Galloping into reckoning
Hissam Haider is Pakistan’s highest-handicapped polo player.
Hissam Haider is Pakistan’s highest-handicapped polo player. He started playing aged 15 and turned professional in 2001, aged just 19. Since then polo has become his life. Wherever he plays, his horses are kitted out in the Pakistan colours and flag. In him, the country has an unsung ambassador who has literally galloped across the globe with the Pakistan flag. Here, he shares his thoughts and rise to stardom with The Express Tribune.
Polo seems a busy sport. Do you travel around much?
I’m a full-time professional and spend five months in England, three in Argentina and one in Thailand. Polo has taken me to China, UAE, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and France. In a few days, I am leaving for Barbados. The sport and the horses are my life and I consider myself lucky to have my obsession as my profession.
Is there a lot of money involved in the sport?
More than the money, it’s the good life that comes with it. Traveling, visiting new places, making friends and all that. The polo circuit in Pakistan also pays but not much to make a living.
It’s known as the ‘Game of Kings’. Does that mean it’s also an expensive sport?
That’s the case. A player needs to have at least five horses for the season. My stable in England has eight horses and I have a full-time groom to look after them. As a player moves up, the role of the horse increases and at the top level, it contributes about 80 per cent to your success. The circuits in England, US and Argentina are acknowledged as the best in the world. The English and American are more professional but the Argentines are more competitive.
But Argentina is not a rich country. Is it surprising that it’s a major force in the sport?
Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world about a century ago. Polo was brought mainly by the British engineers building roads and bridges. It was then embraced as a past time sport where everyone took part in it. Even today, most of these families have large farms and fields so polo has largely been unaffected by the economic downslide. The labour in the country is quite cheap so the manpower needed to look after the horses and the grounds is cheap too.
What happens after you give up the sport? Does it offer a lifelong career?
A polo player’s career is generally longer than other sportsmen because its a battle of the mind rather than the body. One can play aged 45. Afterwards, many move into managing teams, coaching, horse business and stuff like that. The sport does offer a lifelong career.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2011.
Polo seems a busy sport. Do you travel around much?
I’m a full-time professional and spend five months in England, three in Argentina and one in Thailand. Polo has taken me to China, UAE, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and France. In a few days, I am leaving for Barbados. The sport and the horses are my life and I consider myself lucky to have my obsession as my profession.
Is there a lot of money involved in the sport?
More than the money, it’s the good life that comes with it. Traveling, visiting new places, making friends and all that. The polo circuit in Pakistan also pays but not much to make a living.
It’s known as the ‘Game of Kings’. Does that mean it’s also an expensive sport?
That’s the case. A player needs to have at least five horses for the season. My stable in England has eight horses and I have a full-time groom to look after them. As a player moves up, the role of the horse increases and at the top level, it contributes about 80 per cent to your success. The circuits in England, US and Argentina are acknowledged as the best in the world. The English and American are more professional but the Argentines are more competitive.
But Argentina is not a rich country. Is it surprising that it’s a major force in the sport?
Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world about a century ago. Polo was brought mainly by the British engineers building roads and bridges. It was then embraced as a past time sport where everyone took part in it. Even today, most of these families have large farms and fields so polo has largely been unaffected by the economic downslide. The labour in the country is quite cheap so the manpower needed to look after the horses and the grounds is cheap too.
What happens after you give up the sport? Does it offer a lifelong career?
A polo player’s career is generally longer than other sportsmen because its a battle of the mind rather than the body. One can play aged 45. Afterwards, many move into managing teams, coaching, horse business and stuff like that. The sport does offer a lifelong career.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2011.