[QUOTE=caffeinated;8121000]
You know, I’ve run across three people in real life now who have claimed they “trained” or “rode” for various big names. Turns out they mucked stalls and groomed.
Honestly, between those experiences, and being on coth a long time, I have an automatic distrust of pretty much any person who starts throwing around big names. :/[/QUOTE]
Exactly what I thought as well… she was probably the groom or WS who stayed at the home farm and kept things going when the BNT and the riders went to shows with all the big horses.
Nothing wrong with that, it’s a big responsibility… but it’s certainly not ‘training’.
[QUOTE=Kwill;8120947]
Sounds like the two of them are made for one another.
A bizarre trainer with an anger management problem and a controlling owner with delusions of grandeur.
Why is it always that the weirdos decide to sue everyone for whistleblowing? Winning a lawsuit doesn’t bring back your reputation in the horse world.
It’s like a real life Black Beauty story over there, sounds horrific.[/QUOTE]
She’ll only win if she can prove what you are saying about her is untrue.
In light of this video which shows abuse that she is defending, I would guess that would be harder to prove.
[QUOTE=Guilherme;8120970]
What I saw in the video does not, IMO, constitute “abuse” or “cruelty.” It does constitute seriously deficient training skill. I have no opinion on teaching skill regarding humans…[/QUOTE]
Seriously deficient training skill, since she clearly doesn’t know how to longe, even if she wasn’t using the whip on the pony. Perhaps if she knew how to longe, she could have created movement in the pony.
Cruelty and abuse lines can be wide and fuzzy. But, since we saw a pony already shut down before any whipping started, I have to say she’s on the other side of the wide, fuzzy line.
Just to give an idea about the level of care at CRA, I took these pictures back in 2012 shortly before I FINALLY found another boarding barn in the area. I had been out of town for a few days and came back to find this. I was paying for full board on two horses at the time, which was to included all the “usuals” that come along with full board, such as feeding and watering, stall cleaning, turnout, etc.
I showed the barn owner the buckets and expressed my disapproval/concern. Her response? She spun the blame back on me-- it was MY fault because my horse dropped feed in his buckets when eating and he wasn’t drinking the water anyway so what was her staff supposed to do. I mean c’mon, really??? Basic horse care 101 here.
I had a similar response when I sent her a text that I found the water trough in the pasture bone dry on multiple occasions. It was MY fault somehow.
Also, you can somewhat notice in the first picture that there is almost zero bedding in the stalls. That was a constant problem as well. If the horses didn’t spend the majority of their time in the stalls at the farm, I would have been slightly more forgiving about the conditions. But on top of that, my horses were turned out inconsistently when I was promised regular daily turnout for them in the contract. It was just a very bad boarding experience for me and my horses.
They are not really comparable.
The vet situation; what happened during a time when the vet was not working so it had nothing to do with the clinic and the clinic quickly let the vet go when the information came out.
The trainer situation; happened while doing her job at this barn with video proof what she did (which might not be criminal but it certainly is not good practice).
I can see no reason why anyone should jump ship at the vet clinic who happened to employ someone who was an idiot that promptly let the idiot go when they found out she was an idiot. I see tons of reasons why no one should train at this barn.
Ah, taking a page out of the Elizabeth Mandarino/Amber Hill book - threaten to sue anyone who dares to say a bad word about you. That usually doesn’t work well in the long run but certainly can shut people up in the short term. Having video out there makes it harder though.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;8121078]
I showed the barn owner the buckets and expressed my disapproval/concern. Her response? She spun the blame back on me-- it was MY fault because my horse dropped feed in his buckets when eating and he wasn’t drinking the water anyway so what was her staff supposed to do. I mean c’mon, really??? Basic horse care 101 here.
I had a similar response when I sent her a text that I found the water trough in the pasture bone dry on multiple occasions. It was MY fault somehow.
Also, you can somewhat notice in the first picture that there is almost zero bedding in the stalls. That was a constant problem as well. If the horses didn’t spend the majority of their time in the stalls at the farm, I would have been slightly more forgiving about the conditions. But on top of that, my horses were turned out inconsistently when I was promised regular daily turnout for them in the contract. It was just a very bad boarding experience for me and my horses.[/QUOTE]
That is so interesting. Her ‘profile’ on the website says she found that Boarding barns and lesson barns left her wanting, so she decided to open her own, one would guess to ‘do it the right way’… not so much I guess?
