Text © World of Showjumping

“What drives me is a total passion for horses; getting to know them, learning to understand them and feeling like they understand me,” Italy’s Giulia Martinengo Marquet tells World of Showjumping. “I am lucky to have a very supportive husband, Stefano Cesaretto, who is my business partner at SGH Stables. He takes care of a lot; he manages the whole team, which makes it possible for me to focus solely on riding.” 

With the 11-year-old Delta Del’Isle (Tibet Tame x Grain de Soleil), the 45-year-old placed fifth in the CSI5* 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix in Windsor, and in the CSIO5* 1.60m Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup in Rome, the two delivered a clear in the second round for the Italian team. While she might not be a regular face within the five-star circuit week in and week out, Martinengo Marquet keeps surfacing successfully time and time again. Additionally, her influence is felt through the horses she has produced for the highest level, such as Jeanne Sadran’s Jiamo VDS (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve x Carolus II) and Derin Demirsoy’s Elzas (Diamant de Semilly x Cornet Obolensky). With the latter, Martinengo Marquet competed at the 2019 FEI Jumping European Championships in Rotterdam (NED) – one of the five Europeans she has done between 1998 and 2019. 

Originally, Martinengo Marquet comes from the east of Italy. “My mother was fully addicted to horses and very passionate about the sport,” she tells about her family. “She always came to the shows with me, and my older brother Riccardo rides as well.” 

Today, Martinengo Marquet lives in the north of Italy, close to Lake Garda – between Verona and Milan, where she runs SGH stables that is focused on producing and selling talented showjumpers. “We thought about moving abroad when we first started our business,” she explains. “However, we enjoy the Italian lifestyle and decided to stay –  and I think it's the best choice we ever made. Geographically, it is still close enough to central Europe. We usually start the season in Spain and from March to May we are mostly in Italy. There are exceptions obviously, like Windsor this year, and then during the summer we try to compete a little bit more abroad.” 

What drives me is a total passion for horses; getting to know them, learning to understand them and feeling like they understand me

“We have 30 horses, more or less, between the young ones and the older ones,” she continues. “We always had the same format; we select and buy young horses, breed a few from our top mares and develop them. Since the overall number of horses has grown, we normally have either one or two jumping riders working with us, together with flat riders. We keep the four-year-olds at a different place to slowly start their jumping career. We always want them to stay quite a long time in the field. We don't stress them too much; they come over to our place when they are five. At the moment, we have quite a large group between the youngsters and the experienced ones, but only a few of them are ready for the highest level.”

“If you would ask Stefano what excites him the most, it is going around and scouting for horses. Seeing a talent, developing that potential and then selling the horse further; it is not only a matter of money to keep the business running – the satisfaction comes as a reward for the work done and what we believe in,” Martinengo Marquet says. 

Martinengo Marquet’s sports career has also been made possible by her enrollment in the Italian Air Force for the past 19 years. “I am very thankful for their support,” she says. 

Martinengo Marquet met her husband Stefano twenty years ago, and the two started a business and a family together; their daughter Bianca was born in 2013. Stefano put his international riding career on hold to focus more on managing, giving Giulia the opportunity to pursue her goals in the sport. “I'm lucky that Stefano takes care of so much, which allows me to fully focus on riding. It's a big privilege and something that makes a huge difference. I am aware that many colleagues have to talk with the owners and clients, watch videos, and manage their team members. I am thankful to be in a position where I can put my telephone away when I get to the horses and give my full focus to them. I am also very thankful to all the sponsors that support us.“

I had to learn to be proud seeing so many horses we have produced go on to do well

“Selecting, buying and selling has always been our business, but I must say that it is something I had to learn to cope with,” she continues. “When I was young, I could feel a touch of frustration when a horse got sold. Building a young horse up for years and then seeing them leave just when I believed they were ready for the big sport was challenging. However, when we were able to repeat this, I learned to be proud of it instead. It was like turning a big switch in my mind; I had to learn to be proud seeing so many horses we have produced go on to do well. There are exceptions, but most of the horses I rode in the biggest classes or at championships were horses we bought when they were young and produced ourselves. The bond you create when it starts this way is something fantastic. I love to know my horses inside out; it's something that motivates me.”

When it comes to riding and managing her horses, Martinengo Marquet believes in simplicity. “I'm quite stubborn in trying to understand my horses,” she explains about her approach. “I feel like I'm failing if I don't understand a horse. Every single moment, I try to figure them out and in the end I'm so proud if I feel that they improve. That motivates me a lot. Stefano helps me train and manage the stables every single day, which is a huge privilege. We always had people beside us as well. We have worked with Michel Robert and Jos Kumps, because we appreciate getting an opinion from the outside.”

