IT'S NO GOOD YOU GETTING ON YOUR HIGH HORSE! Polo players Peter Webb, left, and Roddy Williams clash on Sandbanks beach

POLO ponies thundering along Sandbanks beach, sand flying from their hooves, riders jostling for position to whack a bright orange ball.

This is beach polo and an exciting taste of the high-speed action will come to Poole at the weekend, when the resort hosts the British Beach Polo Championships.

The Daily Echo and Dorset Society Magazine are media sponsors for the first event of its kind in Europe. It will involve international players showing off their skills in an arena 100m by 50m on the award-winning beach on Friday and Saturday.

Click for hospitality details...

"It's going to be an incredible event and it's a great beach," said David Heaton-Ellis of organisers Sandpolo.

"If we are going to play polo, we should be playing polo on the best beach in England."

Approximately 1,000 people will be able to see the three matches each day in which six teams of three players will participate, with a free viewing area on the sea side.

"It is an elitist sport, but it has opened up an awful lot in the last 10 years and is now for everyone," he said.

Similar events have been held in Miami and Dubai and the organisers hope to make this an annual event.

The surface is essential to this fast-moving sport and deeper digging to get to more compact, wetter sand below the surface was the verdict after some speed trials. The ponies can achieve speeds of 30-40mph.

International player Peter Webb said: "It's a fun sport and hopefully it will be fun to watch. I hope the people around here will welcome it. It's a great spectacle."

The Borough of Poole and residents association are in support, a charity match will raise funds for Help for Heroes and the Army Benevolent Fund and on the Sunday the arena will be used for a Football Focus tournament for youngsters, organised by the police and council.

"International events like this are what are needed in Poole," said Cllr Peter Adams, cabinet portfolio holder for leisure.

"Poole has some of the most beautiful beaches and facilities, which we have always undersold.

"This we hope will become an annual event, attracting large numbers of visitors to the beach and prestige to the town," he added.

For more information, tickets and details of corporate hospitality package click the link below

6:42am Tuesday 10th June 2008

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