Читать книгу Lord William Beresford, V.C., Some Memories of a Famous Sportsman, Soldier and Wit онлайн

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Now the rules bid for greater safety and greater enjoyment, though I remember as late as 1883, or thereabouts, at Lucknow, where the 10th Hussars were then playing, they habitually sent down to the ground a doolie or two for the removal of the sick and wounded after a game. A doolie is a sort of hand ambulance, carried by natives. In India the ground is so hard that if anyone gets a fall it is like coming down on pavement. It is a mystery to me how the ponies’ legs stand it, and the 10th played a fast game.

They made a great name for themselves at polo, and when they left the country their ponies were all put up for sale. People came to the sale from far and wide, for the ponies naturally carried a reflected glory from the prowess of their riders. I well remember the sale. Of course there were some valuable ponies sold which had made names for themselves, but there were not a few that had done nothing very great, and their owners were staggered at the big prices they fetched, simply because they belonged to the 10th, and people therefore thought they must be good polo ponies.