The Evolution of Polo

The late Horace A. Laffaye was a polo player and surgeon. He was on the board of directors of the Museum of Polo and was chairman of the Polo Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. His writings on the game included several books and many articles in magazines in North America, Argentina and England. He lived in Durango, Colorado.

Table of Contents



Acknowledgments     

Foreword by Nigel à Brassard     

Preface     



PART I : THE TRIBESMEN

1. Folk Games: From the Silk Road to the Manipuri Valleys     

2. An Ancient Pastime Discovered by Western Eyes     



PART II : THE ARISTOCRATS

3. The European Journey     

4. The British Carry the Flag     

5. Polo in India: Conflicts and Harmonies     

6. The Beginning of the Internationals     

7. Polo Myths: Billiard Ball, Walking Sticks, and All That     

8. The British Clubs     

9. Fashionable Chic: Polo on the Continent     

10. American Polo Comes of Age     

11. The Anglo-Argentines: Squires or Gauchos?     

12. Olympic Interlude     



Between pages 126 and 127 are eight color plates containing 17 photographs



PART III : THE AMATEURS

13. The Mighty Americans     

14. Of Lords and Ladies     

15. The Game in the Former Dominions     

16. The Cup of the Americas     

17. The Hallowed Grounds: Hurlingham, Meadow Brook and Palermo     

18. Return from War: The Internationals     

19. The Rise of Argentina     

20. England’s Recovery: Gentlemen Players and Hired Assassins     

21. Polo in America in the Late Twentieth Century     

22. Bits and Pieces, Strokes and Mallets     



PART IV : THE PROFESSIONALS

23. Patrons and the Dawn of Professionalism     

24. Women’s Polo     

25. The Game’s Thinkers     

26. The Evolution of the Rules     

27. On Umpiring     

28. The Polo Pony: From Tats to Thoroughbreds     

29. The State of the Game in the Twenty-First Century     



Appendix A: The Code of Rules for the Silchar Polo Club, 1863     

Appendix B: The Field, 20 March 1869, Letter to the Editor     

Appendix C: The Rules of the Game, as Drafted by Lt. Hartopp

Mess Paper, 1869     

Chapter Notes     

Bibliography     

Index