By Tom Goodspeed
Simply speaking, horses are very often the definition of our handicaps. However, I am speaking of the term “rating” a horse, with respect to when someone says this horse rates well.
When we say a polo pony rates well, we can compare it to the cruise control of a car. You get the desired speed and then push that little button and voila. Your car is traveling at a set speed allowing you to now use your right foot to tap to whatever beat you tap to….until you decide you want to speed up or slow down.
When a horse is said to rate well, the same is true. You move a horse into a collected canter and are traveling at 6mph. You then decide you want to leg the horse a little and get them to go 15 mph. Once they get to 15mph, you stop asking for more….and they stay at 15mph until they hear or rather feel otherwise from you.. This is a great characteristic for polo, as it makes it easier for the rider to focus on the ball and the play of the field. If the horse is constantly speeding up or slowing down at will, it is far more challenging for the rider to maintain the proper settings while engaged in hitting and positioning.
How does one get a horse that rates well? Is it factory installed? Are there after factory kits?
Horses that stop well, or turn well, or rate well, or change leads well, are generally horses that were trained well. Most horses will do all the things that we would want them to do when they are at play in the pastures……well…except for the kicking, biting, bucking, and rearing stuff. But they do already know how to do all that we would like them to do. It is just a matter of properly communicating to the horse that we want desired actions when we apply a certain set of commands or aids. Our joysticks and controllers happen to be our reins, our legs, our seat, our upper body positioning, and our voice. If a talented horse is trained well, they usually come fully loaded. Now I say talented horse in the sense that some horses just seem to come by what we look for in a polo pony, more naturally then others. It does take a good trainer that is a combination of knowledge and patience. But I believe it also takes a special kind of horse. They are not easy to come by, even when you have a lot of money to spend. There are those operations that are out there. They have a good system, and their success percentages are high, but even they will tell you that not all the horses go to the tie lines at Palermo.
So when you are out there looking, you now know a little more on how to rate a horse as well as a horse that rates well. I wish you cruise control on all your ponies !!
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