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Caroline Pamukcu (neé Martin; born December 8, 1994)[1][2] is an American equestrian competing in the discipline of three-day eventing. She is a Pan American Games individual gold medalist and silver team medalist.
Pamukcu, daughter of Sherrie and Randy Martin, started her riding career when she was six. Although it took her some time to get serious, the Martin family bought a farm in Riegelsville, Pennsylvania in 2002 called Buckwampum Farm.[3] She stepped away from horses during her first year of high school and moved with her parents while her father was working in Nicaragua. She quickly realized what life would be like without horses, and by age fifteen, was all in.[citation needed]
Buck Davidson Jr. was invited by the Martins to base his business out of Buckwampum Farm and become Pamukcu's coach. She had found Quantum Solace, 'Nacho', at Davidson’s farm, who brought Pamukcu many achievements. As a young rider, Caroline Pamukcu won an individual and team gold medal at the 2013 Adequan/FEI North American Youth Championships presented by Gotham North[4] aboard Quantum Solace. In 2014, Pamukcu was named to the USEF Eventing High Performance Training list as the youngest rider on the team at 17 years old. She also won USEA Young Rider of the Year in 2013 and 2014.[5]
Pamukcu made her CCI5* debut in 2017 at the Kentucky Three-Day Event with Spring Easy. That year she also represented the United States in the FEI Eventing Nations Cup at Houghton Hall on Pebbly Maximus. While overseas, she competed in the CCI4*-L at Bramham and secured top 10 finishes with Pebbly Maximus and The Apprentice.[citation needed]
In December 2018, Pamukcu had to make a choice: sell the horses and go to college or figure out to support herself. Pamukcu got connected with Emil Spadone and Paul Hendrix, who were both active in horse sales, and started working for them.[6] She later began operating her own horse sales business with Spadone and Hendrix as partners, as well as Irish event rider Kelly Hutchinson.[citation needed]
Since then, Pamukcu has had numerous top international placings and competed at events including Aachen CCIO4*-S (Germany), Millstreet CCI4*-L (Ireland), Blair Castle CCI4*-S (England), Strzegom CCIO4*-S (Poland), and Mondial Du Lion World Breeding Championships (France).[1]
Pamukcu and HSH Blake were named to the 2023 US Eventing Pan American Games Team in Santiago, Chile. Representing the United States, they managed to clinch an individual gold medal.[7] The pair was later named to the U.S. eventing team for the 2024 Summer OlympicsinParis, France.[8][9][10][11]
