Thoroughbred lines in polo pony breeding

Elles · August 12, 2020, 5:59am

I assume a polo pony can also be considered a sport horse. Any ideas which TB bloodlines are best?

camohn · August 26, 2020, 10:48am

Honestly anything small around 15.1h is used. Probably a lot of Northern Dancer for that reason: he throws small and compact. One of our TB polo ponies is by US Flag, but many of them didn’t even come with papers. It takes a certain temperament to be suited to polo and the attrition rate is probably 90% on prospects. It’s hard to find the horse that wants to run, yet be sensitive to stopping and turning on a dime AWAY from where the rest of the herd is running and not being freaked out by being thwacked by an errant ball, a mallet coming over/ under them or seeing another horse charging head first at them. It matters a great deal what level of polo you are talking about too. Lower level it is more of a stopping and turning game, where tb/ stock horse crosses do better. Upper level is more of a flat out running game/ TBs rule or tb / criollo crosses from Argentina.

Elles · August 26, 2020, 10:50am

But I was wondering what TB bloodlines people in other countries use.

Elles · August 26, 2020, 10:50am

Australian:
http://www.haydonhorsestud.com.au/images/stories/pdf/haydon%20rosetta%20web.pdf

I looks like these people are in the UK but it is not clear what bloodlines they use. They retrain OTTB’s.
http://www.thoroughbred-poloponies.com/

camohn · August 26, 2020, 10:50am

Our very best polo mare is bred Coxs Ridge. She is a hot horse…at 19 or 20 now is just starting to calm down. If you had one foot in the stirrup you better be getting in the saddle quick.but to balance that she had brakes and turned on a dime. More the type suited to upper level polo though… She hated standing around. In the line up all she did was dance around and squirm.

camohn · August 26, 2020, 10:50am

But I was wondering what TB bloodlines people in other countries use.[/QUOTE]
The first is hoist the flag like our u s flag mare, one is bred sir gaylord ( turn to) like the Coxs ridge mare. The others are lines I don’t know though apparently highlander turns up often.

camohn · August 26, 2020, 10:50am

Australian:
http://www.haydonhorsestud.com.au/images/stories/pdf/haydon%20rosetta%20web.pdf

I looks like these people are in the UK but it is not clear what bloodlines they use. They retrain OTTB’s.
http://www.thoroughbred-poloponies.com/[/QUOTE]
Will take more time with these later. The names listed are barn names and not registered names for most of them.

Elles · August 26, 2020, 10:51am

Here a breeding stallion grandson of Mr. Prospector:
http://www.polohorseauction.com/featured.php?id=73

These have been bred in the UK:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr4gUG9jTAvma-9gs4VE3cgWkRdMdntJT
I do not know the pedigree of this stallion Khan they seem to use a lot.

Elles · August 26, 2020, 10:56am

Why do people not use horses from barrel racing bloodlines for playing polo?
http://www.barrelhorse.com/barrel_horses3.htm
http://forum.horsetopia.com/breeding-genetics/75114-what-bloodlines-hot-barrel-racing-today.html

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/lost-art-marketing-ottbs-by-pedigree-not-so-black-and-white/

camohn · August 26, 2020, 10:56am

The barrel horses I have met were all GO and no stop with the turn. In fact that is what we did with our polo prospects that did not work out/ were too hot and resistant to the stopping part of polo: sold them as barrel horses. They WILL stop for an arena wall!

Kyzteke · August 26, 2020, 10:57am

[QUOTE=camohn;7968733]
The barrel horses I have met were all GO and no stop with the turn. In fact that is what we did with our polo prospects that did not work out/ were too hot and resistant to the stopping part of polo: sold them as barrel horses. They WILL stop for an arena wall![/QUOTE]

I would also guess that barrel horses don’t need the stamina polo ponies do; especially for outdoor polo (there is an indoor version of the game which has only 3 people to a team & uses a larger, inflatable ball).

A zillion years ago I worked for a pro team at the LA Equestrian Center (indoor polo). We had 24 horses to use for games, since we mounted both the home team & the visiting team.

Most of those horses did not even come with papers, but I know that alot of them came from MT/CO/ID/WY area…they would look for ex-roping horses, QH appendix types, etc.

I’ve been away from that “scene” for ages, but last I heard Owen Rinehart had a successful breeding operation in VA.

And of course in Argentina they have been breeding horses specifically for polo for ages.

Curious – why do you ask? Are you going to breed polo ponies?

Lynnwood · August 26, 2020, 10:59am

I would think Patton may have thrown a few polo types he was short compact long strided. Sprinters body.

Elles · August 26, 2020, 10:59am

Do you mean this horse called Patton: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/patton11 ?

camohn · August 26, 2020, 11:01am

Genuine Risk only had one foal Genuine Regard. He was a dud at stud for racing, ended up a polo pony stud out west.

Lynnwood · August 26, 2020, 11:01am

[QUOTE=Elles;7969948]
Do you mean this horse called Patton: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/patton11 ?[/QUOTE]

No this Patton

http://www.pedigreequery.com/patton

Elles · August 26, 2020, 11:02am

It does seem that the Fair Trial / Fairway line shows up quite a bit further back in pedigrees of polo ponies.

This guy does not have that line but he does seem to have a nice pedigree:
http://www.pedigreequery.com/genuine+reward

FatCatFarm · August 26, 2020, 11:03am

I have a 15.1 hd mare, Optimistic Cat http://www.pedigreequery.com/optimistic+cat, who is 15.1 and not overly sensitive and who I think would make a good Polo Pony. I got her for my daughter who is 9, 10 in June, and I think she might just be a tad much for her.

Bay_Spitfire_OTTB · August 26, 2020, 11:26am

I find this post FASCINATING, because my mare is bred Argentinian on the top and Cox Ridge/Lord Avie on the bottom. She’s small/delicate and QUICK with brakes and lots of fire. I get a lot of questions on her breeding because people think she’s Arabian! I always tell people that since she’s Argentinan bred, she could have been a polo pony. Nice to see I haven’t been lying through my nose!

Here’s her pedigree, if anyone is curious.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/legacy+lass

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