When you Google “polo” the first thing that comes up is www.ralphlauren.com. But polo is becoming more than an insignia on a shirt, and an elitist sport.

The U.S Polo Association lists seven clubs in New Jersey (www.us-polo.org/clubs.htm#nj). Check out the local calendars and you are bound to find a tournament somewhere near you. Chances are, it is for a charitable cause.

We joined the Polo Classic on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alznj.org) at the Hillsborough Country Club (www.hillsboroughgolf.com) last weekend. More than 150 corporations pitched in and some pitched tents on the sidelines for their employees and families. It is billed as the most successful polo charity event in the United States.

There were no noses-in-the-air here. The only celebrity posing for pictures was Miss New Jersey, Amy Polumbo of Freehold.

A miniature train full of delighted toddlers circled the polo field. A clown on stilts juggled as the beer flowed and the barbeques glowed. The announcer advised the crowd that they should duck in the event the polo ball flew towards them at a high rate of speed.

Most of the players were from Argentina. A few participants in this so-called Game of Kings became de-throned (watch the video), but fortunately none was hurt.

For many in the crowd, it was the first time at a polo match. But it is a sport that needed little in the way of explanation. After all, it was first played by warriors—probably as a military exercise. A few thousand years later, they are still at it.

Players and their horses chase a ball up and down the field three hundred-yards long, on a spectacular June afternoon. They bump-pass-score. When the action breaks, the rush for the chow line starts. It’s polo for the masses: fun, food and good sport.