A polo handicap is a system created by Henry Lloyd Herbert, the first president of the United States Polo Association, at the founding of the USPA in 1890 so teams could be more evenly matched when using players with varying abilities.
[citation needed] Handicaps of five goals and above generally belong to professional players.
It is the overall rating of a player's horsemanship, team play, knowledge of the game, strategy, and horses.
At one time, polo was the only sport in the world that considered sportsmanship when rating a player.
[2] A player's handicap is usually assessed by a committee at the authorizing club of his country.