The New York herald., 1922-04-16
RICH MANS GAME
Is POLO BREEDING
Long Time Required to Pro.
duce Finished Player Makes
1t Unprofitable Pursuit.

Il. Q. Mcvitty's announcement in last
Sundays HERALD that the polo ponies
he is going to sell on May 20 have been
schooled two and half years since
they were taken up and broken at his
Bear Valley ranch. in California, throws
interesting light on the financial aspect
Of breeding and developing horses for
this purpose. When polo stock is not
marketed until past five years old. and
two years or more are spent in breaking
and training, the finished product is
necessarily about the most expensive to
the breeder that ever leaves his farm.
Unfortunately. few polo mounts sell for
enough to reimburse him for the cost
OF rearing and schooling, let alone yield
Ing any return on the money invested,
hence 1t is "a rich mans game" Few
save enthusiasts embark in the costly
enterprise, and those who stick to It
more than a short while can almost be
counted on the fingers Of ones hands.
Despite its discouraging financial as
poets. however there is perhaps no other
branch Of horse breeding which affords
greater opportunities for important and
interesting constructive work at the
present time. The breeds Of running
horses, trotting horses. saddle horses
and carriage horses have all been per-
fected to the point where a breeder may
start at the top IL his purse permits,
but when 1t comes to producing polo
horses it might be said. to paraphrase
Frank Forester's saying OF sixty years
ago concerning the trotting horse, "the
polo horse is. in no possible sense, a dis
tinct race. breed, or family of the horse.
1v,I III - ~ >1x.xta
not be ascribed or traced to his origin
from or connection with any one blood
more than another"
The man who undertakes to produce
polo horses faces pioneer work, with all
the difficulties as well as all the
pleasures which accompany the task of
the explorer. Those gone before have
scarcely blazed a trail. and in nine
cases out of ten the trails end has been
failure. The usual practice among the
more advanced breeders Is to select
mares that have played the game. But
as stations are seldom seen on the
polo field, there Is little or no chance TO
obtain a performing sire. A race horse
with plenty OF substance and not too
tall Is the customary selection. 1t Is
always pretty safe guess that he will
have the speed and the agility which are
cardinal requisites of the modern polo
mount, and that he will transmit these
qualities. There is another character
istic. however, without which speed and
hardness are worthless. and which Is
coming to be as uncommon as short legs
In the modern sprinter, and that is a
level head.
It Is only within comparatively few
years that breeders have made study
OF polo temperament In their stations
and tried to segregate individuals and
families possessing 1t. In England Sir
John Barker struck lead in the thor
oughbred stallion Mark For'ard, and his
descendants through Right For'ard are
now called the most successful polo
stock in Britain. Among American
breeders Mr.. McVitty is a pioneer In
this field. He has gone to great lengths
in endeavoring to ascertain which fami.
lies and individual sires among native
and imported racehorses are sufficiently
level headed for polo, and. having salts
field himself in the matter. he has been
hurting out the best individuals for his
stud in California and doubling up their
blood with a. view to fixing a polo type
which in the future will supply not only
playing ponies but sires and dams that
will transmit with uniformity the valu-
able polo characteristics they possess