play -- to insure proper treatment of horses in games and tournaments.

Publication of monthly articles on equine welfare in the Association magazine Polo Players Edition with a focus on raising both the awareness and knowledge level of our Members about animal health and treatment issues.

Individual USPA Members have founded Polo Pony Retirement facilities providing a comfortable and full life for our horses after they adjourn from active competition.

Member Clubs have been involved in fundraising and creating alliances with local equine facilities focused on providing senior and retired horses for therapeutic riding -- a situation that simultaneously provides a comfortable environment for the animal in its later years while making a valuable contribution to a worthwhile charity. The USPA Marketing committee has likewise opened discussions on the national level with the North American Handicapped Riding Association (NAHRA) and the new Horses for Heroes program for therapeutic riding for wounded servicemen and military veterans. Ron Spiers, the Chairman of NAHRA, has recognized the quality of the American polo pony in noting: "The retired polo pony has proven to be fantastic for Therapeutic Riding -- incredibly trained, bomb-proof, and well taken care of -- we can’t get enough of them."


The USPA is fully committed to the immediate care and long-term welfare of the equine athletes that make our sport possible and will not only continue to pursue these initiatives but undertake further actions as we identify them.

Recently the USPA, through a strategic review, realized that even though players and our rules addressed the safety of horses, and our Equine Welfare Committee was always looking at ways to ensure the safety and general protection of our horses, it was recognized that there was no specific document related to equine welfare that was 1) accepted and endorsed by the USPA, 2) used at the club level and 3) readily accepted and used by the individual players.

The need for such a document prompted the chairman of the USPA Marketing Committee and the USPA executive director to appoint a task-force chairman and create the Polo Pony Protection Plan Task Force (P4). The P4 Task Force consisted of a cross-section of USPA members and leaders, including members of the USPA Executive, Equine Welfare and the Marketing committees.

P4 Task Force members quickly moved to review USPA efforts and the rules and interpretations and other documents and articles concerning equine health guidelines in the polo community.

Additionally, the task force researched external equine resources to learn of other possible “best practices.” This amalgamation of information allowed the P4 Task Force to quickly and effectively determine what items needed to be covered in the guide.

All this research and discussion resulted in the Polo Pony Welfare Guide. This guide is intended to assist the USPA board of governors, committees, members and fans in addressing the care and treatment of horses used in USPA events. The USPA, through its Rules, Umpire, Safety, and Equine Welfare committees, creates and enforces standards designed to ensure proper treatment of polo horses. This guide, in addition to the work of these committees, is an effort to educate both the USPA members and the public regarding the steps the USPA takes to ensure the welfare of its animals.

This guide is also intended to address controversy fomented by animal rights organizations, which have been known to attack all equine sports by contending that the welfare of horses is at risk. It is, of course, the objective of the USPA that all equine athletes be treated in a manner that ensures their safety and welfare. At times people outside polo misperceive the treatment of polo horses. This misperception appears to result from a lack of education and understanding and from news media attention to incidents that are contrary to USPA policy and the values and beliefs of our members, almost all of whom strive to protect their horses from harm and injury.

This guide will assist USPA members in their efforts to educate the public as well as provide helpful guidelines in responding to the actions of animal rights organizations. It should also be noted that the sport of polo provides an alternative life for all breeds of horses, including thoroughbreds. After time spent in active competition, polo ponies have been retired to fulfill many other roles, including becoming police horses, trail-riding horses, pasture companions as well as use in therapeutic riding programs.  It is our goal to encourage that all horses are retired to pasture facilities and good homes.

Now that this guide is complete, the USPA, through its Polo Development Initiative, has provided the financial means to distribute the guide. The P4 Task Force will distribute it to all USPA member clubs, make it available on the USPA Web site and eventually distribute a guide to every USPA member. This guide will be a living document that will ensure that the USPA is well-positioned to enforce its rules and guidelines as we and our members continue to protect, respect and appreciate the most important aspect of the game of polo—our horses.

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