In the years 1904-14 Hardress Lloyd was capped eight times for Ireland in polo. In 1913 he was given a 10-goal handicap, the highest possible, only the second Irish player to achieve this, after Frederick Barrett of Cork. Hardress Lloyd was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, in Sandhurst, England, and joined the British Army, serving in India, South Africa and as a Tank Group Commander in World War I. He eventually retired from the Army with a rank of brigadier-general.
Lloyd began playing polo while a cadet at Sandhurst. He won the Hurlingham Champions Cup in 1905, 1906, and 1909 with the Roehampton Team and won the Ranelagh Cup from 1904-07. His other titles included winning the Army, County Challenge, Roehampton, All-Ireland Open, and the Rugby Open Cups.