The horses spent years training for the U.S. Open Polo Championship, and they were the best of the best by the time they made it to the 2009 semifinals in Wellington.

Their owners cared for them so assiduously that you’d rarely see a fly in the stable, said the owners’ lawyer, Alvaro Mejer of Mejer Law in Coral Gables. But as 21 horses were led onto the field for the semifinals, they all started to look dizzy.