Emanuela Karastojanova
A couple of days after the Martini’s have been awarded the 2009 Public Contribution prize, I am standing in their home for the interview we have scheduled. It is a home, in the actual
meaning of the word- warm, spacious and welcoming- just like their hearts are. I realize how lucky I am to be here and meet these amazing people. Sitting in a comfortable couch, I go through the list of questions but all I can think about is how to stop the time- this is a place I wouldn’t want to leave.
Emilios and Alexandra Martini have four daughters. Natali is 20 years old and she is athlete in show jumping (in the past also in dressage), she is a member of the Equestrian Club of Athens and also rides in the Mediterranean Equestrian Club. Right now she is studying Business Management and Equine Studies in Warwick College in Britain.
Prizes: Second champion in children class in Dressage in 2004, Winner with the most collected points in the Championship in 2004 in children class, she won the cup in children class in 2004, she took part in the finals of the International Championship FEI Challenge in dressage in Germany in 2004, winner with the most collected points in the competition B6 in dressage in 2005.
Monica is 18 years old and is a member of the Equestrian Club of Athens and also rides in the Mediterranean Equestrian Club.
Prizes: Second champion in the Balkan Championship for juniors in 2009, Second champion of the Greek Championship for juniors in 2009, the winner of the Balkan Championship (Amazon Team) in 2008, winner of the Greek Championship for juniors in 2007, took part in the European Championship for juniors in 2009.
Laura is 15 years old and she is athlete in show jumping and dressage and
is a member of the Equestrian Club of Athens and also rides in the Mediterranean Equestrian Club.
Prizes: Winner of the Balkan Championship in individual and team show jumping in children class in 2009, winner of the Championship for dressage in children class in 2008, winner with the most collected points in the championship А3 for juniors in 2006.
Paola is 9 years old and is member of the Mediterranean Equestrian Club
GRREPORTER: First, I would like to ask you if you have expected the prize...
Emilios: No, not at all. We were quite surprised. The truth is that in the Greek ridding society most of the people know us. We have been in this sport for 10-12 years now and so have our
children. We try to help the ridding sport in Greece in any way we can. And one day we were told: “You know, we have decided to give the award to a family with a goal higher-minded than
others’, trying to show something really very good in sport and taking care of their family as well.” This is how we got at the award ceremony. When we received the letter we couldn’t
believe it. We were ecstatic. I thought to myself, “It’s impossible.” What I know is that I give my best to make things work.
GRREPORTER: Now that you’re holding the award in your hands, what are you thinking? What does this mean to you?
Emilios: There’s one thing I can say: A lifetime acknowledgement!
Alexandra: We do everything with emotion, in the way we feel it. For us, the way we live is important. We keep close to our children as they do with us. Our Older daughter is almost 20 (she
studies in Britain) and the younger is 9. 11 years is a serious difference in the age but they are really close. The kids of course are at school during the day but in the evening we all sit
at the table and have dinner.
GRREPORTER: It shows that you are a very united family...
Alexandra: This is so. The fact that all of our children are involved in the same sport makes us even closer. In the weekends we participate showjumping competitions - we pack our bags and
leave with the children. If one of them has a problem with her horse during training or the competition the others help her. They take care of the horses together. The most important thing
for us is that our children live in a great atmosphere. We will be there for them as long as we can. But as parents, we are going to leave this world earlier and knowing that our children
are united makes us really happy.
Emilios: If we follow this logic, we have created a nucleus of certain kind. We will leave sooner or later, that’s for sure. But we have started a chain- each of our four children will have
four of their own, and so on and so on. I really hope this goes on because this is how our society should be built.
GRREPORTER: How did your love for horse-back riding start?
Emilios: The kids brought us this “trouble” themselves. Our second daughter is crazy about horses. She would make us go see them all the times. One day we were passing by a horse-back riding
club and that was it... I had to change my route. For a year I did not pass by the place hoping my daughter would forget about the horses. Unfortunately, the road I was using got closed so I
had to start using the old one again. One day we just entered the place and never got out.
GRREPORTER: So whatever is destined...
Emilios: Yes, definitely.
GRREPORTER: Your oldest daughter, Nataly, is studying in England...
Emilios: It all began with Monica, our second daughter. Nataly, the oldest one, got her love for the horses from her, and became better than her with the time. There was this time when
Nataly had broken her arm and had to sleep sitting for 15 nights. We didn’t get much sleep as well. The first thing she did after these sleepless nights was to go see the horses and when her
arm was healed (it was a really bad brake, her shoulder) she got on the horse right away. And since the horse was not the most appropriate one for showjumping, Nataly decided to get into
dressage. She participated Greek and International championships in dressage with a showjumping horse, can you imagine! And it hasn’t stopped until today. Currently she is studying in
Warwick College- business management and Equine Studies.
GRREPORTER: How are things in Greece regarding horse-back riding?
Emilios: Dramatic.
Alexandra: We don’t have anything profetional here... with the assistance of the International Equestrian Federation, the Greek Federation is organizing seminars for trainers, at different
levels. These last for four days and then the participants have to write a paper proving they have enough knowledge to teach. There is no school in the actual meaning of the word.
GRREPORTER: As far as I understand, things are at a very informal state in this area...
