08/03/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1L9WrqpJ5Y/?mibextid=wwXIfr
We have built you all a little poll regarding penalties for dangerous play in polocrosse! You can complete it here on poll maker!
https://poll-maker.com/poll5831536x85c94B26-169
For clarity, we have for a number of years thought the penalties for dangerous play are not severe enough (ironic for a page that has a skull in its logo we know....) so this is not a spur of the moment thing because of test matches at weekend.
Mainly we actually think that we need tougher penalties for the sake of horse welfare (after all humans consciously choose to put themselves out there on the field) but we do also think that just getting a goal on the board when you have just suffered some form of bodily injury is a bit unfair (and doesn't really encourage people to ride or swing responsibly).
We have also believed for years that the Polocrosse Rulebook is not clear enough or gives enough guidance on what actually is considered dangerous in some situations Obviously a head hit is quite obvious but how close is actually too close to cross? Opinions on that seem to range greatly around the world.
Interestingly if you read the IPC rulebook it actually says under Penalty 4 (which is "Goal on the Board") it says:
"4. If in the opinion of the umpire a player commits a dangerous foul, the side fouled shall be allowed one goal. The game shall be recommenced by the umpire throwing the ball into play in the centre of the field. "
There are multiple other references to dangerous fouls in the rulebook , such as crossing too close behind, riding off behind the saddle, wild swinging etc. in each case the rule will give a list of penalties for the umpire to apply, starting with 1 - even though the rule says the foul is dangerous. For example:
38. Wedging of player - Penalty 1,2,3,4 or 6
No player shall ride dangerously such as occurs when one player is wedged between two players with dangerous contact between the three horses concerned. The last player making contact causes the penalty.
So the foul only occurs if the contact is dangerous but then you can award a penalty 1? That makes no sense to us,
We would argue that actually if the current rules, as they seem to be written, were actually applied more consistently then we would probably see a lot less dangerous plays as a lot more dangerous situations would be penalised by a goal on the board, rather than it being reserved for the situations where someone actually gets hit on the head or a horse gets brought down by someone riding into its backend.
If we actually stopped people committing "entry level" dangerous fouls (like crossing a metre or two behind a horse in a canter) they will be less likely to try it again in a flat out gallop and bring down both horses. Likewise if you reward a free goal for a "close call" then when someone does actually make contact they will probably be heading to the sin bin for two minutes.
However we are aware that is all just our opinion so we thought we would create a poll to get your views on whether we do need to apply more severe penalties for dangerous play in polocrosse! You can complete it here on poll maker!
https://poll-maker.com/poll5831536x85c94B26-169
P.S. Chatgpt is getting a bit better at polocrosse racquets from everyone asking it for images! Helmets still need some work but its getting there!!
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