Learn Polo from the Expert

Have you always dreamt about learning horse riding but never really took the plunge? Well, now is the time to do so because MetroMela has brought you great tips from Chaitania Kumar, owner of Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club (HPRC). Chaitania graduated from and played Polo for the Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana for three years. Back in India, he owns and plays for the Hyderabad Polo Team. The Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club also have a team for beginner Polo players, who are trained by Khader Siddiqui. At HPRC, Chaitania tells us, the rates for riding and Polo lessons are kept very nominal because the aim is to promote and make the sport accessible to all. There are special classes for school children who are even offered discounts.

1. Dress right in a T-shirt with jeans or breeches. As far as footwear is concerned wear sports shoes or any heavy leather boots with heels.

2. One requires a lot of commitment and an average of 30 to 40 rides to become a professional rider. Also important is for the rider to have immense respect, love and understanding of the horse. Riding regularly is the best way to keep fit and stay in touch with the sport.

3. Horse riding has many rewarding professional avenues, like racing, polo, show jumping, dressage, horse care and management. Depending on what a person wants to do, there are various schools and training colleges like the NCC, NDA, The Hyderabad Race Club etc. But before that it is important to be a good rider.

1. Equipment and gear is very important as polo is a very fast and physical sport. The ideal age to start playing polo is 14 or 15 years.

2. To learn Polo one must be a proficient rider and physically fit. HPRC has members who have started learning polo after four months of riding.

3. A quick learner can learn polo and start at a handicap of -2 and go on to increase the handicap by improving in the game. Eventually you can achieve a +2 or +3 in about 3 to 4 years. However, this depends on the number of games and tournaments played by a person in the year.
4. The highest handicap one can achieve in Polo is +10 (there are only 8 or 9 players in the world who have this handicap).The highest handicap held by an Indian player, Shamsher Ali is a +7. He is from Hyderabad, is a member of the Indian national Polo team and plays globally. Whenever he is in Hyderabad, he plays and takes classes for young Polo players at HPRC.

5. The routine for polo is to practice riding and play regularly. It is difficult to play polo without owning a horse but riding and polo clubs do provide horses to their members to play. 

6. The polo season in Hyderabad starts in September for a month and then moves to places like Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolkata and Mumbai.