Charlotte the eventing clydesdale

Charlotte is the very first Clydesdale on the road to compete in the Novice 3-day in Montana at Rebecca Farms. This blog is her journey.....

For those Charlotte fans that don't know her back story, I dedicate this first blog entry to you.
Charlotte is a full breed Clydesdale, her registered name is HBR's NW Commander's Caden. But we all call her Charlotte! She will be turning 10 on May 10th, her golden birthday this year. Which is why I am determined to make this a year we will never forget, making memories on the road to Rebecca Farms.

Charlotte was bred by NW Clydesdales and sold to a farm called HBR (hence the long name). She was then started by a family member associated to HBR and later sold to a gal in fall city area. Due to a new baby at the time she leased Charlotte out to me. After about a month of the lease, her owner was going to sell her. Out of the kindness of her heart we made a deal and a payment plan so that Charlotte could stay in my life. When I first started looking for a horse, I was not in the market to buy. I didn't even know what kind of riding I wanted to do anymore. Buying a horse so soon was a shock!

I grew up competing mostly in vaulting and riding dressage on the side.... after my trainer relocated to another state I didn't know where I wanted to go next. Until finally I met Charlotte and everything changed. I decided to start up a new Vaulting team in the area with the helps from a few friends. Charlotte seemed confused with the task I was asking her, she has always tried her hardest in anything you ask her but, she did not seem to enjoy being a vaulting horse. I took a break from that and we enjoyed each others company on long trail rides. Mean while, Charlotte continued to jump out of her pasture! I kept thinking how is this lovely, large draft horse jumping all the way over the fence? So we got her a new pasture buddy, Templeton .... ( See the Charlottes web reference. LOL )

Templeton is a 40 year old draft mule that I rescued from the feedlot in eastern Washington. I was told by my vet at the time that he may not make it through the winter but I was determined to give him the best summer/ fall that he has ever had. Charlotte let me pony Templeton through the trails, which is when we found out he use to be a pack mule. Well the winter came and went... and then 3 more winters came and went and Templeton is still happy in his retirement  and will continue to live a long and healthy life!

Back to Charlotte, so I have never jumped before I got her. Besides the small cross rails and the hay bale or log on the trail I have never really jumped or had a jump lesson. Charlotte continued to jump out of the pasture even with her new friend Templeton and she enjoyed jumping logs on our trails so we were in search for an eventing trainer.

We met Jenny Holbrook of Lodestar Training in Monroe, WA. Without Jenny's help and encouragement I don't believe we would have come this far. She believed in us when other doubted, she continues to push us to strive for our goals and reach the stars. We work as a team to make sure Charlotte is getting the care and exercise she needs to make it to the top! Which is where we are now... on our way to becoming the first Clydesdale to compete in the Novice 3-day at Rebecca Farms.

Follow us on Instagram eventing_clydesdale or twitter eventing_clyde or email us with any questions or comments at anytime to eventingclydesdale@gmail.com

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