The elite sport of polo is enjoyed around the globe at well-established clubs situated in some of the world’s most affluent neighbourhoods. One such place is Dubai whose expansive and magnificent Dubai Equestrian and Polo Club not only offers stables for more than 300 horses (ranging from the nervous Arabian thoroughbred to your sturdy polo pony), vast grounds for dressage, jumping, riding and a championship-sized polo field, it also plays host to a more recent addition to the polo family: camel polo.
Legend has it that polo, or a game very similar to it, was first played in the 5th century BC in Persia and started as a training exercise for cavalry regiments. It progressed to becoming the game of the nobility and was even praised by the noted Persian poet Ferdowsi back in the 9th century AD in his epic ‘Shahnameh’. The Persians took their passion into Asia and the sport eventually reached as far as China and Japan, whilst the name itself is said to be derived from the Tibetan word ‘pulu’ meaning ‘ball’.
Polo as we know it today originated in India, in Manipur, and was popularised by the British, who also founded the Calcutta Polo Club in 1863, the oldest active polo club in the world today. Rules and regulations followed with the game becoming more streamlined, but variations of the sport started to pop up. Indoor – or arena – polo was one of the first. This is played on a smaller all-weather course normally situated indoors. Additionally, different surfaces were found to play the game on, such as sand, with for example Miami hosting popular beach polo tournaments, and even snow, with the famous frozen lake polo played in St. Moritz.
Then the steeds changed: elephant polo became a great hit in India and is still played on special occasions even now; there is also yak polo, canoe polo, BMX polo, even golf cart polo. And now camel polo has sprung up in Dubai. On grass, not sand, it has to be added. Gulf Ventures, a subsidiary of Dnata travel and the Emirates travel group, got together with the Dubai Equestrian and Polo Club to offer interested parties a game with a difference. Gulf Ventures provides the camels and the Polo Club the venue and expertise.
Adrian Sime, general manager of Gulf Ventures, explains: “We wanted to offer something with a difference, something very unique and special to Dubai, something that is great fun and makes for a fantastic day out. It can be tailored to the individual group’s needs and requirements. Indeed, camel polo is an ideal team building activity. We structure our camel polo experience to include a training session, in which clients are shown some basic skills, and then it’s time to put those skills into action in a match.”
Unlike any other version of polo, in camel polo there are two players per steed: one who steers the camel and sits in front of the hump, and the player who swings the mallet and who sits behind the hump. The ball is slightly larger than in normal polo, and the mallet is longer, due to the difference in height between a camel and a horse.
The rules are roughly the same, although there tends to be only one or two chukkas played, allowing for the slower pace and occasionally belligerent temperament of the camels. Unlike the finely-tuned polo ponies who know how to listen to their riders’ every command, camels have a slightly stronger personality, one that is not so easily controlled. Sime explains: “We usually have to allow for a couple of sit-downs per chukka. However skilled the people riding the camel, if a camel wants to sit down, it will sit down. But instead of ruining the game, it is usually that sort of thing which delights the players and brings home the nature of this unusual game.”
It has also happened that during a game two camels decided to ‘go home’ and walked off the field. But, as they say, you should never work with children or animals – seems playing with them brings with it its own pitfalls, too.
And who plays camel polo? Ershad Ahmed from Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club explains that even the British Polo Team and some of the top visiting Argentine players have tried their skills at camel polo. “It is not unlike real polo, but it is more fun, not as competitive as polo can be, although the professional polo players have used smaller balls and are used to faster speeds – it all depends on the riders’ experience. But we have renowned trainers such as Steve Thompson, director of the Dubai Polo Academy with more than 15 years of polo experience to his name, who virtually single-handedly brought polo to Dubai, to pass their knowledge and skill onto the participants, so they are all well-prepared before going onto the field.”
Sime adds, “We have a lot of corporate groups who make a day out of the occasion. Maybe have a meeting in one of the conference rooms at the club, followed by lunch, then the training session and a couple of chukkas, followed by a presentation of the prizes, which we can be personalised as much as an individual group wants to. We already give out camel polo T-shirts, but can add branding, saddle blankets, prizes, and even organise a sunset dinner in the desert, if required.”
Looking at it, camel polo is great fun. The camels are well behaved, beautifully cared for and each has its own dedicated handler should their ideas differ too widely from that of their riders.
On a lush green field on that magic edge of the city where bustling metropolis meets serene desert, this is a new and unique way to experience what the Middle East is about: work hard, play hard and meet some of the local wildlife along the way.
Event Details
Minimum number: 8
Maximum number: 60
Price AED 690 per person (188 USD)
Package: Trained camels, professional staff, designer camel polo shirt, plus the use of helmets, chaps, mallets, and balls.
Contact Details
Dnata
camelpolo@dnata.com
Dubai Equestrian and Polo Club
+971 4 361 8111
