Once our guides have got you hooked, these are the books to curl up with between seasons.
Polo by Susan Barrantes. Our long-standing favourite and still the best first book on the game. A large, beautifully illustrated celebration of polo, with stunning photography and an accessible introduction to the sport. First published by Ediciones Lariviere in Buenos Aires in 1997 and by Rizzoli in 1998, with an introduction by the great Juan Carlos Harriot.
About the author: Susan Barrantes, born Susan Mary Wright in 1937, knew the polo world from the inside. Her first husband, Major Ronald Ferguson, was polo manager to the Prince of Wales, and their daughter is Sarah, Duchess of York. In 1975 she married the Argentine polo player Héctor Barrantes and made her home on his estancia in Argentina, at the heart of the game. She died in 1998, the year her book reached an international audience.
The Polo Encyclopedia by Horace A. Laffaye. The reference book on the game: players, clubs, tournaments and terms, compiled by one of polo’s leading historians. Ideal for settling arguments in the car park.
The Evolution of Polo by Horace A. Laffaye. How a cavalry exercise from Central Asia became a global sport, told chronologically and in depth.
Polo in Britain: A History by Horace A. Laffaye. The story of the game on these shores, from the first matches at Hounslow Heath to the modern high-goal season.
My Early Life by Winston Churchill. Not a polo book as such, but Churchill was a devoted player, and his account of chasing the Inter-Regimental Tournament as a young cavalry officer in India is a joy.
Polo by Jilly Cooper. Pure escapism: the glamour, the gossip and the high-goal circuit, as only the queen of the bonkbuster could write it. Not one for the rule book, but great fun on a rainy Sunday.
Nothing beats going to watch. Pick a Sunday in June, head to Guards, Cowdray or your nearest club, and keep our Polo Terms page open on your phone.