Honestly I’m so surprised and how confident he is, you would think he’d be so embarrassed he wouldn’t want to show his name or his face anywhere.
Someone once told me that the horse business is the one business where you can pretty much can do anything and just start over, again and again. No one ever looks back. I think it’s true.
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Sadly, it is true. There was a woman locally who had no trouble getting barn after barn to hire her despite – wait for it – * felony conviction for animal cruelty*. Huge case, too. Months of investigation with multiple LEA involved, leading up to a big bust that was widely reported by regional news sources.
People either don’t check or don’t care. I honestly don’t know which.
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But it’s not the horse’s fault who their owner is?
He does sell a lot of horses. My only experience is indirect, but I know of a legit good horse that was sent to him, but came back skinny. Someone might get a good deal, or not. As in all things horses.
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I once had a friend work with a trainer that was actually charged with money fraud and only found out by pure coincidence. The trainer is now a super big deal but he was kicked out and arrested for stealing money from a horse breeding facility a little while ago (a really famous one too here in Mexico and even internationally) because he was selling the horses really young and charging almost three times their original price only to take almost all the profit and give the breeding facility almost nothing, claiming that he was barely able to sell the horses because they were subpar. The horse world is frightening.
what @mooonie said- it’s not the horses fault who their owner is! Or in this case, the auction house.
I’m going to sign up and then watch the one I want carefully. He is owned by someone else, so even with the 10% (I assume) commission Andy gets it, at a low price it won’t be much in his pocket. If I can get a good horse at a great price, AND the horse gets a great home… dancing emoji
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The way I see it, is it’s sort of like puppy mills.
On the one hand, buying the puppies/dogs to get them out of the situation is a good thing in the sense that they’ll go to loving homes where they’ll be properly cared for. On the other hand though, as long as those people keep making a profit, they’ll keep doing what they’re doing.
In an ideal world, I’d love to fix the problem at it’s root and make sure Andy Kocher isn’t allowed to touch a horse ever again. I’d love to see him totally blacklisted by the equestrian community, and made an example of how the community has a zero tolerance policy for abuse and mistreatment of horses.
It’s not an ideal world though, and I’m afraid I don’t have a good solution either.
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This is exactly the analogy that came to my mind too
Was it the La Silla stud? I only ask because I love to drool over their horses when people bring them to compete on the circuit here. I also know one who lives 30 minutes from me, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more honest, tolerant Grand Prix schoolmaster.
If people refused to buy horses from him he would have to get out of the business.
It’s obvious that people will do business with him. It’s unfortunate that people in the horse world have no compunction in doing business with horse abusers (or criminals for that matter) but it’s nothing new.
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Who wants to buy a horse from a horse Abuser?
Who wants to train with a Child Molester?
Who wants to clinic with an Anti Semitic?
Who wants to buy clothes from the companies of a Sex Trafficking supporter?
The equestrian world…
So frickkin disappointing…
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La Silla horses are AMAZING, honestly even their 3-year-olds have some of the most amazing minds ever, they are born broke and can teach you everything even when barely learning themselves. If I could I’d get one in a heart beat but they cost like an arm and a leg XD
But no, the trainer was stealing from Santa Rosa which are super famous horses, also very intelligent and agile. He made a lot of money with his scam
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@DollyDoll Those are some nice horses! And a gorgeous facility!
Have you seen Nicolas Pizarro’s horse Ares? Talk about a dreamy stallion!! Not only is he a fantastic Grand Prix horse, he’s one of the only horses to have gone clear in the Spruce Meadows Derby, and it was his first ever derby too! If only he was advertised at stud!
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I absolutely agree. I was shocked to see who the Lignelli family is riding with. I guess it does not really matter what you have done. Geez.
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Nicolas Pizarro actually rides at my stable! His horses are honestly amazing, I got to ride one once and God was it like riding a well-oiled machine.
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Yeah! He’s honestly a gorgeous guy, he’s next door to my own horse and so sweet. I love how pizarro rides and he’s a really nice guy but most of his students are pretty snotty XD So its hard to approach them sometimes and they treat their animals really badly, wish pizarro had a firmer hand with them
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Super cool! He’s always so strong-willed and focused on his job in the ring, it’s lovely to learn that he’s a sweetie on the ground. Not to derail this thread any further (sorry OP!) but would Pizarro be a good fit if you’re looking to switch trainers?
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He’s really sweet… unless you’re his student XD I mean he’s nice to his students but he gets frustrated super easily and since he’s always leaving for competitions his students rarely see him. And I don’t really like how his students always end up falling off in the ring or they only let the horse do the job and they hang on. My friend switched to him and she immediately was told to sell her really good horse and get a GP one when she wasn’t even ready. He’s an amazing rider, not the best trainer
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Is he getting into race horses now? I’m assuming the FEI ban does not apply in that discipline?
Yikes!!
