How We Got To Where We're At...
My
Dad, J. Richard
McDuffie, Sr., passed away rather unexpectedly on December 24, 2006, leaving us
heartbroken- but also with a
wonderful legacy, several top-notch McCurdy horses, and a dream.
My
earliest memories of Daddy include horses. I can
vividly remember
sitting in front of him on the saddle at about 4 years old as we rode
through
the pinewoods and pocosins of eastern North Carolina.,
enjoying the beauty of God's creation. Dad wasn't very interested
in
going fast or in cowboying- he wanted a pleasure horse that was
sensible, calm,
not prone to "blow up" in a stressful situation and, of course,
provided a smooth and enjoyable ride. Dad had owned a McCurdy
horse as
early as the late 1950's, and by the mid-1960's we possessed a pasture
full of
great horses upon which we rode countless miles in those great
years. All of those horses were Alabama-bred
McCurdys, “imported” to North Carolina
by a horse broker from Bladenboro, NC
who brought hundreds of them here in those years. I
clearly remember going to that barn with
Daddy on multiple occasions to see the latest group of Alabama
horses.
Though most of them were unbroke, and some were even wild, they
trained
easily, were naturally gaited, and were head and shoulders above
anything in this
part of the world.
Dad’s work as a
pastor took
us to the resort town of Carolina
Beach, NC in 1972; we had no pasture or barn there, and we were
forced to pare down our herd. My
uncle
became the custodian of the beautiful sorrel stud, “Doctor McCurdy”
that Dad had
ridden throughout the sixties. I was a
teenager and, for the time, was more interested in teenage pursuits
than in
horses. From Carolina Beach, Mom and Dad moved again to suburban
Columbia, SC... but both Dad and I always looked
forward to getting back to a place in the country where we could keep
horses
again.
Dad and
Mom realized
their piece of that dream in the early 90’s when they bought their
place near Aiken,
SC. They
named it “Dunrovin Plantation” for two reasons- first, Dad reasoned
that it was
where he would retire (he was “done rovin’”) and second, it fit with
our family’s
Scottish name and heritage. Once the
farm was in place, only one thing remained- to search for some McCurdy
horses,
if there were any left. Keep in mind
that, at this time, there was no McCurdy Plantation Horse Association,
no Registry-
nothing! Our original, simple plan was
to find a suitable old-line McCurdy mare to breed to Doctor McCurdy,
who was
nearing 30 years old by this time. We
dared not hope for more, given our doubts about the survival of the old
line in
Alabama.
But we
had clearly underestimated the Alabama
folks!
Through
his lifetime of
dog breeding and hunting, my Dad has friends all over the world.
Through one of
his Alabama contacts, he
heard about Roy Rogers of Greenville,
Alabama,
who was purported to know something about the McCurdys.
We were delighted to meet Roy,
and to discover that he not only had some of
the McCurdy stock, but knew the whereabouts of other horses! We
bought a mare and foal from Roy,
then through Roy, we met
Grey Till, Ron Mann, Ed McCurdy, Lewis
McCurdy and many others... what a thrill it was, after all these years,
to meet other people who knew about these horses, and even some of the
McCurdy family... and to discover what fine folks they are!
I was very
involved with
Dad in the early days of the registry and the Association.
I personally wrote some of the early printed
material and came up with the drawing of the gaiting horse that is
still used
on the MPHA homepage today. However, due
to job responsibilities, raising three little girls, and distance (I
had moved
250 miles away from Mom and Dad) I found myself unable to continue that
level
of involvement over the ensuing years. I
learned to be content with an occasional trail ride with Dad in the
beautiful
Hitchcock Woods of Aiken, and with the stories he and Mom brought back
from
their frequent trips to Alabama.
With Dad’s
passing, I
realized that I had reached a fork in life's road.
For the past few years, I had been counting on him to keep the horses-
he did all the work, and I could ride whenever I wanted. Now what
was to happen? Would his vision come to an end? Would
the horses just be sold off and go to
the four corners of the earth? I just couldn't accept that.
With the support of my mother and my wife Debbie, we have decided to
“go for it”! For now, our plans are modest, but we intend
to raise one or two foals a year here on our farm in eastern N.C.
and to make
Doctor Coppertone
available to those who want to breed to a first-class McCurdy
foundation stallion. Most of all, we just
want to continue to be
involved with good horse people and to have the pleasure of riding
these great
horses!
I'm sure it
would make
my Daddy proud and happy to know that his dream lives on.
He did love those horses, didn’t he?
J. Richard
“Rick”
McDuffie, Jr.
March 12, 2007