Howard Hipwood, who has died aged 73, was often described as the country’s most famous polo player after the King; despite hailing from outside the sport’s natural milieu, he was one of its greatest representatives, playing off a handicap of nine goals for more than a decade.

He took part in the revival of the Coronation Cup in 1971, captained England to victory in the US Open, was twice finalist in the Argentine Open, and was on the winning team in all the principal English tournaments, including the Cowdray Gold Cup and the Cartier Queen’s Cup.

On the field he was known as “the bionic arm” thanks to his superb striking of the ball. The novelist Jilly Cooper described him as “strong and dazzling”, adding: “He storms on to the field like a god, straight-backed like a Prussian officer, and thunders down the pitch taking no prisoners.”

Hipwood, whose older brother Julian was also a formidable player, was a fine horseman, arguing that polo was as much about the animals as the players. “A poor horse will make your life a misery; a good horse will make it like paradise,” he said, adding that there is no relationship in sport as close as that between a rider and his horse.

Life as a professional polo player was a year-long circuit, taking in America, Argentina, Australia, Malaysia, France, Mexico and the four-month season in England, though Hipwood insisted that he played for the love of the game rather than for the money. “I started very young, and the money, or at least earning money, was not an issue for us,” he said. “Any money we had was always spent, and the challenge was always to play in the right spirit.”

Howard John Hipwood was born on March 24 1950 in Karachi, Pakistan, the second of three children of Brian Hipwood, who was stationed there with the RAF, and his wife Marion, née Brice, who weaned him with buffalo milk.

The family returned to England when he was four and his father became owner of a garage in Chalford, near Stroud in Gloucestershire. Soon the brothers were riding ponies on their grandfather’s smallholding at nearby Minchinhampton. “Julian and I used to take them out and play cowboys and Indians, jump fences, enter gymkhanas or do cross-country,” he recalled.

At the age of nine he was thrown from his mount at the 1959 Cherington Gymkhana but picked himself up and continued, winning all three prizes in the junior jumping event. He joined the VWH Pony Club in Cirencester and at around the same time discovered a set of polo sticks in his grandfather’s attic that were quickly pressed into service.

Meanwhile, there was his career to consider. He was signed by Bristol Rovers FC in 1965 but found the training exhausting and left after one season. He was also tempted by the Army but was deterred by a friend’s father, a senior officer who had become disillusioned with life in uniform, something he later regretted. Instead, he studied engineering at college.

Yet polo was soon dominating his life. “The offers were impossible to refuse,” he told Polo Quarterly International. “I was paid to travel the world playing the sport I love.”

His first break came with the Lush Hill team on a trip to Argentina, where his handicap rose to four goals. In 1969 he moved to Cowdray Park, where he won the Queen’s Cup twice and was promoted to a seven-goal handicap.

Four years later he joined Ronnie Driver’s San Flamingo, where he enjoyed two more Queen’s Cup victories. Meanwhile, he played for England against the US in 1971, remaining a member of the national squad until 1997.

Hipwood attributed his longevity in the sport to a healthy lifestyle. “I don’t smoke. I don’t drink too much. I get lots of sleep. I lead a very disciplined and routine-driven life,” he said.

He was, however, concerned about the cost and exclusivity of polo. “Top-class ponies can cost £25,000 to £30,000,” he added. “How do you compete against that as a normal, everyday person? Your only chance is through a patron who is very wealthy who is going to stick with you.”

During a match at Deauville in August 1997 he was involved in an accident on the pitch involving Alain Bernard, a French merchant banker, who subsequently fell into a coma. A legal case was settled by the Hurlingham Polo Association’s player-to-player insurance for £5 million in July 2006. By then Hipwood had turned to umpiring, and in 2006 was voted best professional umpire in England.

Despite losing most of his original front teeth to stray balls or mallets, the dashing Hipwood retained his chiselled good looks and strapping, big-boned physique. Being a somewhat reclusive figure he perhaps empathised more with horses than with his fellow man and rarely participated in the social side of the sport, though the Julian and Howard Hipwood Trophy is today an important fixture in the polo scene.

In 1972 he married Gill Drennan. They had two children, Oliver, who also played polo for England, and Jessica. That was dissolved, and in 1985 he married Lady Camilla Fane, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Westmorland. They also had two children, Rosanna, who was part of Prince Harry’s set, and Sebastian; that marriage was also dissolved.

Howard Hipwood is survived by his children.

Howard Hipwood, born March 24 1950, died June 6 2023