In case anyone would like to send him a card, I’m sharing this from the Tamarack Hill Facebook page, with screenshots for those who don’t do Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1058193006339057&id=100064451033652
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GOAT. Really.
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He’s still riding. I saw him at his farm ovwer the weekend.
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His magazine Michael Plumb’s Horse Journal was a great learning tool. Still have all my issues.
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So a funny little JMP story. After we built our farm we started hosting little unrecognized schooling shows. It started out small with just jumping courses but eventually we ran NCDCTA recognized CTs. Mike came to every single one of them to support our effort. He thought it was great that young horses and riders could get out in the world without the pressure of a big venue.
His one complaint? Not enough shade. I said “Mike, what do you want me to do, plant trees and wait for them to grow?”
So we built a little covered shelter, put a few benches and a cooler full of waters, and named it the J Michael Plumb gazebo 
He was so miffed (in a funny way). He told me we were NOT to name it after him. I shrugged my shoulders and he walked away shaking his trademark baseball cap at me. Good stuff.
The “gazebo” is still there and the new owners use it has a hay shelter. I still chuckle when I think of that story.
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I saw that on FB and sent it to a friend of mine who was a teammate of Mike’s so that he could wish him a happy birthday. What an amazing career he has had, a true legend. His position in those pictures Denny posted is so perfect.
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I’ve got something I should print out and send him!
Some of you know my son’s story with regard to endocarditis and subsequent open heart surgeries and leg amputation. The darkest day of that entire ordeal was the morning the surgeons took him to the OR to determine what, if anything could be done to save his right leg. The waiting was agony, and through a communication screw up we weren’t even able to see son before he went into surgery. I’m sitting in the waiting room, my phone rings and it’s a Southern Pines number, so I answered it. It was Mike, telling me he’d heard about what was going on with Andrew (who he used to call Mark Todd because of his long legs). His kindness that day was monumental, I will never forget it. Ten years later I still tear up recalling it.
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I’m glad that phone call was able to bring you some comfort during such a difficult time. I remember reading about your son’s health challenges and how courageous he was, even going back to eventing after his recovery. Isn’t he the one who is also on anti-coagulants?
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Yes. The Chronicle story on him I posted in the Medical thread on blood thinners.
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He gave us our riding exam back in 1980 at the Potomac Horse Center.
We were all terrified. 
I wish I could remember everything he said.
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The big day is Friday! Time to hit the post office!! 
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A bit of Plumb family trivia. Mike’s sons, Matt and Hugh, are professional race car drivers for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge team TGM.
Wow. A group of high achievers.
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Didn’t he have a son who was also an eventer?
As I remember, Charlie Plumb evented.
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Yes it was Charlie, I couldn’t remember his name.
Charlie still events, and coaches, in Southern Pines.
Well I haven’t lived there in 3 years, so maybe he is doing more coaching then riding now, but he has a lovely farm there and a good group of students.
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