poloponies

Yes, polo. The chaps are in the midst of a chukka.

Of course, it pretty evidently shows polo players during a polo game. It would be interesting to know when, where and who are they though.

No knee protectors yet.

The horses are wearing some, though. :)

the wraps on the horses legs are for support, much as an athlete tapes up ankles or knees. These leg ligaments can be torn or pulled on horses causing them to be destroyed photo is probably related to this tournament, when Freake had to replace Edwards which would account for only them being identified. query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D03E...

if this is an American photo then it was taken in 1913 as that was the year that freddie Freake replaced Noel Edwards in the Westchester cup

Polo, yes.

that is neat !

Is June 14th, 1913 the date of the match? I'd love to know the venue.

doberman8882002, looking at the photos around it, this was probably taken in autumn of 1911. We have a small set of Bain polo photographs (as opposed to negatives like these) but this image didn't show up there nor did the two others taken at the same time.

Jon (LOC P&P) Thanks for your kind reply

Yes, they are polo players.

what else could they be? The question is, where is this? The presence of the portable flag leads me to suspect they could be on an army base during WWI: "....Joining the USPA in 1902, the Army encouraged their cavalry units to participate in polo to improve their riding ability. From then until World War II, the U.S. Military would play a significant role in the sport of polo." this quote is from www.sportpolo.com/History/default.htm

Checking Newell Bent's American Polo (published by Macmillan in 1929) reveals that there was a series of international matches between American and British teams around this time. There was no such match in 1910, but there were matches in 1909 and 1911 (among other years). Comparing this photo to photos in the book shows similar uniforms (dark shirt, pith-type helmet with dark band around it) for the British teams; for example there's a photo of the 1914 British team on page 189. So I tentatively suggest that this might be a photo of one of the British international polo teams of that era.

BTW, when they say this is 1910s, it means it could be anytime within the decade of 1910-1919, Ammo. I should have known the guy on the left was a Brit officer. He has a mustache.

Thanks, budderflyman. I based 1910 on the date given in the stats under the copyright notice. It turns out that there was international polo played in 1910 after all; there are lots of articles in the New York Times covering it. Matches (though not a match for the championship; that match was scheduled but then cancelled due to injury to one of the British riders) were played at Georgian Court in Lakewood, NJ, and at the Meadow Brook Hunt Club on Long Island, NY. Meadow Brook was also a venue for matches later on in the decade.