What led to your job working with Greg Crolick?
Two years ago, a guy suggested that I come and work with him. I came to work there with my son, Angel, and I also have a cousin and two friends who work with me. It’s like a family. I used to be a cowboy – I lost one of my fingers doing that. I came to the USA from Mexico five years ago and started working with hunters, and I learned a lot as I worked with them. It was very, very different.
How would you describe Chappy’s personality?
He is very quiet, very relaxed. He is one of my favorite horses. He likes treats – but he doesn’t like candy. He loves apples, carrots, all kinds of fruit – even strawberries – and cookies.
How did you prepare Chappy for the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby?
I give him a bath, wash his hooves, make sure everything is clean. Then it takes 20 minutes to get him ready. I know it is an important class, and I think he knows it, too. I do talk to him – I tell him that he’s very good and talk to him calmly. I think he understands what I am saying, but he cannot talk!
What do you love most about your job?
I really like my job. It is great working here. I love being around the horses, taking them out to eat grass, walking them, looking after them. I am also very happy to be working with some of my family and my friends.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to work as a groom at the top level of the sport?
You have to really want to do this job, and you have to really like looking after horses because working with hunters is a little different. It is long hours, so you need to like to work.
You need to learn as much as you can about horses. Ask questions, pay attention to your work. I am very grateful to the people that I learned from, and I learned mostly from doing the work and finding out more by asking questions.
Read more stories about winning grooms of the 2025 season in Wellington:
* About Joy Michel
* About Efren Zebello and Abel Sanchez
* About Lisa Sorg
* About German Rodriguez
* About Denise Moriarty
* About the team behind Ondine d’Orleans
* About Tim Delovich
* About Marina Lemay
* About Luis Mandujano and Ladislao Lara
* About Remigio Padilla
* About Sofie Karlsson
* About Anna Halasz
* About Tamiles Pezzim
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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.
