How Is a Polo Match Divided?

Introduced by royals, polo is the game of coordinating the rider's skill with his horse's prowess. Unlike horse riding, which requires only speed and agility to excel, polo is more like hockey on horseback. Each team, made up of four players, attempts to send the ball into the opposition's goal with a 50-inch mallet. An average polo match lasts about one to one and half hours and the entire length of match is divided into 'chukkers' or 'chukka' or 'chuker,' each of which lasts about seven minutes.

  1. Chukker Basics

    • Each match consists of four, five or six chukkers corresponding to the difficulty level of the game, which is either low, medium or high. Every chukker is seven to seven and a half minutes long. When thirty seconds remain of a chukker, a bell is rung. To mark the end of a chukker, a horn is sounded. Three-minute-long breaks are usually allowed between two consecutive chukkers; a five-minute-long halftime is allowed during the matches.

    Start of a Chukker

    • At the start of a chukker, the ball is rolled in by a match official. All team members of each team line up in numerical order. When the umpire tosses the ball in between the two teams, the game begins.

    Clock Stops During a Chukker

    • There are several occasions on which a clock is stopped during a chukker. If a foul is committed, the clock is stopped. Breach of safety rules is usually termed as foul; every foul awards a penalty shot to the opposing team. Depending on the severity of the fouls, penalty shots are rated from one to ten, one resulting in awarding of a goal and ten resulting in disqualification of the player who committed the foul. If a rider has fallen off the pony, or if the pony itself has gone down, the clock is stopped. The same happens if a rider or pony is injured or if the ball rolls out of the bounds. Apart from these, a broken tack or loss of helmet also results in the clock being stopped. If a rider loses or breaks his mallet, the play is not stopped. The rider may simply use the other end of his stick to hit the ball or leave the field to bring in a replacement.

    Horses

    • A player cannot use one horse for more than two consecutive chukkers. The seven minute long chukkers exert a lot of physical strain on horses, hence this rule. A horse must also be rested for at least one chukker after playing. As a result, at least four horses must be used during a single game of polo by a rider. Professional players usually ride a different horse in each chukker.