Charlie Plumb Eventing Sweats It Out

Charlie Plumb, Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek

Hi everyone! The lack of internet connection at my apartment and trying to keep from dying of heat exhaustion has prevented any blogging on my part, but I’m making an attempt to get back in the groove of writing. I believe the last time the CDP Gang was published, it was March and we were gearing up for Southern Pines. Obviously, a ton has happened since then... so I’ll just hit the highlights! 

Charlie’s top student, Lizzie Snow, completed her first ever Advanced horse trials on her wonderful partner, Coal Creek, at Southern Pines II, a course that gave a lot of riders a lot of headaches. Lizzie then finished 10^th in the Advanced division at the Fork Horse Trials, and we had a lot of fun cheering her on! She heads to Young Riders next week and we are all excited for that! Also, Ard Denzil completed his first CIC** at Chattahoochee Hills in May and finished 3^rd, which was VERY fun to be a part of. Ardy is pointing towards Fair Hill this fall and has continued to grow throughout the summer, now resembling the mammoths in the Mammoth and Mastadon exhibit that I attended in Huntsville, Alabama.  I’m not entirely convinced there wasn’t a mammoth in his bloodlines like, way back. The resemblance is unsettling. I don’t know how mammoths jumped, though. It may be worth researching.

Hayley Smith and Charlie in the Vet Box

Our co-barn manager, Hayley Smith, completed her first CIC* (also at Chattahoochee) on Anne Hennessey’s old campaigner, Benwald. Chatt Hills is one of our absolute favorite venues and we always look forward to going there. Speaking of favorite venues, this year was my first time at The Fork and I think my favorite part (I’m sure Hayley would agree) was getting to be neighbors with the Michael Pollard crew and playing with their dogs. You guys probably don’t even remember us, but you are amazing neighbors and we miss Sophie!

Since then we’ve stayed home in Southern Pines, roasted, and complained a lot about the heat. Sportsfield Wildcat has started his career in the USA with two Novice schooling horse trials early in the summer, and we are excited to take him on the road this fall! Hope you all are staying cool and enjoying your summers! See you on the road!

The CDP Stables Gang by Ryan Smith

First of all, I’d just like to say thank you to Samantha from PRO for the opportunity to blog a little bit and also whoever is taking the time to actually read it. You rock!

Technically, this is Charlie (Plumb’s) blog, but since his typing skills are…not as good as mine, I will have to take his place. A little about us: we are a semi-private eventing facility in Southern Pines, NC; we have 13 horses at this time (11 of which are competition horses), and if the word “family” could ever apply to a work team, it applies to us. We are a close-knit group and have more inside jokes than we could ever explain. You’ll usually find us listening to “Shots” at full volume before cross-country or pointing out stains on each others’ breeches. Yes, we are sometimes “those people” in restaurants that you just want to smack because we’re causing so much commotion, but we’re really quite a good time! I promise!

So March is halfway through and we have now gone to three USEA horse trials this season (Pine Top I and II, Southern Pines I). The boys have all been super (we have a barn full of testosterone). Our “star of the show” would have to be Ard Denzil, a 6 y/o dark bay ISH gelding owned by George and Dianne Lucas. Ardy (also fondly referred to as Lardy due to his eating habits) completed his first Intermediate at Pine Top II without taking a deep breath and showed us that our season with him could be pretty darn special. Revere Road also competed in the Intermediate there and both will be in action next weekend at Southern Pines II.

We are also super excited about our newest addition, a 5 y/o bay ISH gelding named Sportsfield Wildcat (aka Edward). Edward has had some very special adventures since he landed in the USA, including jumping out of his paddock on the first day of turnout, mounting my sister Hayley in the aisleway, and casually letting himself out of his stall when he pleases. We’re really thrilled to have him and can’t wait for him to start competing. Coincidentally, one of Charlie’s top students, Lizzie Snow, imported an ISH at the same time and named him Jacob. We’re taking applications now for Team Jacob and Team Edward…don’t miss out. T-shirts will be involved.

                                                      Sportsfield Wildcat aka Edward

I hope everyone else is enjoying the gorgeous spring weather as much as we are. Hopefully we will see some of you at SP II next weekend! Best of luck with whatever your next event is, and thanks for reading!

Ryan Smith, CDP Stables Barn Manager, is the technical wizard behind the blog and will be giving voice to Charlie Plumb, Lizzie Snow and the rest of the gang throughout the year.