The Judging of Polo Ponies.
By Walter Buckmaster.
The above subject, in my opinion, is a very difficult one to write on, for the simple reason that there are so few men who are capable of occupying the position of a judge of polo ponies. A man must be blessed with a large number of capabilities to act in this position. He must be, firstly, a judge of the horse in the abstract, of its formation, building, &c., he must be a hunting man and a judge of hunters; he must be, in a minor degree, a judge of a racehorse; he must be a fine horseman in himself, and he must be a polo player, and an active one, at the time he is occupying the position of judge.
In these days when the game of polo is taking such a strong hold of the world at large, when county shows all over England and elsewhere reserve classes for polo ponies, polo pony mares, polo pony stallions, young stock, or ponies likely to make polo ponies, the office of judge of these classes is a very important one.
Often one sees that a judge who is officiating in that position in the hunter classes is deputed to judge polo ponies also, and I have even known the hackney or carthorse judge put into this position. Probably the official in question is a fine judge of a hunter and of a horse in all respects, and yet he may be quite the worst judge one can have of made polo ponies. He does not know what is expected of them, how he is to test them, or what they are expected to do. Of their make and shape he is probably quite capable of judging the class; he will know a good-shaped pony from a bad one. Naturally, as a judge of a horse, he will know a good “ride” from a bad one; he will know true action from cramped action, but I very much doubt whether he knows a good polo pony from a bad one. There may be a large number of ponies in the class, he will only be able to spare a minute or so to sit on each pony. During the short space of time he has to make up his mind very quickly as to whether the pony is a good ride to start with; whether it has a good and natural mouth; whether it is tractable or otherwise; whether it turns easily or otherwise; whether when turning it does so on its hind quarters or its forehand, and whether when turning it does so on the proper leg both behind and in front. The majority of ponies, however partially they may be schooled, usually change their legs in front, viz., when turning to the right have their right leg in front, and vice versâ, but how many men can tell in a second when the pony has changed its leg in front, whether it has, at the same time, changed its hind legs similarly? To do this a judge must have great and constant experience.
When writing on this all-important subject I propose stating my opinion and ideas on the made polo pony, or pony likely to make a polo pony, as the judging of young stock, mares likely to breed polo ponies, stallions, &c., comes rather under a different category than the actual judging of the article that is to be ridden and so judged by the official.
Allow me to give a few hints to judges who are setting out for the first few times in this important position. They must remember that the time for them to make up their minds is limited, therefore they must come to their decision quickly, and having made it must abide by it. They will probably have to judge two riding classes: (1) polo ponies; and (2) ponies likely to make polo ponies. Let us consider these two classes separately. When made polo ponies come into the ring let the judge carefully watch them walking round; he must then make up his mind as to what is a good made pony, a pony, pure and simple, and what is not; he will see how they walk and how they carry themselves, and here he will make his first impressions, and these first impressions are, in my opinion, the best. Then they will trot round the ring. This will show him little except that, as a rule, a good walker is usually a good trotter; however, many of the best polo ponies are poor trotters, and often will not trot at all. In my opinion, little is learnt from a polo pony trotting except the fact as to whether it is sound or not. Next the ponies will canter round. Then the judge will see a free goer from a short, stilty-actioned one. He should then proceed to draw the ponies into the centre of the ring, placing the good ones, or what he imagines are the good ones, on the one side and the rubbish on the other. He should then proceed to look the animals over quickly when standing still; whether they stand straight on their legs, whether their joints are true, and so forth.
He should then ride each pony himself, bending and twisting them himself as much as the show-ring will allow him, letting them go top pace as far as is possible. As soon as the judge is on the ponies’ backs he will quickly alter his ideas formed when watching the ponies on foot. He will find that what he fancied as being a good-looking pony rides all wrong when he is on its back; probably bad mouths, or badly trained, change their legs in front but not behind, a most common fault in polo ponies, and a very bad one, as no pony can turn with the safety and speed that he should do unless he changes his legs behind as quickly as in front. Again, as soon as a judge gets on a pony, I advise him to back the pony, just for three or four yards, quickly; all good polo ponies rein back almost as quickly as walking forwards, and if they do not do so they are not high-class polo ponies.
I also advise a judge to ride every pony in the class, whether his first impression of it be good or otherwise; many a pony is missed over that may not favourably impress the judge at first sight, but be a remarkably fine ride.
By this time the judge must have made up his mind; he may have to forgive a fault here and one there, in order to arrive at a proper order of placing the ponies in their class, as no pony is perfect in every respect.
When judging “ponies likely to make polo ponies,” the judge must not be quite so exacting. He must lay greater stress on the good made pony when standing still and the true-actioned and balanced one. He will probably have to judge ponies at very different states of their education, and will find it hard to bring a good young green pony with very little education into competition with a pony that has been well and carefully trained. In this class he must carry in his mind which pony is going to be the most valuable in a year’s time.
There are certain faculties a pony must have, whether he be a made polo pony or a young green pony; he must be built on true hunter lines, short legs, short back, compact, good sloping shoulders and a well set on neck (a pony with a bad neck seldom has a good mouth), his hind-legs and hocks must be well underneath him, and straight. Hind-legs standing away from a pony are a great fault, and generally denote a pony slow at jumping off the mark. He must have essentially a perfect temper, and also a good mouth by nature; this latter is to a large extent a matter of breaking, and a pony badly broken, in my opinion, never gets over it.
Above all, let a judge go for quality; a square underbred pony well trained may ride really well in a show-ring, but how will he manœuvre and ride after playing ten minutes in a fast game of polo; he becomes tired and beat; then his action, mouth, and training all go to the wall, and he is as a sailing ship amongst torpedo boats.