Contributed by Sarah Eakin/Paper Horse Media & brought to you by HorseGrooms
When Carmela Martini arrived from Argentina two weeks ago, she was fulfilling a dream to see the Winter Equestrian Festival—she was not expecting to be starring in it as the winning groom of Saturday Night Lights. When Gonzalo Busca Roca and her charge Cristiano Obolensky won the Palm Beach County Sports Commission CSI3* Grand Prix, Martini was honored with the Double H Farm Grooms Award by sponsor Cayce Harrison.
“It was always my dream to come here to Wellington,” said the 22-year-old, who grew up riding and competing as a show jumper. “And to get to know this world, to understand how everything works here, the horses, the training, the routines. I couldn’t wait to be able to watch how top riders train their horses, how they take care of them.”
Martini is a year away from graduating from medical school at the University of Cordoba. This winter, however, she is on a hiatus, grooming for the first time at the top level of the profession. Having ridden since she was three, she has all the expertise needed, gleaned also from having her own two horses. One she has had for six years and is competing at 1.40m, and the other a young horse that she bought just one month before leaving for the States and is training herself.
Martini was told about the job with the leading Spanish rider by one of her many friends in the horse world. While she knew how to look after horses, she found some differences in the way things are done at the top level in Wellington. “The routine is stricter,” she said. “Feeding horses at 7am and then again at exactly 12pm, for example. We care for our horses just as much in Argentina, but we don’t have everything strictly planned out this way.”
Martini and her fellow grooms look after five horses for Busco Roca, Cristian Obolensky aka ‘Cris’ being one of them. According to Martini, Cris is quiet at home, but Saturday Night Lights brought out a whole new personality. “He transforms into another horse when he’s competing,” she said. “He’s the one that the kids can be around at the barn. But he has a lot of blood and the other night we met a new Cristiano.”
Going to bed at midnight on Saturday and getting up at 6am to go back to the show on Sunday did not phase Martini. “I am enjoying being here so much,” she said. Saturday Night Lights also brought unexpected bonuses.
“It was very nice to get a check,” Martini said of the $500 Double H Grooms award. The atmosphere of the packed International Arena was more familiar. “People in Argentina love, like here, to shout and have fun.
“I came here for the experience, and I’m getting more than I ever imagined,” concluded Martini. “I want to thank Gonzalo, Charlie [Gordon] and the whole team for that.”
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