What does Brave New World have in Common with…the Sport of Polo?

Photo by Paul Chambers on Unsplash

Okay, so I just brought up two things that absolutely do not go together:

The sport of polo

And Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World.

So, what the heck is the connection here?

Cambiaso’s Clones

So, here we go. First of all, understand that polo is an extremely demanding sport. It’s demanding on the riders…and the ponies. Note the bandages on the legs in the picture above: Those are to prevent ponies being injured if a player messes up and hits them with a mallet.

A polo match lasts one to two hours. You can’t expect horses to run flat out and make tight turns for one to two hours. Humans have much more stamina.

Thus, the match is divided into six seven and a half minute periods, known as chukkers or chukkas. Players switch ponies between chukkas. (Side terminology note: Polo horses are always ponies, regardless of their breed or size. Small Thoroughbreds are very popular).

This means that each player has to bring six ponies to the match. A team also brings a couple of spares, in case a pony is injured or proves to be sore. Now, I ride.