A cheer went up from the crowd as the horses were first spotted walking down the beach entrance, each ridden or led by a helmeted athlete. Spectators surrounded the arena on the sand, and filled the 68th Street pavilion in Brant Beach. Polo had come to Long Beach Island.

Jim Koslovski from the Tinicum Park Polo Club, based in Erwinna, Pa., was sitting on an LBI beach last summer when he had “a harebrained idea,” he remarked with a smile.