Argentina: The Epicenter of Polo Excellence and Tradition

Now, one of the most important polo tournaments in the world is taking place in Argentina. Buenos Aires shines in November as the main arena for world polo, attracting passionate amateurs and professionals of "The game of kings" from every corner of the globe.

Polo fields in Palermo, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, becomes a dramatic setting for the battle between the best players and a luxury spectacle for visitors.
Why has Buenos Aires become the most desired place to practice and watch polo, and the homeland of the best players and horses?

It all started at the end of the 19th century when English immigrants arrived in Argentina. Some came to build the railroads, while others came to develop the potential of Argentina’s Pampas for large-scale farming. These British immigrants greatly influenced the Argentine taste for sports, introducing football, hockey, rugby, golf, and polo.

Some of the newcomers practiced polo in England, where the sport had already become popular among the British aristocracy, having been imported this game from India. Families settled on ranches around Buenos Aires, where they founded the first polo clubs. Among these clubs is the oldest, Hurlingham Polo Club, which is part of a traditional polo tournament that is over 130 years old.

The passion of the Argentines for horses, the gaucho tradition, the snow-free Buenos Aires climate, and the flat lands made this sport flourish in the fertile Argentine soil. Since the founding of the Argentine Polo Federation in the 1920s, the sport has spread across the country. And since the Argentine victory at the Olympic Games in Paris 100 years ago, the power of Argentine horses and riders has been recognized internationally.

The legendary Argentine polo owes its worldwide recognition to both the quality of its players and the quality of its horses. The crossbreeding of Argentine Criollo horses with purebred English Thoroughbreds gave rise to the ideal polo pony—fast, docile, flexible, intelligent, and agile.

The excellent level of Argentine polo has made the most important tournaments played in the country—the Palermo Open, Hurlingham, and Tortugas—some of the most prestigious in the world. They are known as the Argentine Polo Triple Crown.

We invite you to visit and participate in the world’s biggest polo event, which this year culminates with the final of the Palermo Open on December 7th.