{"id":2380,"date":"2014-07-14T17:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T17:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outdoorandcountry.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2380"},"modified":"2015-04-29T09:41:37","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T09:41:37","slug":"chukkas-mallets-and-balls-we-look-at-the-history-of-polo-and-discover-where-it-all-began-for-ourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outdoorandcountry.co.uk\/blog\/chukkas-mallets-and-balls-we-look-at-the-history-of-polo-and-discover-where-it-all-began-for-ourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Chukkas, mallets and balls; we look at the history of Polo and discover where it all began for ourselves…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 1 of 3<\/h3>\n

\"The<\/h3>\n

With the Inter-Regimental Polo Tournament fresh in our minds and the new Barbour<\/a>\u00a0Autumn Winter ’14 Polo Club range expected to land at Outdoor & Country<\/a> any time now; this 3 part blog takes a closer look at the origins of the iconic game, discovers the history behind Barbour’s<\/a> Household Cavalry team and revels in their journey to the semi-finals of one of the oldest and most prestigious Polo tournaments in the world…<\/p>\n

Where it all began…<\/h3>\n

The oldest of equestrian sports, polo is a game of two teams of four players all on horseback, each who use mallets to drive a ball down a grass field between two goal posts, which may sound mundane \u00a0in writing, but believe us it is anything but! As we discovered at the Inter-regimental semi finals with Barbour, we also learnt a thing or two about its origins…<\/p>\n

\"Traditional<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, Polo originated in Persia as a training exercise for cavalry units such as the King’s Guard as far back as the 6th century BC – it was played with as many as 100 players on each side! Back then, polo was treated as a mini battle helping to develop the agility, dexterity and finesse necessary for successful combat on horseback.<\/p>\n

From here on out polo spread to Arabia, China, Japan and India developing a strong hold across Eastern countries where it became extremely popular amongst nobility – with some games so serious that players were beheaded for foul play!<\/p>\n

\"228\"The first British to play the game were tea planters from Assam who went on to develop one of the first ever polo clubs. When a British Captain stationed in India saw a match being played at Assam in 1866 he immediately formed a team of his fellow officers. The sport rapidly spread through the Armed Forces and their families, soon becoming a worldwide phenomenon widening through Europe and reaching Britain, where by 1875 polo matches at Hurlingham were attracting more than 10,000 spectators per game.<\/p>\n

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More to follow…<\/h3>\n

So now you know the basics, stay tuned for part 2 of 3 – our one stop guide to Polo which looks at the rules and regulations of the game today…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the Inter-Regimental Polo Tournament fresh in our minds and the new Barbour\u00a0Autumn Winter ’14 Polo Club range expected to land at Outdoor & Country any time now; this 3 part blog takes a closer look at the origins of the iconic game, discovers the history behind Barbour’s Household Cavalry team and revels in their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12],"tags":[585,54,71,76,239,289],"class_list":["post-2380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-barbour","category-events-festivals","tag-barbour","tag-barbour-aw14","tag-barbour-mens","tag-barbour-polo","tag-mens-barbour","tag-polo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t