Horses in good shape for KL2017 polo event - FIP

When it comes to polo, the most important aspect of the game is the strength of the horses, and not the rider or player.

Polo International Federation (FIP) technical director, John Fischer said all the horses that will be used for the upcoming 29th Kuala Lumpur SEA Games (KL2017) are under good care.

"Each team will be having 25 horses and now they are placed at the Royal Selangor Polo Club (RSPC) stable and will be transported to Putrajaya on Aug 18," Fischer told Bernama in an exclusive interview at the RSPC, adding that no more horses will come and leave the stable until match day.

Asked if there were any special horses in his care for the KL2017 as the Brunei royalties are participating, Fischer said that all horses are special in their own way.

"They are trained well to adapt to the game and all horses are magnificent and have been taken care well by their owners," said the Briton, while showing two of the horses that will be used in the Games.

According to the provisional start list, among the seven players listed for Brunei's team are the country's royalties -- Prince Mateen, Princess Azemah Ni'matul Bolkiah, Pengiran Muda Bahar Bolkiah, 36 and Pengiran Muda Abdul Qawi, 43.

Fischer, who is also a professional polo player himself, said that the majority of the horses for polo events come from Argentina and Great Britain.

Yesterday, both Malaysia and Brunei polo teams conducted their SEA Games official training session at the RSPC.

Four countries, namely Brunei, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia will be participating in the event that will be held at the Putrajaya Equestrian Park from Aug 22-29.

The opening match will be Singapore against Thailand followed by Malaysia against Brunei where it will witness Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin face off against royalties from Brunei.

-- BERNAMA