Polo Players Edition

JAN 2011

Polo Players' Edition is the official publication of the U.S. Polo Association. Dedicated to the sport of polo, it features player profiles, game strategy, horse care, playing tips, polo club news and tournament results.

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Pakistan attacked Ladakh in 1999. Current newspaper reports often detail firefights along the border. People of all ages turned out to watch the match, despite its waning popularity among the younger Ladakhis. Scouts, and lost. In 1997 the Scouts took their ponies down to Delhi, where the horses are much bigger, and, playing by Ladakhi rules, they beat the capital city’s military team and a civilian team. In 1999 the Ladakh Scouts went to war against the Pakistani army, and beat them too. Pakistan attacked India at Kargil, in Ladakh itself, and the Scouts were the first unit of the Indian Army to launch a successful counter-strike. The Ladakh Scouts also fought Pakistan in the war of 1971 and won numerous battle honors, several for the taking of 500 square miles of enemy territory during a mid-winter offensive. Considered to be the eyes and ears of the Indian Army, the Ladakh Scouts were originally formed in 1949 as the Ladakh National Guard. They were made into a full- fledged regiment in 1963, following the Sino-Indian War. The polo team was formed in 1985. Today, the 14 members, led by team captain Gyaltson Nima, serve as soldiers, fulfilling regular military duties eight months of the year—what those duties are, I was told, is a matter of military secrecy. The other four months of the year they trade in their machine guns for mallets. On the polo field it was dry and hot. The horses kicked up rooster tails of dust and leafy green trees rustled in the light wind. A 46 POLO PLAYERS EDITION Moshin Ali makes his way down field. The players make their own mallets. whitewashed Buddhist monastery stood sentinel on the barren mountainside above. The sun glinted on the snowy peaks only a few miles beyond, which lay China and Pakistan. While the Scouts warmed up I met Captain Nima, who smiled at my use of the traditional greeting, a hand to the forehead, and explained the rules. The traditional rules of Baltistan are still observed. There is no line-of-the-ball; players can come in from all directions. They can also wrestle each other from the saddle, although it doesn’t happen often. Fouls include dangerous crossing, reaching, intentionally hitting out of bounds, and, oddly, hooking. There are only two periods, of 20 minutes each, with a 10-minute break in between. The same horses are used for the entire game, though reserves are kept. An army veterinarian gives the ponies a check-up once a week. There are six players to a team, including a goalie. Field direction is changed after each goal, and play is re-started in an impressive manner, called Gol Duk. Accompanied by pounding drums, called daman, and blowing horns, called surna, the scoring player gallops full tilt from the back field holding the ball, tosses it up at mid- field and hits out of the air. Gol Duk is the kind of tradition the Indian Army is trying to strengthen. Other

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