Animal Cruelty Allegations - Cumberland Riding Academy, Hendersonville, TN

[Texarkana]

I’m going to let this news report and Facebook page speak for themselves:

Hendersonville horse riding school investigated for animal cruelty

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009465430869&fref=nf

If I happen to have any COTH stalkers, you may notice several years ago I was pleading for boarding suggestions. That’s because I was boarding at this place. Horse care has always been abominable at this facility because the barn owner is too ignorant to be running a barn. But… it has now escalated to the abuse seen in the video with the hiring of a “trainer” who has no business being a trainer.

I personally know that pony. He is the epitome of a bombproof packer. If he is acting out, it’s because he has been soured by pain, overuse, or cruel handling. There’s no excuse for handling any animal in the manner shown in the videos, but especially not a pony like that.

[gumshoe]

This is what I was posting about in the thread “how much blame… video… not intervening.”

Reading the bio of the owner on her website is a jaw dropper. She started riding in 2006 and decided she wasn’t getting what she needed at the place she was taking lessons so decided it was time to go pro in 2007. At least to buy her own boarding facility. Yikes.

[ybiaw]

Hm. I poked around on their facebook page for a bit and found it interesting that they hang a CWD banner. Wonder what CWD would think about being associated with them…

I also wonder if I can put her on a longe line and smack her repeatedly about the face and body for a little while.

[gumshoe]

If you look at their Facebook page you will see that they also recently partnered with SmartPak.

[Kwill]

Pony wasn’t even acting out, he clearly didn’t know what she wanted and showed a lot of restraint in not acting out when she was hurting him.

The days of acting this way around horses and not being outed are over since everyone has a cell phone with a video camera now.

What an idjit trainer, no excuse for whipping a horse when he doesn’t understand what you want.

[ybiaw]

[QUOTE=gumshoe;8116452]
If you look at their Facebook page you will see that they also recently partnered with SmartPak.[/QUOTE]

INTERESTING.

[gumshoe]

I feel terrible for the little girl who brought her the second whip. And all the others who have been taught how to care for horses by her.

[Texarkana]

Gumshoe- I did not see your other thread, or else I wouldn’t have started this one!

I tried to be “publicly positive” about the place when I boarded there, but it was not good. Nothing totally egregious or abusive, just your typical lousy boarding barn problems caused by ignorance, money, and/or laziness. Priorities were definitely out of whack. But the one positive thing I could say at that time is while I did not take lessons there, the barn owner hired very experienced instructors who treated the horses and students well in their lessons.

Unfortunately, the barn owner’s lack of experience isn’t her only weakness- she is also an incredibly abrasive person. As a result, she has a lot of turnover, especially in the riding instructor department. It does not surprise me that she has lost her good instructors and is left with people like the woman who was shown in the video. :no:

[gumshoe]

My thread was really just asking how others feel about the whole YouTube as a witness thing.

SmartPak has responded on their Facebook page saying there is no sponsorship or endorsement.

[ybiaw]

I really like how SP addressed it on their Facebook page.

[gumshoe]

And now the barn has addressed it on theirs.

Reading the owner’s bio also tells me that she has earned several post secondary titles in business. You’d think she would know how to get IN FRONT of a bad story with so much book learnin.

[Appsolute]

^^ Is that sarcasm? I didn’t see anything on Smartpaks FB page.

[gumshoe]

Read the responses under “posts to page”.

[Texarkana]

Rate My Horse Pro has also posted an article about the situation:

http://www.ratemyhorsepro.com/news/video-of-alleged-abuse-sparks-investigation-into-cumberland-riding-academy-trainer.aspx

[Texarkana]

More local news coverage:

http://www.wsmv.com/story/28863173/investigators-looking-into-possible-horse-abuse-at-riding-school

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/hendersonville/2015/04/21/cumberland-riding-academy-fire-wh

[Halt_Near_X]

[QUOTE=ybiaw;8116523]
I really like how SP addressed it on their Facebook page.[/QUOTE]

I… what? This is (one of their) responses:

SmartPak Hi Rachel - Thank you so much for taking the time to reach out to us about this. I would love to reassure you with the same information we have passed on to other riders who have reached out, and I hope that it can put your mind at ease. For over 15 years, we’ve relied on feedback from riders like you to help make us smarter, and that’s as true today as it was back in 1999.

Something else that’s just as true today as it was 15 years ago is that our core mission is powering healthy horses and happy riders. Given that, I’m sure that you can understand that we don’t endorse the actions shown in the video. Since it seems like there may be some confusion, I’d like to clarify our involvement with Cumberland Riding Academy. We don’t have any official endorsement, sponsorship, or other affiliation with them. The accouncement you may have seen simply reflects that one of our Barn Consultants has reached out and offered our services to their horses and clients. Our Barn Consultants work with barn professionals and horse owners to help them understand common horse health problems, and learn how they can help keep their horses happy and healthy. In order to help as many horses as possible, we want to reach as many horse owners as possible, which means the more barns we can visit, the better. That’s why we don’t discriminate against any barn based on breed, discipline, or even training methods. After all, we believe that regardless of how we may feel about their training practices, the horses at Cumberland Riding Academy still deserve the best nutritional support possible.

All that said, as a rider myself, I can understand why this has been so upsetting for you. Please rest assured that I’ll be sharing this video and your feedback about the flyer directly with the heads of our Barns and Marketing teams. If there’s anything else I can answer for you, please don’t hesitate to let me know. - SmartPaker Lyn

I mean, it’s honest, but… it boils down to “We only care about the welfare of the horse in as much as we have products we can sell to them to keep them ‘happy and healthy.’ Anything outside that realm, we turn a blind eye to.”

Although it may be the first honest advertising I’ve ever seen from them, so kudos for that. I guess.

[ybiaw]

[QUOTE=Halt Near X;8116630]
I… what? This is (one of their) responses:

I mean, it’s honest, but… it boils down to “We only care about the welfare of the horse in as much as we have products we can sell to them to keep them ‘happy and healthy.’ Anything outside that realm, we turn a blind eye to.”

Although it may be the first honest advertising I’ve ever seen from them, so kudos for that. I guess.[/QUOTE]
I guess I mean that I like that they clarified that they are NOT sponsoring them, welfare of the horses is important to them, and they’re escalating it higher up than just the person who checks their Facebook.

[Lucy17]

[QUOTE=ybiaw;8116444]
Hm. I poked around on their facebook page for a bit and found it interesting that they hang a CWD banner. Wonder what CWD would think about being associated with them…

I also wonder if I can put her on a longe line and smack her repeatedly about the face and body for a little while.[/QUOTE]

And back to sponsorships, OTHER message board out there on the web had someone post that they contacted the TN CWD rep and she defended them, supposedly. Interesting that people were all over a smartpak but not CWD’s pages. Maybe because there’s a ton of them and they can’t find the local one or the national one?

Also, on the other thread of this on the h/j board I asked if the BNT she drops in her resume actually check out?

[TheodoreCleaver]

Oh dear. I rode with this woman for a short time back in 2007. She was very fresh out of school when I rode with her, so I had chalked some of her behavior up to inexperience. I parted ways back then because she was too gruff and our personalities didn’t jive. I knew she had barn hopped quite a bit after that, but this is really disappointing to see. Glad I booked it when I did.

[Ladylexie]

That is awful. To me it looks like perhaps just trotting next to the horse and getting him going for a moment might do the trick. Clearly smashing the lunge whip isn’t what to do:mad: I used to see this sort of thing in my ASB days and when I would say something people claimed I made it up, but, that was way before I could film it.