Within and Between-Tournament Variability in Equestrian Polo

Area of Science:

• Equestrian sports science
• Animal locomotion analysis
• Performance analytics in animal athletes

Background:

• External work in Polo ponies is documented but variability within data is underexplored.
• Understanding variability is crucial for performance prediction, coaching, and horse development.
• Comparison with other equestrian disciplines requires robust variability data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify within- and between-tournament variability in Polo pony external work metrics.
• To examine how variability changes across different Polo play levels (0- to 16-goal, Women's Polo).
• To propose a reliable method for assessing between-tournament variability.

Main Methods:

• Collected Global Positioning System (GPS) data from 618 chukkas across three New Zealand Polo seasons.
• Calculated standard error and coefficient of variation for within-tournament variability.
• Assessed between-tournament variability using median percentage difference and Spearman's rho.

Main Results:

• Playing duration, speeds, and distance metrics generally increase with Polo level, accompanied by reduced within-tournament variability.
• Nought (0-), 6-goal, and Women's Polo demonstrated comparable within-tournament measures.
• Polo displays high between-tournament variability, with within-player variability often exceeding between-player variability.

Conclusions:

• Within-player variability in Polo can exceed between-player variability, challenging reliability interpretations.
• Z-scores offer a practical method for capturing and presenting between-tournament variability.
• This approach aids in comparing Polo performance across tournaments and seasons.