Polo lovers in Chennai should hold their horses. The much-awaited season in Chennai, scheduled by the Indian Polo Association in January 2026, which would have brought the royal sport back to the city after 28 long years, is now canceled due to equine infections in some horses. It’s disappointing news, considering the city was in the midst of a polo revival. In the 1960s and 1970s, polo was quite common in Chennai, but it gradually disappeared. Because polo activities were minimal, the site was used for another purpose and the sport disappeared. As Irshaad Mecca, a polo enthusiast and passionate equestrian who has been instrumental in rebuilding the sport in Chennai, says, “The absence of a ground has effectively removed Chennai from the polo map.” Without infrastructure, a sport cannot thrive, regardless of local interests.
The revival
A chance meeting between industrialist AC Muthiah, a patron of the sport, and Makkah got things going. A phone call from the industrialist led to an invitation to his farm and a gift of twenty horses to Mecca. Equipped with these 20 horses, Mecca hired a national player Bhawani Kalvi as the team coach and started training the horses and horse lovers.
Things moved along at a rapid pace and the army authorized the construction of a site near the military hospital in the city. Mecca says senior polo player NV Ravi played a key role in getting the approval. The city’s first official polo match after almost three decades is said to have taken place here.
Why it is important for Chennai to be integrated into the IPA calendar is because the Indian polo ecosystem remains concentrated and repetitive. The same players, teams and patrons circulate through Jaipur, Delhi and Jodhpur. This limited circuit limits audience growth, sponsorship diversity and player inflow. Expansion to Chennai and other southern centers will revive the game, but will require a broader pipeline of riders, horses and venues.
Junaid Nahri, a senior business leader and passionate polo player, explains that the cities where polo is popular are dependent on military-controlled areas. Civil lands are rare due to land and maintenance costs. Youth participation is also limited by the scarcity of riding schools with special polo divisions. A positive development for the expansion of the sport is India’s thoroughbred pipeline. Racing clubs in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are selling retired racehorses suitable for retraining. Players often acquire three such horses, invest 4 to 8 months in training and convert them into competent polo horses.
Under the thundering hooves and the thrill of the chase, there’s a lot to do to keep the game going.
The economics of polo
In a polo team, a player usually needs about 4-6 horses, because intense periods within a match require optimal fitness of the horses. The way it works in Chennai is that most horses are usually purchased within the age range of 4 to 6 years, mainly from racing clubs who make them off-the-track thoroughbreds (former racehorses). Prices vary by city: ₹35,000 – ₹40,000 in Mumbai, ₹70,000 in Bengaluru and over ₹1 lakh in Delhi. Higher quality horses, including imports from Argentina, command significantly higher prices.
Moreover, maintaining a horse in a metropolitan city costs around ₹25,000 – ₹30,000, including stable hands, feed, supplements, farrier fees, veterinary care and boarding. A four-horse setup costs almost ₹1 lakh per month. Polo horses need special shoes every 20 to 25 days. Saddles, girths, boots and other equipment add to even more recurring costs. Mallets, usually imported, cost around ₹15,000 each, while polo balls cost around ₹400 each, with multiple balls used per match.
If similarities do occur, they are rarely local. Horses, players and staff often travel between cities for tournaments, incurring costs for floats, stables, tents and staff. For a team configuration with eight players and multiple horses, transportation alone can cost several lakhs per event.
“We don’t even have a full field yet,” said Salim Mahmood, deputy director of Hindustan University. Each game requires not only a playing field, but also horse transport, stables and staff. Horses are often transported across India, costing ₹30,000 – ₹40,000 locally, or lakhs if teams travel interstate. Each player needs six horses, which means dozens of them need to be moved, housed and cared for. “Moving the horses is the biggest expense,” says Mahmood.
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Published on December 27, 2025
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