A few months after Dr. Orion Mercaitis leased a polo pony from Olivia Stringer in Aiken, S.C., their relationship took off at a gallop.
Even before Dr. Orion Paul Mercaitis saw Olivia Louise Stringer, he heard her trying to get a fractious horse to settle down in October 2023 in the back of a trailer at New Haven Farm in Aiken, S.C.
“I don’t have a string of polo ponies, so I had to lease one,” said Dr. Mercaitis, 35, who lives in Guilderland, N.Y., outside Albany, and is a senior manager in the United States market access division for oncology drugs at Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company.
When he landed that job, Mr. Mercaitis couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than playing in a three-day polo tournament a couple of weeks later in Aiken, alongside Adam Snow, a polo champion and an owner of New Haven Farm.
“Get on the horse,” said Ms. Stringer, when she brought out a thoroughbred named Flash, one of three ponies for him to try that day. “I’m pretty direct,” she added. “He definitely laughed.”
Ms. Stringer, 40, a professional women’s polo player, owns Liv Polo, which provides rentals, sales, training and coaching in Aiken and the Northeast. She started playing polo at 13, representing United States in matches in international women’s polo in India in 2018 and Australia in 2022.
“We were pretty surprised to see each other,” said Ms. Stringer, who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in equine science and English from Colorado State University, and whose clients are usually adult amateurs, 50-plus. “He assumed I was older as well. He was a young, attractive person.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.