“It’s open to negotiation, though,” I continued, speaking loudly atop the horse. “Horses from this trainer are highly coveted, but it doesn’t mean she’ll sell to the highest buyer.”
“Have you bought horses through this trainer before?” Arthur asked, not paying enough attention to the horse. It was a novice move. I was here to advise him on the horses he should buy, but that didn’t mean he should invest all his trust in me. Not everyone played by the rules—especially the middleman in buy-sell transactions.
I moved my hand to the right, and the horse performed a flying lead change as we moved in the opposite direction. She was incredible. Only six—the prime age for a sponsor like Arthur playing high-goal polo—and she was highly responsive to each of my commands. I barely had to move my rein hand to ask her what I wanted.
“Yes, Ani is a fantastic trainer.” She was a woman I met in Wellington a few years ago who worked with horses in high-goal polo. Her demeanor was stern, but she was patient and forgiving with the horses she trained. Some of the best players in the world hired her to train horses for them, but she never fully committed to one professional. Her goal was to find the best horses with the worst problems.
“Alright then,” Arthur reached into his pocket while I asked the mare to turn, and she complied willingly. She was smooth beneath me, never fighting the bit, and keeping her haunches beneath her when we stopped. If this horse weren’t over my budget, I would have loved to buy her for myself. As I approached the fence, Arthur wrote in his checkbook. “Did she pass the vet check?”
I raised a brow. I wasn’t sure who had helped him buy his horses in Wellington—or how involved he was in the process atall—but usually, the potential buyer asked for the vet check after they decided they liked the horse enough to purchase it.
“She hasn’t had one yet, but if you like the horse enough, I will give Ani a call and arrange for it.”
“Okay, thanks, Jack. And how do you think this horse would do with beginners?”
I patted the horse’s neck and dismounted. “Beginners? You mean someone who has never ridden or someone new to polo?”
Arthur glanced back at his barn, where a brunette who looked to be around my age walked outside toward us. “That’s my daughter, Aurora. She’s busy with college and such, but I would love to get her on a horse with me one day. Not my primary reason for buying the horse, but I don’t get to see her very often with her being at Princeton, so I feel like this could be our thing.”
Smiling, I thought about bonding with my own child the way Arthur wanted to bond with his. I hoped that we could trail ride around the club together and I could teach them how to swing a mallet and ride a horse. If the baby were anything like their parents, they would be galloping down a polo field before they could ride a bike.
“This mare is extremely responsive and quiet, so if Aurora has a little bit of experience under her belt, it shouldn’t be a problem to ride her.”
Arthur nodded. “Good to know.”
As Aurora walked closer, her eyes perked up when she heard her name. “Hi, Dad.”
Arthur turned around. “Sweetheart, come on over. I was just discussing with Jack if this horse was safe for you to ride.”
Her brows raised as she looked between us and propped her arms on the fence. Then she reached a hand out, silently asking to pet the horse.
“Go ahead,” I motioned. “She’s sweet.”
Arthur smiled at his daughter as she tickled the mare’s nose with her fingers. “What
do you think, darling?”
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable riding, but if you want another polo pony to play here, I won’t stop you,” she said softly, never taking her eyes off the horse. She looked nervous about her father’s proposition.
His brows fell. “Oh, okay. No problem. I just wanted to know if you would be interested in learning.”
Aurora turned to Arthur apologetically. “Sorry, Dad. I’m just not sure I am ready to ride a horse, yet.”
He shook his head. “No, no. It’s okay. I would buy her just for you to look at if that is what you want.”
She smiled softly, guilt flashing in her eyes.
Arthur turned back to me. “Yes, let’s get her vet checked and, if all goes well, I want to buy her.”
I nodded, glancing between him and his daughter. “Gotcha. I’ll call Ani.”
When I brought the horse back into the barn, one of Arthur’s barn hands took her from me to untack and shower her. “Hey, Jack,” Arthur said before I could say my goodbyes. “You have a kid on the way, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t let them grow up too quickly.” His eyes were distant. “They leave you way before you are ready to let them go.”
Chapter twenty
