After a long day spent running companies or managing hedge funds, many power players can be found at the gym. But Peter Brant, chairman of White Birch Paper, can be found in the saddle.

“After a game of polo, I feel like I am 25,” says the 59-year-old newsprint manufacturer, who squeezes in four 45-minute practice sessions each week, riding one of his world-class ponies at the Greenwich Polo Club, in Greenwich, Connecticut. “It’s such a great, healthy rush.”

To play at Brant’s level requires deep pockets, and not just because of the entry fees, travel expenses, and cost of horses and equipment. There’s a reason high-level amateurs are also known as “patrons”: They can spend upwards of $1 million a year to keep a deep bench of ponies and hire their own teams of professionals so they can compete with the best players in the big tournaments. Unlike in baseball or basketball, “part of the thrill of polo is that the sponsors can actually play in the event,” says Edward Armstrong, director of tournaments and club development at the United States Polo Association.

The excitement also lies in the fast-paced and dangerous nature of the game. Players’ horses bound down the field at 30 miles per hour after the ball, only to come to a dead stop, wheel around, and sprint to the other end. At the same time, as players are doing everything they can to stop the opposition, mallets get hooked and riders can be pulled from their horses.

Fans flock to the fields not just to experience the drama but also to soak up the moneyed atmosphere. Attired as hockey fans would never be, polo spectators enjoy the game from tents, sipping drinks and checking out the vendors of luxury goods. “In the sponsor’s tent, polo is more of a backdrop,” says Leighton Jordan, managing director of the Greenwich Polo Club and the Bridgehampton Polo Club, where the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge tournament is held every August. Entry to the V.I.P. marquee—usually sponsored by a luxury-goods company that pays a fee to showcase its products—is typically by invitation only. “There are a lot of young, up-and-coming people there,” Jordan says. “A lot of socializing goes on.”

But whether you’re there for the game or the champagne, it helps to know what’s happening on the field.

The Basics
Polo games are divided into six seven-minute periods called chukkers. Resembling hockey players on horseback, the players—four on each team—swing a 52-inch mallet at a small white ball, trying to advance it into their opponent’s goal, which is marked by two posts. At the end of each chukker, the teams switch sides and players typically change horses to get a fresh mount that’s ready to be ridden at top speed.

The four players, on the other hand, stay in the game the whole time. They use a variety of different strokes, such as the powerful forehand (visualize the Polo Ralph Lauren logo) or the offside neck shot (considered dangerous because the mallet can get in the way of the horse’s legs). Players can even knock the ball out under the horse’s belly.

Rather than being associated with places, the teams, outfitted in white jeans and brightly colored shirts, are affiliated with their wealthy sponsors. Among the most famous are White Birch (headed by Brant) and Crab Orchard (a newer team with Adolfo Cambiaso, considered the best polo player in the world).

Each player has a handicap, which can range from –2 (the worst) to 10. Most amateurs have a 0- or 1-goal handicap; only about 12 professional players have 10-goal handicaps. Tournaments are organized by handicap. In a 20-goal tournament, for example, the team’s combined handicap must come close to or be at 20 goals. If opponents have different handicaps—a 20-goal team versus an 18-goal team, for example—the lower-ranked team starts two goals ahead. High-goal polo means teams participating in a tournament are 20-goal or above, and most high-goal games conclude with both teams scoring in the low teens.

The History
The earliest written accounts of polo are more than 2,000 years old, although historians believe the game was played well before that. In Persia, it flourished as a way to train young men for war; from there, it spread to China, Japan, and India. The word polo derives from the Tibetan word for ball, pulu. In the mid-1800s, British military officers who had been stationed in India introduced the sport to England. It was quickly imported to the U.S., where the first game was played in 1876.

The Dress Code
“You do not have to dress up,” says International Polo Club Palm Beach spokesperson Y.A. Giants. “People wear everything from T-shirts to tiaras.” For women, appropriate garb includes sundresses and flats, which make walking into the field to stomp divots at halftime manageable. (It’s tradition for spectators to replace the chunks of grass that are torn up by horses’ hooves; it’s also a good time to socialize.) High heels are not advised, especially if it has rained in the past week. Men typically wear dress khakis and a button-down shirt. In a box at a finals match, men may wear a coat and tie, women hats. Tailgaters can go more casual (jeans and wedge espadrilles, say). In England, bring a wrap and an umbrella, as the game will continue regardless of the weather.
 
The Season
The polo season extends through the whole year, with players and horses moving to warm areas as the temperature drops. For more on the most prominent venues, click here.