ONE dynamic sport offering a great outlet and new career path for thoroughbred horses is polo where Irish horses continue to really make their mark on the field of what is regarded as the most competitive and exciting equestrian sport in the world.

One of Ireland’s top polo professionals is six-goal player Richard Tyrone from Co Waterford whose family is synonymous with international polo, the Beresfords, one of the oldest polo-playing dynasties in the world.

Richard first learned to play with his father and grandfather at Curraghmore Polo Club in Portlaw.

Now in his eighth professional year, Richard has completed at all levels of play – high, medium and low goal. He has captained the under 21 England team (2007-2009) and is in the senior squad. He has travelled extensively playing polo from Argentina to India, from Ireland to China.

A member of Cowdray Park Polo Club in West Sussex and Guards Polo Club in Berkshire, Richard keeps his horses at Emsworth Polo Grounds in Berkshire, managing his own string of ponies and a young horse breeding and training operation.

However, when it comes to sourcing good polo ponies, the heart of his business lies very much in Ireland and particularly in the bloodstock world where his many family contacts and friends often turn up a real gem. For the last 12 years, Richard has been buying Irish thoroughbreds to retrain for the polo pony market with considerable success.

“I always buy Irish thoroughbreds. They are the backbone of my polo career. I buy two, three and four-year-olds - no bigger than 15.2hh - and I train them with patience for polo and with just one exception, my whole string now are Irish thoroughbreds. Some of the most famous polo ponies in the world are Irish thoroughbreds.

“Ireland has consistently produced the top polo ponies, among the very best in the world. I believe that the Irish horses have the toughest mind, they can cope with the demands of the game. Irish thoroughbreds get such a good start in life; they are well developed and strong. Irish people have a fantastic way of training horses at a young age. They get them mentally spot on, some of the horses have had a lot of work done already and then I come in and train them on.

“I have always noticed that Irish horses are physically stronger in their bone but also in their minds. It suits me to buy Irish horses but if you look at the best polo pony winners over the last 10 years, the most famous are thoroughbreds and most definitely, the best of them are Irish thoroughbreds,” said Richard.

An example of one of the world’s best ever polo ponies sourced in Ireland is the aptly-named Shannon.

“One of the most famous champion polo ponies ever was an Irish thoroughbred mare - Shannon - bought out of Tim Doyle’s yard in Urlingsford by my uncle, David Thompson, former huntsman of the Laois Hounds. By Idris, she won numerous champion awards including the Cartier International and Guards Polo Club award, she was best polo pony winner twice and was the mount of one of the world’s best polo players for about 10 years – an amazing feat.”

Richard searches the country looking for suitable ponies and receives great help from his father, the 9th Marquis of Waterford, and his uncles David and James.

“Polo is a good outlet for Irish thoroughbreds and I also work with a racehorse charity,” said Richard whose four-year-old Paco Boy mare, bought off the Curragh, won the best-four-years in an open class. He has another good Irish mare in Cheeky Monkey (Imperial Ballet x Pivot D’Amour) and generally, finds that mares are that little bit more intelligent and are very quick learners.

“However, when you get a good gelding, they are hard to beat as they are so consistent, producing the goods day-in day-out. The majority of really top polo ponies are mares. That said, I have one five-year-old colt, by The Whipper out of a German mare, that I’m keeping entire that I’m really excited about and he has a super temperament.”

BRAVE HEART

In Richard’s experience, the best attributes that a good polo pony can have include having a very low centre of gravity relative to the ground, with a very low, straight, short action which allows for nimble movement coupled with a brave heart and a very willing temperament to cope with the demands of such a fast sport.

“The ponies must be very short in the pastern and cannon bone and be very compact. As in racing, only some of them will make it to being a valuable polo pony but you are taking a gamble buying any horse for any discipline.”

“Racing is a natural ask of a thoroughbred, basically it’s a herd of horses all running in the same direction. Polo, on the other hand, is very un-natural because the horses are running in different directions to each other, they are being asked to turn, bump, sprint and so they must have very special temperaments to do that.

“The ponies do not play full games until they are at least six and in many cases, not until they are seven and eight years old. They do not play full games until they are mentally mature enough and they can keep going for years at top level polo if they are sound and healthy,” explained Richard.

Encouraging everyone to try polo, Richard described it as “a very exciting sport” that delivers “the biggest adrenalin rush”.

He added: “Nothing is as good as just trying out a sport. We (the wider polo community) are always trying to encourage people of all ages to take it up. It is an amazing thrill and you get the special ponies, there is a pony to match every different type of rider. Polo Wicklow is one of the great places to start learning, I’d encourage absolutely everyone to try polo. I play with a husband and wife who started riding at 40 and 49 years of age respectively and then took up polo. Now at 50 and 59 years of age, they are playing at the top level of the sport in the UK. Polo is very social, it’s a lot of fun, and there’s a real community in the polo world.”

Commenting on the Irish polo squad, which he now captains, Richard said: “There is a good group of us, some from the UK, but there is a lot of up and coming polo players in Ireland. We are really trying to grow Irish polo. James Kennedy (the interim chief executive officer of Horse Sport Ireland) is a very keen polo enthusiast and he is right behind us. Polo should be bigger in Ireland, it’s a matter of educating people how to do it and how to get value out of it.”

Looking forward to the 2017 season, the young rider is set to play up to 18-goal polo over some 15 tournaments. “Hopefully we will have as many wins as possible and I’m really looking forward to the Irish international fixtures,” he said.

Today (Saturday), good luck to the Irish team of Dan Lafferty (1 goal handicap), James Connoly (2 goal handicap), Marcus Beresford (1 goal handicap) and Kielan McCarthy (0 goal handicap), playing New Zealand in Auckland.

WHERE TO LEARN POLO

Polo Wicklow, Co Wicklow is a good first port of call.

Website: www.polowicklow.com

Email: siobhan@polowicklow.com

Telephone: Office: 0404 67164

James Beresford, Curraghmore, Portlaw, Co Waterford

Telephone: 051 387102