I feel like I'm failing if I don't understand a horse

“I'm motivated to keep our horses healthy, happy, and successful long-term,” she continues. “It's the way we like to work and a system that we believe in. Since I was a child, I was taught to work with a long-term plan. If I had to name someone who inspires me, that would be Steve Guerdat. He shows the world that it is possible to do this sport on the highest level while staying true to your own core values. And this is what I always want to believe in; not showing more and more every year, but trying to show better. In an environment that offers so many possible excuses, Steve has shown that there is a realistic, sustainable way to be a part of this sport – even at the very top.”

“Each of us make decisions based on our own visions of the sport and how we want to treat our horses,” she points out. “I think that each rider can make a choice every time they enter a horse to a competition.” 

As equestrian sports return to Paris 124 years after becoming part of the Olympic family, its stakeholders are under more pressure than ever as horse welfare concerns are increasing. “There are better riders, but maybe not enough horsemanship,” Martinengo Marguet says when asked how she sees the current situation. “I think that too often patience and skills to develop a horse go missing. I believe we should work together on this, both for professionals and amateurs. All stakeholders in our sport should have a better understanding of what horse welfare is truly about.” 

I strongly feel that in all our decisions and daily pursuits we should never forget that the basis of everything is our love for the horse

“Our sport is growing in numbers, which is great. However, many riders are super talented in the saddle, but I feel there is still a knowledge gap on other aspects of the sport,” she continues. “I would like to see this gap addressed, especially by the younger generations. As senior riders, I believe we have the responsibility to share more of our horsemanship and professional management skills. This also includes a better understanding of the economics connected to this sport; we cannot hide from what that entails. However, I strongly feel that in all our decisions and daily pursuits we should never forget that the basis of everything is our love for the horse. I think we should remind ourselves every now and then about the reasons we first started. The truth is that the horses are the main actors in our sport; anyone of us can be a superstar with a superstar of a horse. I really believe that we as riders can only be as good as our horses and we should always put them first.” 

While Martinengo Marquet has found her way combining motherhood and a sports career, it is not an easy feat by any means and something she believes not everyone can do. “I have a wonderful team behind me,” she explains. “I try to be done at the stables before Bianca comes home from school so she doesn't only see her mother on a horse. However, she's riding also, which makes it fun. I take her to the shows when there's something interesting to see – other than horses – and every now and then I allow her to miss school so that she can travel with us. She is good at school, which helps. Sometimes she stays at school until Friday and then joins us so that we can be together without forfeiting her education.” 

I'm absolutely sure that it is far more challenging for women

“I'm really proud to say that our sport is the only sport where men and women compete together,” she continues. “However, I'm absolutely sure that it is far more challenging for women. We have to combine raising a family with our sport careers and not everyone is lucky enough to have a big, realiable team around them to help. Stefano decided to stop his sport career to give me a chance, and it is more common to see it the other way around. I think it is an attitude in our society; we are used to seeing women in a certain role, at home. In our sport, pursuing a professional career often means moving abroad which leaves many women to build a family, a business and a sport career without their closest support net – and that is not easy. Many women are forced to make a decision and many times it leads to them putting their career aside.”  

“Also, the sport is very demanding now,” Martinengo Marquet points out. “The system kind of pushes you to compete every week: If you look at the ranking every single month, you always think you didn't do enough. In between Windsor and Rome, I did national shows for two weeks. I enjoy national shows with the young or less experienced horses. However, it was also a conscious choice; I want to stay close to Bianca, I want to be at home.”  

“It's really easy for me to speak like this because I'm so happy,” Martinengo Marquet concludes. “I have such a good group of horses, good professional people around me and I believe in the way we are doing things. I grew up with horse people, in a family where horses always came first. Therefore, having this mindset is not complicated for me; it’s not a difficult choice. I’m happy with the balance between doing shows on different levels. When I get to do a five-star show, I feel blessed and happy to be there; happy for myself, for the team, for Stefano, the owners. I take it as a gift.”

There are so many things and so many dreams that I still want to chase

“I don't know what the future will hold, but I don’t worry about climbing the ranks. If it happens because we are doing really well, I will be happy. I like to look at the ranking only to see if I'm doing better than before. Riding for a country like Italy, where we don’t have an endless amount of top horse-and-rider combinations, means that if I have a good horse and we have good results, there is a chance to go to a CSIO. Those shows are the best chance for me to improve my ranking. In the end, for the string of horses that I have right now, jumping five to six five-star shows in a year is a good number. Obviously, I would like to jump again at the Europeans, and I never competed at the World Championships or the Olympics; there are so many things and so many dreams that I still want to chase.” 

4.6.2024 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.