Meet the world’s oldest polo player, aged 86, who’s looking forward to next season: ‘Life’s treated me very well’
John Nash is waiting for confirmation from Guinness World Records but is older than the previous record holder
Meet John Nash, the oldest active polo player in the world, who says he is already looking forward to next season – under strict instructions from his family not to fall off.
At the age of 86, John took part in qualifying matches at Toulston Polo Club near Tadcaster on 5-6 September. He was aiming to break the Guinness World Record held by Brazilian player Armando Klabin, who played in a tournament in Rio in 2017, aged 85.
“It was a very interesting weekend!” he told H&H. “It was a great ego trip, of course, but also with the press coverage, the touchline was full of visitors, many hadn’t seen polo before and were talking about it.
“So my message of the day was: there were young lads coming on, but there’s also low-goal polo like this, people on various horses and of various ages, who can go and hit a ball around.”
John started playing polo in the 1960s, when he was working in Kenya, and riding all over a 10,000-acre arable ranch.
“I was in the saddle most of the day, then a local polo club asked if I was interested in having a go,” he said.
He did; he learned to play on an older high-goal pony, told to “allow the horse to take him to the right spot, and when there, try to hit the ball”. He then played on the ranch horses, whom he would hack 22 miles to the polo ground on a Friday, play all weekend, then ride home on the Monday.
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John came back to England in 1969, worked as a milkman for a while and worked on a farm, so did not ride for a couple of years.
“Then one day, going past Toulston Polo Club, I saw this sign saying come in and look, saw them play and they said ‘Why not join us?’” he said. “So the following year, I bought myself a horse and joined.”
John had six ponies at one point, and had a one-goal handicap, travelling around the country to play.
John Nash: “Have ponies, will travel”
“It was a case of ‘have ponies, will travel’,” he said. “I used to play a lot of rugby, a lot in Kenya, then came back and played for Driffield, but when I was about 35, my legs weren’t as good as they were. I liked chasing a ball so thought ‘Why not put a four-legged pony underneath?’! and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
John said he enjoys the way the ponies interact in polo, and the fact families and children join in, in the pony lines. He has bred ponies, played in Ireland, Argentina and New Zealand, snow polo at Cortina and Klosters, even elephant polo in Nepal, not to mention encouraging countless people into the sport.
He said his best polo moment was unseating General Denaro, SAS and principal at Sandhurst, while playing at Dallas Burston in the Masters. “He came in to ride me off rather hard but to his surprise came out much the loser!” John said.
His must-haves to keep in the lorry are cow udder balm – “great for aching joints” – and, of course, beer for afterwards.
His biggest mishaps included losing the end of one finger while tying up a horse – “I should have put it in some ice but zipped the finger in my pocket and forgot about it until I got to hospital” – and the time he regained consciousness after a fall, to find a man with his hand in John’s mouth looking for his tongue.
John said he did have a short break from polo for health-related reasons but started again in June at Toulston.
“I was out for a short while as I was losing my balance,” he explained. “I had some treatment and got my balance back – plus my ego!
“Then a member of Toulston Polo Club said they would put me forward for the record and was I up for it, and I said ‘Kick on’!”
John Nash said lots of official records were needed to confirm the record, which have been submitted.
“It’s been actually very gratifying,” he said. “It’s got out in the press, and it’s brought all sorts of people out of woodwork, and showed what a family game it is.
“In one of the matches I played on Saturday, there was a young lad playing good polo – he actually pinched the ball off me twice – who was 10, and I’m 86. There was 76 years’ difference between us, and we were playing together.”
John owns one polo pony now, Leo; he said having one is “very suitable”.
“I go to the club, play my two chukkas, talk to everyone – if you don’t use it, you lose it,” he said,. Asked if his family had advised him to stop playing, he said: “They regularly do! No, they just say ‘Don’t fall off’. I think they realise if I didn’t play polo – I’m still a working farmer but I’d probably be a frustrated pain in the butt, wouldn’t I?”
So the plan is to play again next season; looking back at his six decades in the game, John said it has been a “summer high”.
“Looking back, life has treated me very well, and I think the message is really that it’s an inclusive sport,” he said. “You’ve got the families, the players, the grooms, farriers, all these people. You’re always meeting people in the yard, and it’s wonderful. The polo ponies in the yard come up to you – not for lumps of sugar because I don’t do that – because they want to be with you. It’s a wonderful atmosphere.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.