This month, serious equestrians the world-over will have their eyes glued to their TV screens to witness their peers competing in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. This year actually marks the 100th anniversary of Olympic equestrian sport and Valley resident Caroline Martin, of Springtown, will be watching intently, alongside her trainer, Bruce “Buck” Oram Davidson, Jr., who came up just shy of qualifying this year in the eventing category.
When we caught up with Martin, she was returning home from Quebec, where she accompanied Davidson on Olympic-qualifying horse trials, preparing for the big event amidst a very excited crowd. “There is a lot of enthusiasm in Quebec,” Martin says of the throngs of onlookers. Though the trip was last minute (after all, you only qualify if you remain in the running as an Olympic hopeful) and Martin had to pick up and go with little notice, the jaunt was worth it. “The rolling hills . . . the cross country is the best I've ever ridden. It was beautiful,” Martin says.
Trips like these are a must when working with a trainer of Davidson's caliber. Known for being hardworking and fiercely competitive, Davidson comes from the stuff legends are made of. Many know of his father, Bruce Davidson, Sr. who won Olympic gold in '76 and '84, and silver in '72 and '96. And his grandmother, Nancy Penn Smith Hannum is somewhat of a celebrity in Mainline Philadelphia, famous for her no-nonsense protection of the dwindling acreage surrounding the city, and for continuing to ride horses well into her mid-70s.
Though Davidson didn't make the short list for this year's Olympic team, he has amassed an impressive resume of titles and ribbons from competitions all over the world. He's training Martin to achieve the same international status and though she's just 17 years old, she's clearly up to the challenge.
Most days have Martin up and in the stables by 7 a.m. at her family's beloved Buckwampum Farm, located just outside of Hellertown. The cleaning, grooming and training (in the English disciplines of dressage, jumping and eventing) lasts until about 3 p.m., when Martin finally goes inside to wash up and spend a few hours on schoolwork. The petite red-haired teen used to be enrolled in the elite Quaker boarding school, George School, but being away from the homestead and the horses she refers to as her “babies” got to be too much.
“I wanted to move up to the next level and you have to be in perfect shape. You have to be in sync with the horses or it becomes dangerous. I couldn't do that when I was away at school, losing my physical form and the bond with my horses,” Martin explains. Her parents, Randy and Sherrie, were supportive of the big decision to switch to online learning, assured by their daughter's tireless drive in all she does.
When we caught up with Martin returning home from Quebec, she had been running on just a few hours of sleep, getting to bed around 2 a.m. and awaking at 10 a.m. to check on the horses. An intense training and traveling day like this one usually amounts to more than 12 hours and only a pure love for the equestrian life can be the reason why Martin could still say, “It's so much fun. It's so worth it.”
Often she's the youngest in her competing division, sharing the ring with professional riders who, like her, would hardly call this just a hobby.
Martin knows that her life isn't like most kids her age. But since immersing herself in the sport at the age of 7, determined to tame her first pony, Puff (“Every time I got kicked off I wanted to do it [ride] more.”), this has meant that she spends more time with athletes twice her age. Often she's the youngest in her competing division, sharing the ring with professional riders who, like her, would hardly call this just a hobby. Martin recently won number one junior in the CCII (Concours Complete Internationale), the youngest in her division, finishing overall 14th out of 50.
And when she isn't training on her picturesque property, Martin is making the trek to Davidson's Ocala, Florida farm where he trains riders in the winter months. This means once again surrounding herself with riders in their 20s and 30s, some of whom have already made it to the Olympics. “It's hard sometimes to have a normal life,” admits Martin, who also had a stint playing on the Nicaraguan Polo Team.
But Martin isn't complaining. When her mother, a former horseback hobbyist, came across Buckwampum Farm while on a drive with her realtor she knew it had potential. While at the time it was in no shape to be considered an ideal training facility, the Martins have built it into one of the top eventing barns in the world. “We have everything you will ever need. It was meant to be,” Martin says. Plans to one day attend college and live a life that doesn't revolve entirely around riding is also part of Martin's game plan, she says, and achieving her own Olympic glory won't be forgotten. She says she has hopes of that happening around the age of 30.
