Polo glossary

Pitch-side conversation at a polo match leans on a vocabulary that's specific enough to leave newcomers guessing. Here's the full set, cross-referenced to the pages on this site that explain each in more depth.

The basics

• Chukka (or chukker): a period of play, roughly seven minutes long; matches typically run four to six of them. See the rules page.
• Handicap: a player's rating, from -2 up to 10 “goals”, reflecting ability rather than a scoring count; team handicaps are the sum of all four players' ratings.
• Line of the ball: the ball's path of travel, extended in both directions — the governing principle behind most fouls.
• Throw-in: the umpire's method of restarting play, bowling the ball between two lines of opposing players.
• Chukka horn / bell: the signal marking the end of a chukka's playing time, after which play continues only until the ball goes out of play or a foul occurs.

Play and fouls

• Ride-off: using your pony's shoulder to push an opposing player (and their pony) off the line of the ball — legal, controlled contact.
• Hook: blocking an opponent's mallet with your own during their swing, provided it's done safely and at a legal angle.
• Bump: a more general term for pony-to-pony contact during a ride-off.
• Nearside / offside: the left and right sides of the pony relative to the rider; shots are described by which side of the pony they're played from.
• Penalty: a free shot at goal awarded for a foul, taken from varying distances depending on the foul's severity.
• Knock-in: the restart used when the defending team hits the ball out over their own backline.
• Safety: the shot awarded to the attacking team when the ball goes out over the backline off a defender (distinct from a knock-in).

People and roles

• Number 1, 2, 3, 4 (Back): the four playing positions, numbered by role rather than a fixed zone on the field — see the rules page for what each does.
• Umpire: one of two mounted officials who ride the game and call fouls.
• Third man (or referee): the senior sideline official who resolves disagreements between the two mounted umpires.
• Groom: the stable staff responsible for preparing, exercising and caring for a player's string of ponies.
• Patron: traditionally, the amateur player (often the team's funder) around whom a club or private team is organised — a role distinctive to polo's team structure.

Equipment and animals

• Mallet: the long-handled stick, with a cigar-shaped head, swung with a pendulum motion.
• String: a player's personal group of ponies, rotated through a match's chukkas. See the ponies page.
• Divot: a chunk of turf kicked up by galloping hooves — the reason for the half-time divot-treading ritual.
• Wraps / boots: protective leg coverings worn by ponies to guard against knocks from the ball, mallets or other ponies.
• Martingale: a piece of control tack limiting how high a pony can raise its head, common in polo for precise steering at speed.

Formats and levels

• Grass polo: the traditional outdoor format, four a side, on a full-size field.
• Arena polo: a smaller-format version played on an enclosed surface, typically three a side with a larger, softer ball — often where beginners start. See getting into polo.
• High goal / low goal: informal shorthand for the combined team handicap level of a tournament flight — high goal meaning the most elite, highest-rated competition.
• Stick-and-ball: informal, non-match practice hitting the ball around, usually the setting where beginners first build their swing.

For the terms in context rather than as a list, start with the two-minute primer or the fuller rules guide.