Alexandra: Exactly. Greece is not known for any history of Horse competitions; although that Greeks would use horses in their everyday life, especially for work.
Emilios: The first person in the world to introduce horse training was Xenofont, in 500 BC. He was also the one to write the first book for horse training. Ancient Athenians would train
their horses while they were travelling. The exercises used to keep the horses in shape so that when they would get on solid ground again in 30, 40, 60 or more days, they would be fit.
Ancient Athenians built the foundations of horse training. You can imagine how long ago this was and today Greece, as well as all the Balkans, is lagging behind in the field of horse racing.
GRREPORTER: As parents, would you like it if your children devoted their lives to horses, turn it into profession?
Alexandra: I would say yes- with all the pros and cons. The children have different personalities, different interests- one is more competitive, another is more positive, the third one likes
to organize people around her... Yes, I would be happy with such a choice. My personal opinion is that if you have a relationship with a horse, or even more than one, you begin seeing life
and people around you differently.
Emilios: We should start by saying that everybody should do what they love. Otherwise he/she wouldn’t do it well.
GRREPORTER: What does horseback riding give a person? What can one learn from it?
Alexandra: I believe that one can learn a lot but those that learn the most are the children. They get used to taking care and being responsible for another living creature that depends
entirely on him/her. If the kid does not give water to the horse he will be thirsty, if he/she forgets to feed it, it will be hungry, and it will be cold if the child does not put a blanket
on it during the night. There is the huge idea of responsibility attached to that. This is when you understand that you are the one to take care for the animal. This is a beautiful thing.
And when the time comes for a competition, the horse is the kid’s “partner”. They both need to get a good sleep. If one of them hasn’t, the other one cannot do anything at the competition.
They depend on each other. There are both happy and sad moments in this sport as in any other.
GRREPORTER: What are the dangers?
Alexandra: There are tough moments. Once Nataly’s horse got sick and to undergo surgery. She was there all the time and helped during the surgery. It was extremely hard for her. These things
don’t happen every day but they do happen. This was the worst we had to go through.
GRREPORTER: How often do they train?
Alexandra: Every day!
Emilios: Every day after school we go with our children to the stables to practice, with the schedule being particularly busy from 14:45 to 19:00. A few days ago, I was told during a Parent –
Teacher meeting that Laura can improve her grades by studying more. However, even teachers realize that what we are doing here is certainly not easy and the teacher himself advised us: “Keep
up with your good work! Don’t worry about the grades – I’m here to help your child.” Can you imagine that? Even tutors realize that the lack of time is what stops children from improving
their grades and not their lack of interest in the subject. We often tell our kids that if they don’t do well in school they will have to give up riding. Their own experience has taught them
that we mean what we say and they give their best to be good at both. What is important to us is that they are correct and happy – both psychologically and spiritually – rather than study
too hard for the exams in order just to get into a Greek University. Even if they do not get admitted we’ll be fine with that. There is a number of other Universities and Colleges around the
world that will be happy to have them and offer the sort of future they would like to have. As I’ve said before, we’d like our children to be their own people and do whatever they like…as
long as they do it well! Even if you have to clean other people’s shoes or wash the dishes in a restaurant – you have to do it well.
GRREPORTER: What about your older daughter? Does she have any plans of her own already?
Emilios: She has already completed the practice courses of the British Horse Society and has obtained her first three diplomas in 6 months of hard work. In England, students have to wake up
every day at 6 a.m. clean the stables, care for the horses, attend lectures, have training lessons, train kids and then work hard until 8-9 p.m. when they put the horses to sleep. It is hard
work indeed and they only have a half an hour break to have lunch if they manage their time well.
Alexandra: Natalie is very much interested in becoming a trainer and at the same time she likes children a lot. At some point in her life, she wanted to become a kindergarten teacher. Her
passion for horse riding and her love for children have made her believe that teaching the sport to children would be best for her. Her first pupil is our own little daughter Paola.
Emilios: Can you imagine our little 8-year old girl climbing onto a horse and riding around an arena with other older riders? It’s really special for us, especially with Natalie being her
coach.
Alexandra: Natalie already knows that this is what she wants to do and she is building her knowledge around the subject, studying in Warwickshire England. The more you know about horses the
better, especially if you work and live with them on a daily basis. That’s her dream. Our own dream is to establish a horse-riding complex in Koropi offering a range of other sports to
different people. It is still an idea and we don’t have the necessary paperwork but we are getting there slowly.
Emilios: Unfortunately, making your dream come true is never easy. There’s a very long process to follow in order to obtain a permit for our sports complex. It’s a long and sad story. There
is nothing illegal in what we are trying to do but it is still incredibly difficult.
Alexandra: Our idea is to make horseback riding simpler for our children and share the love we and our daughters have for horses with them. We would like to do this for children in public
schools because children in private institutions can afford more. We want kids from public schools to come and feel the vibe and get on a horse. We want to introduce ridding to them as
well.
GRREPORTER: This is indeed a wonderful idea. I wish you luck with it.
Alexandra: I hope...
GRREPORTER: What are your wishes for the new year?
Emilios: Health. This is most important. People can deal with everything else. Health, and no evil eyes.
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