The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1922-01-04
TRAINING POLO
PONIES IS HARD
Great Patience Needed to Fit
Them for tournaments.
GUIDED BY LEG PRESSURE

In the "Mouthing" Stage of lnstruc-
ton More Ponies Are Ruined Than
Made-Work Requires Horseman OF
Consummate Skill and Patience
Improperly Trained Pony Is Not
Only Menace to His Rider, But to
Other Unfortunates Who Are Play
ing.
Does the ordinary individual realize
what making polo pony means and
.fetches nowadays from $500 to ST.
600? asks writer in the London Daily
Mail. He then proceeds to answer
his own question as follows:
Very probably not, for the average
man has perhaps hazy idea that a
polo pony has to be taught stick and
ball' and thinks that once this is &C.
complished a pony is fit to play.
"Stick and BALI is an intinitesimal
part Of a pony's education, and might
dlIuOSl UC " Ill lllC
of "mensa" in classical career.
The pony's first lesson is mouth
ing" and in this stage more ponies
are ruined than made, for the really
expert horseman who can give his
time to this consummate art is very
rare. ,-.
A hard-mouthed, pulling pony is the
devil; a light-mouthed, easy pony a
joy. The latter is the outcome of
many months patient schooling from
an expert horseman with hands"
good Judgment, and, above all, a per-
feet temper for one bad tempered
jab in the pupils mouth from an i'm
patient rider will undo the laborious
work of a month.
Guided by Leg Pressure.
Coincident with mouthing is the les
son of the ''leg," that most misunder
stood and msapplied term. Putting
on the leg" is not vigorous dig with
the heel or spur as even some of our
best men to hounds and over a country
apparently think, but a distinct pres
sure-to be perfect, it should be in
visible-of the leg muscles and knee.
This the pony must be taught to
recognize and obey. Under this pres
sure, he must start, stop, passage,
change legs, bend and turn.
With the lessons of mounting and
leg well learned, pony may be said
to be we'll on the way to being col
Iected and balanced" state which is
the alpha and omega Of polo pOnys
education, and if the trainer has
brought raw pony to this pitch in
side twelve months he has done more
than well. : - -s..s.>l
The pony which is played unframed
is not only menace to his own rider,
but also to the other unfortunates
playing, for crossed legs may mean
SPILL and one spill may mean others. r.
Yet one still sees ponies at our most
famous grounds failing to change on
turn, generally with novices up, turn
ing on their forehand, hanging on the
bit-all faults due to lack of training.
Perfectly Trained.
Then, by contrast, look at the per-
fectly trained pony, balanced and col
lected, almost, as it were, playing with
his bit, answering the leg long before
the rein, flinging himself round with
out giving his rider a moments dis
comfort and enabling him to concen-
trate all his energies on hitting the
ball, which is the A, B and & of polo.
"Riding off"-there must be no
fiinching here, but determination
just as great Oh the part of the pony
as on that of the man to push his op-
ponent off the line. Some ponies de-
light in it, going in without any effort
on the part of the rider and revealing
in a good hard tussle.
To this the pony must be educated.
Just as the footballer is taught in his
youth how to tackle, so must the pony
be taught to ride off," First, at the
walk, up and down the school or pad
dock, shoulder to shoulder with an
old hand, give and take. The young
ster may be allowed to have the best
of things at this stage to give him
heart and encouragement; then he
progresses by easy stages to the can
ter and finally to the gallop.
Those of us who play know the JOY
of going in" on pony who "goes In
on his own and is glutton for the job
and realize what different PROPOSE
ton" is the pony which needs riding
hard to get there and much leg to keep
him at it.
So the pony progresses from school
to stick and ball, from stick and ball
to slow chukker, from slow to fast,
from fast to tournament, from tourna-
ment to international, when we shall
see him satin-coated, muscled up,
hard, keen Of eye, eager, impatient,
waiting his turn in the game.