When Carmela Martini arrived from Argentina two weeks ago, she was fulfilling a dream to see the Winter Equestrian Festival – she had not expected 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 $140,000 CSI 3* Grand Prix.
Dream
“It was always my dream to come here to Wellington,” the 22-year old, who grew up riding and competing as a showjumper said. “And to get to know this world, to understand how everything works here, the horses, the training, the routines. Being able to watch how top riders train their horses, how they take care of them. So I thought that it was a good possibility to do that for my first time working as a groom.”
Medical School
Martini is a year away from graduating from medical school at the University of Cordoba. This winter she is on a hiatus, grooming for the first time at the top level of the profession. Having ridden since was three years old she has all the expertise needed, gleaned also from having her own two horses, one that she has had for six years and is competing at 1m40 and the other a young horse that she bought just one month before leaving for the States and is training herself.
A More Strict Routine
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 more strict,” she said. “Feeding horses at 7am and then again at 12pm for example. We care for our horses just as much in Argentina, but we don’t have everything strictly planned out this way.”
A Whole New Personality
Martini and her fellow grooms look after five horses for Busco Roca, Cristian Obolensky aka ‘Cris’ being one of them. At home he is quiet, 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. He is super nice. But he has a lot of blood and the other night we met a new Cristiano, who was super excited and seemed to be a different horse.”
Double H Grooms Award
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. In Argentina, the rider may often give some of the winnings to the groom but there is no designated financial prize. “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, also like here, to shout and have fun,” she said.
Carmela Martini (right) after Cristian Obolensky’s win in the Saturday Night Lights Grand Prix at Wellington International. Photo courtesy of Sarah Eakin of Paper Horse Media
Surpassed Expectations
With her expectations surpassed by the scale of the competition and the environment of Wellington, the south Florida location has also proved to be a plus. “I’ve been to Palm Beach,” she said. “It was amazing. It is beautiful here. I came here for the experience working at the Winter Equestrian Festival and I’m getting more than I ever imagined. I really want to thank Gonzalo, Charlie [Gordon] and the whole team for that.”
Main photo, courtesy of Sportfot: Carmela Martini (left) in the presentation of the Double H Grooms Award at Wellington International.
Sarah Eakin has a long history of sports reporting and covering equestrian disciplines – particularly show jumping, polo, racing and dressage – for a range of international publications as writer and editor-in-chief. In 2024, Sarah launched Paper Horse – an online magazine with an eclectic mix of stories from the horse world at www.paperhorsemedia.com. Paper Horse is an official Media Partner of Wellington International. Sarah was born in England and came to the US in 1996 as Sidelines’ Polo Editor; at the time she was chief polo writer at the Horse and Hound and Polo Correspondent to The Daily Telegraph. She married US professional polo player Gary Eakin and stayed Stateside traveling throughout North America while covering equestrian events. She is also an author; Wed, White and Blue, her first novel is on Amazon.
