"The polo pony may be the world's hardest working athlete.

A polo pony must sprint, stop, turn and sprint again for the duration of a seven-minute period; in a fast game he might well cover up to three miles.

He works mostly in high gear, enduring jostling, rough riding, and flailing mallets. He carries a "warrior" into a battle - overcoming his natural urge to flee, pressing bravely into the fray, obeying his rider's commands."

-Jennifer Forsberg Meyer

Polo ponies are actually standard-size horses of no particular breed. Some polo ponies are Thoroughbreds, but most combine Thoroughbred and quarter-horse strains. No matter what the breed, today's polo ponies are well-trained, fast, big and intelligent. Some estimate that up to 75 percent of a player's effectiveness can be attributed to the mount.

      The high-speed nature of the game, it is important for a polo team to keep a large string of ponies. In collegiate play, both teams switch strings. Allowing each team to play the other teams horse, thus equalizing the abilities of ponies.

All colligate polo programs rely on horse donations.