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With thousand pound animals running at speed there is a pre-eminent necessity for a right of way rule. The central concept in the rules of polo is the line of the ball, a right-of-way established by the path of the traveling ball. Like the rules of the road, there are dos and don'ts governing access to this right-of-way and crossing it. Within these limitations, a player can hook an opponent's mallet, push him off the line, bump him with his horse or steal the ball from him. Penalties are awarded as free hits. The more severe, the shorter the distance to the goal mouth. The closer hits are almost certain goals. After every goal is scored, the teams change sides in order to compensate for field and wind conditions. A typical score would be 10-7. Polo games are played on the flat or the handicap. Every registered player is awarded a skill rating from C (-2, the lowest) to 10 (the highest). Only a handful of U.S. players are rated above 6. When a match is played on the handicap basis, the sum total rating of the players on the team is subtracted from that of the opposition. Any difference is then awarded to the lower rated side in goals on the scoreboard. Two mounted umpires on the field and a referee in the stands officiate the games.
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