90 SIDELINES MAY 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
P
O
L
O
By Danika Rice
The character of an industry is often guided by a
collective reverence for those at the “top of the game,” the
professionals and standout stars that showcase the utmost
talent and ability in their respective sport. However, in polo,
character is often defned in the stories told about not only
the sport’s top players, but the grooms, umpires, patrons
and, of course, the horses that comprise the history and
appeal at all levels of the “Sport of Kings.” One of polo’s
greatest storytellers is Sam Morton, an author, equine
dentist, horse trainer, coach and…well, you get the idea.
He’s polo’s man of many hats. Sam is an exemplary model
of the hardworking, fun-having, polo-playing lifestyle.
Sidelines caught up with Sam to visit about his storytelling
and the great characters in his life.
Sidelines:
What is your favorite story in polo that you have
yet to share in print?
SM:
Most of those won’t get printed for the right reasons;
but there’s one concerning a horse, a plate glass window in
Palm Beach and a swimming pool that will have to cool off
for awhile. The other one is the Horse Killer of Wellington
which is a humorous mystery about the high end of
dressage, hunters, jumpers and the polo crowd around
Wellington, Florida. I got a large chunk fnished before I got
a deal working on something else so it will have to wait until
I fnish the book I’m working on now. I didn’t have to make
up anything, only change people’s names. I ran the frst
chapter in Polo Players Edition but they wouldn’t publish
the rest, probably for the right reasons.
Sidelines:
Which do you enjoy more: the historical context
of books like Where the Rivers Run North, or writing about
your friends and acquaintances in the polo community?
SM:
It’s like asking a father which son or daughter he likes
the most. Where the Rivers Run North was an odyssey
involving getting close to a lot of western horsemen and
some incredible historic stories. I honestly sometimes
forget what I write about so it always amazes me when
somebody comes up and mentions them. Some of my
best stuff I think is from the mid nineties that came out
in Sidelines. I still get people mention one called “She’s
no Lady, She’s my Patron.” And the one about the horse
show crowd called “Velvet Head get out of the Road!” I had
a lot of fun with those whether it’s a belly laugh or I’m tight
rope walking on that thin line of decorum. At Sidelines,
I could write about anything I wanted. I got most of the
material from friends. A lot of things got jotted down on
cocktail napkins.
Sidelines:
If you could write a biography about one person
in polo, who would it be about, and why?
SM:
Oh, there’s lots of people. Once you get inside their
lives, there are some pretty incredible stories foating
around out there. Skey Johnston, Tim Gannon, Oakleigh
Thorne or Wayne Garrison to name a few. When I was
working on Where the Rivers Run North, the Wallop family
gave me a trunk full of letters from Oliver Henry Wallop to his
fancé from the years 1882 to 1926. Wallop was at Oxford with
Thomas Hitchcock senior, raised thousands of Thoroughbreds on
the open range in Montana, was a deputy sheriff, drank a lot of
whiskey with Buffalo Bill and was called back to England to serve
on the House of Lords towards the end of his life. I have a photo
of him in a polo game in Miles City Montana in 1894. Right now,
I’m writing a book about a family and their history through the
American Revolution, the War of 1812, the American Civil War
and the frontier of the American West.
Sidelines:
What is your favorite part about being involved in so
many facets of the polo industry?
SM:
Soft women and hard $cash$. No, seriously, working with
young horses is probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done. I
used to break a lot of colts in Wyoming which eventually morphed
into training polo horses, which is an entirely different thing.
Teaching young horses is a lot like coaching little kids, only you
don’t have to deal with the parents. One of the best experiences I
had was to get to keep a set of green horses long enough to play
them in a series of 26 goal practice games. After that I felt like
I theoretically had enough experience to take a foal off a mare
Five Questions
for Sam Morton
Continued on page 92