[QUOTE=inca;8121118]
Ah, taking a page out of the Elizabeth Mandarino/Amber Hill book - threaten to sue anyone who dares to say a bad word about you. That usually doesn’t work well in the long run but certainly can shut people up in the short term. Having video out there makes it harder though.[/QUOTE]
I was told Todd Minikus has sued others as well!! I also would think Kim Smith would be very careful about saying who she’s trained with. Making up things in that big head of hers is called lying!
“Debbie Stevens, Todd Minikus, Andre Dignelli, and several others. I learned countless valuable skills from all of them” - Kim Smith
[QUOTE=BlessYourHeart;8121249]
I was told Todd Minikus has sued others as well!! I also would think Kim Smith would be very careful about saying who she’s trained with.
“Debbie Stevens, Todd Minikus, Andre Dignelli, and several others. I learned countless valuable skills from all of them” - Kim Smith[/QUOTE]
Actually she only states that she was introduced to some of them… who knows what ‘introduced’ means… saw them IRL and perform at a show for the first time… or actually met them such that they would remember who she even is?
'From there I was introduced to many top professionals in the hunter jumper industry, getting a unique opportunity to train and work for many of them. From Richard Fancher and Chris Kappler, to Debbie Stevens, Todd Minikus, Andre Dignelli, and several others. I learned countless valuable skills from all of them. ’
So, I dunno’ honestly if you can read that and assume [even if she or the farm WANTS you to] that she worked for any of them… maybe it was the unnamed ‘several others’ she worked for and these BIG names she only was ‘introduced to’ ie saw at a show, observed and learned something from [countless valuable skills]… see what I mean?
I just seriously don’t even know where to start . . .
I really had to walk away from the computer for a while and compose myself. Once again, I appreciate the willingness of COTH members who have firsthand knowledge of a particular situation to share their personal experiences and perceptions.
Those parents should be SO proud of their kids!
^^^ x 1,000,000
Denial apparently took a left turn somewhere and is flowing through Hendersonville, TN now.
Why? Are either of these women unhinged enough to start stalking those who provide eyewitness accounts, slashing their tires, tampering with tack at a show, deliberately injuring or killing horses on other property…? Because right now, from the way cheap seats hundreds of miles away, they sound like cornered bullies trying to scramble up the wall out of the corner. As someone mentioned, it sounds like they are too busy circling the wagons, and I’m willing to bet one turns on the other pretty dang soon.
Perhaps we need to start a thread of those who have actually BEEN sued by someone who has threatened it. I’ve never heard of it, but I’d be interested to listen if someone wants to share their story. And I can’t imagine an attorney in the world who take that case after seeing those videos, but maybe CloudyandCallie or other attorneys on COTH can weigh in on this.
[QUOTE=Angela Freda;8121170]
That is so interesting. Her ‘profile’ on the website says she found that Boarding barns and lesson barns left her wanting, so she decided to open her own, one would guess to ‘do it the right way’… not so much I guess?[/QUOTE]
No, no, no…what she meant was that Boarding barns and lesson barns left her wanting [cash,] so she decided to open her own and get cash that way, by stinting on care and training and suckering in people who know even less about horses and their training than she and Kim Smith do.
[QUOTE=Anne FS;8121312]
No, no, no…what she meant was that Boarding barns and lesson barns left her wanting [cash,] so she decided to open her own and get cash that way, by stinting on care and training and suckering in people who know even less about horses and their training than she and Kim Smith do.[/QUOTE]
I hope the local authorities get moving on this. Action should be taken not only against the “trainer” but also the owner who it would appear to be condoning this.
The woman sounds too ignorant to be anywhere, anyhow, involved in any form of livestock industry.
[QUOTE=pologirl27;8121662]
Made me start to tear up. The next photo of him grazing under a fence with the note “I love this pony” is pretty bad too.[/QUOTE]
And if you make any comments on pics of him, they are deleted. As are comments questioning why parents would let their children continue to ride there. I would seriously take down the fb page until this mess is cleared up and charges filed. But then again, I wouldn’t have a woman like that working for us, nor would I be mad at the whistle blower.
