The British Army Polo team has arrived in Mongolia to participate in the annual friendly match with its Mongolian counterpart. The event will take place at the ‘Khan Polo’ club, located nearby the capital of Ulaanbaatar in Gachuurt on 17th of September.

Historians still debate the origins of polo. In the times of the Great Mongol Empire, Mongolian warriors played polo as a kind of military exercise, by picking up heads of sheep and goats from the ground while riding on a galloping horse. The game is also mentioned in Persian art and texts dating back more than a thousand years.  Some believe it to have been played in what is now Iran as far back as the 6th century B.C. Traders or warriors took the game across the Silk Road. In particular it flourished in Mogul India, where it remains a huge sport. Indian polo also captivated the British during the 19th century, who brought the sport back to England.

The United Kingdom was the first western country to establish diplomatic ties with Mongolia. The annual polo matches began in 2015 and first joint polo practice took place at military base in Khentii province.