Injuries and concussion: what the studies and rulebooks say.

This page does two things. It summarises what published injury studies of polo players found, with their authors and years, and it sets out the concussion rules of each governing body we could read, with their dates.

What the injury studies found

Neumayr and Schmitt, 2019 (Germany and Switzerland)

Published in the Deutsche Zeitschrift fur Sportmedizin (German Journal of Sports Medicine), 2019, volume 70, issue 2. The authors interviewed 103 amateur and professional players between May and July 2017 about the previous two years. 41 players (40%) reported a total of 55 injuries, and two-thirds of those were major, meaning more than 30 days out.

• Where: upper limb 42% (shoulder 20%), lower limb 26%, trunk 22% (spine 13%), head 11%.
• What: fractures 31%, contusions 18%, dislocations 9%, concussions 7%.
• How: falls from the horse 44%, overuse 17%, falls with the horse 15%, collisions with players 6%, hit by the ball 4%. Trauma of all kinds caused 84%.
• Playing hurt: 55% of players played on with pain, most often in the wrist and lower back.

The authors recommended trauma-trained medical staff at all matches and mandatory certified helmets, noting that only 7% of their sample wore certified helmets. They advised glasses or a certified face guard, while saying a definite face-guard recommendation could not yet be made.

Inness and Morgan, 2015 (United Kingdom)

Published in Sports Medicine - Open in January 2015. The authors surveyed a random sample of 112 UK players by telephone. 17.3% had had an injury that needed a hospital visit, most commonly to a shoulder or wrist, and 58% reported falls. We could not load the full paper; further figures from it that appear in search summaries are not reported here.

Ken-Dror, Chua and Sharma, 2025 (England)

Published in the Postgraduate Medical Journal on 20 November 2025. The authors reviewed accident reports from 26 English polo clubs for 2018 to 2024, covering 236 injured players. 47.9% had limb injuries and 38.6% had face or head injuries; 12.1% of the face or head injuries involved the eyes. The full text was not available to us, so its other findings are not included.

Other studies

A 1999 British Journal of Sports Medicine study of the 1996 Argentine high-goal season exists, but we could not read it, so we do not report its figures.

Which part of the body: studies differ

The studies do not agree on the most common injury site. Inness and Morgan (2015) found shoulders and wrists most common among hospital-level injuries. Neumayr and Schmitt (2019) found the upper limb most common at 42%, with the head at 11%. Ken-Dror, Chua and Sharma (2025) found limbs most common, with face or head injuries close behind at 38.6%. The studies use different designs and populations (a telephone survey, interviews, and club accident reports), so their numbers are not directly comparable.

Concussion rules, body by body

The HPA's 2023 shorter return: who qualified is disputed

For 2023 only, the HPA's May 2023 notice allowed a reduced return-to-play protocol, no sooner than 7 days, for some players. It required a signed consent waiver and a doctor's fitness certificate issued after review of the club safety officer's Head Injury Assessment form. Two copies of the notice disagree on who was eligible:

• The HPA's own page: professionals of 3 goals or more, and patrons playing 18-goal or higher.
• The copy on the SUPA website: professionals of 2 goals or more, and patrons playing 12-goal or higher.

We could not resolve which version was final. The same notice said the HPA was developing baseline and post-concussion testing to allow safe earlier returns, which it hoped to have for the 2024 summer season. The HPA's 2026 rulebook now contains a baseline-test route (above), and its definition of a High Goal Player includes players with a mixed handicap of 3 goals or higher and patrons in tournaments of 18 goals or higher (it also covers some patrons and players in women's high-goal polo), but the 2026 rule is a different mechanism from the 2023 waiver.

How long: the bodies differ

For adults, the HPA's default is 21 days from the injury (2023 notice and 2026 rules). The Australian Polo Federation's 2025 policy sets a minimum of 12 days after symptoms clear, which a health practitioner's written clearance can shorten. The two are measured from different starting points, so they cannot be compared day for day. The Pony Club's 2026 rule for its junior members is 21 days off riding altogether.

Head injury assessment in HPA play

The HPA's 2026 rules (Part 2, Annex F) require play to be stopped and the player removed from the pitch for a Head Injury Assessment after an impact to the head, or any other event that reasonably appears to have caused a potential concussion. Clubs must tell the HPA of a suspected concussion within 24 hours, and the HPA then notifies all clubs that the player is suspended for the minimum period. Clubs report all suspected concussions, whether in matches, training or otherwise, and players are responsible for reporting signs of possible concussion to their club, including from outside polo.

Protection

Helmets are compulsory under every polo rulebook we read, and the accepted standards differ by body and year; see helmets. For eye protection rules, see eye and face protection. Check the current rules of your club or tournament and the label on your gear.