[QUOTE=Plumcreek;8497890]
“Real Wives” website and Charismatic Trainer aside, in ~4 years of horse showing didn’t this woman talk to anyone else at the shows? Newbie owners usually wise up much faster than she did, if only from overheard conversations.[/QUOTE]
How do you have that conversation, “Um, I’ve noticed all your horses seem to go lame really quickly or start stopping?”
[QUOTE=bjd2013;8498010]
Really the website doesn’t bother me. I think it’s cute actually 
Anyway, even if the kid does ride bad, the trainer shouldn’t be taking them for a run and doing bad business. I know many kids that can create a stopper, you just have to find them a horse that will put up with mistake after mistake and never get sick of them.[/QUOTE]
And the TRAINER should be training the kid to find the right pace and allow the horse to jump.
Some kids are untrainable. And some parents are pushy, insisting their little peanut move up the ranks whether they are ready or not.
AND SOME TRAINERS CAN NOT TEACH A DOG TO FIND A BONE.
Certainly riders, be they children or adults, amateurs or pros, can destroy a good horse.
Maybe this kid is a terrible rider and mom is a nightmare.
But is there actually anyone who doesn’t think this “trainer” just ran a long con??? Seriously???
No one, no matter how annoying, deserves what happened to these people. And how stupid is this guy that given how much money these people were spending plus having dozens of his own horses on their property and a house, he couldn’t find one moderarely sound old packer. Not even a smart con man.
I watched a video of the kid and thought she was a quiet rider who rode accurately.
I believe if the mom asked for pre purchases to be done and they weren’t done, this was a huge con by the trainer.
[QUOTE=APirateLooksAtForty;8498038]
Some kids are untrainable. And some parents are pushy, insisting their little peanut move up the ranks whether they are ready or not.[/QUOTE]
I have watched several videos. This kid can ride. The trainer, if he did not bother to ascertain that horses purchased were sound and legitimate, was doing both the family and himself a huge disservice.
If what the complaint said is true, this trainer had a PLUM DEAL. Awesome facility in which to keep scads of his horses for free, a good client wanting to buy $$$ horses and train/show, that client being naive enough not to dig too deep into sale transactions. All he had to do was find the kid acceptable horses on a pretty generous budget. He could have even continued all the shady double dipping on commissions etc.-- he just had to do it with sound horses the kid could ride. I mean… how DUMB do you have to be? Buy a nag and mark it up for her but make it one she can RIDE so everyone stays happy. Seriously, you have to wonder…
And yet it’s the trainer that left citing “heart and stress”. Seems like there is a whole lot more story here than most of us will ever know…
Smells fishy to me.
[QUOTE=Tiger Paws;8497223]
And the culture of don’t rock the boat or you’ll get labeled a PITA client that no one will train does not help.[/QUOTE]
Exactly.
Yes and no. I wasn’t in full training at the barn I was at, but I still noticed some things that just didn’t add up, and things the trainer was saying that just wouldn’t produce the results he was getting. I had really strong suspicions after a horse that was advertised as safe enough for a young child to compete on lost its sh!t in the ring with a competent amateur rider. If a kid had been on board, the kid would have been badly hurt. What finally made me jump and leave was shortly after that show, I overheard a discussion on drugging a dangerous pony to get it leased to a 5yo child.
Trainers running these scams are incredibly good at it. I knew something was up, but just couldn’t prove it. The amount of circumstantial evidence wasn’t huge, but it was there. In this case, this trainer made a point of “barn spirit” being a huge deal, and how the barn always did things with each other. I learned it’s actually code for, “We don’t want you talking to anyone else, because then you’d learn that we’re sketchy as hell.” They make the barn very much its own social environment, which at first feels awesome, and like you’re really part of a barn family. What ends up happening is that, not only do you NOT talk to anyone else, but your entire social network in the horse world IS that barn. If you leave, you’re going right back to the start: you don’t know anyone, and at least you know the game that particular trainer is playing. You do NOT know the game the next trainer might play. If you do start talking to people, the scammer is usually right there with horror stories about the other person. You learn rapidly you can’t trust anyone, but it can make getting out harder rather than easier. I knew there was a problem about a year and a half before I actually left, because I simply had no idea where else to go. And the stories that barn spread about me after I left… I found out later just how bad their reputation is, and I felt dumb for not leaving earlier.
I’m grateful for the people outside that barn who were nice enough to talk to me, and when I really knew I needed out, I had people to help point me in the right direction. Side note: You never know when being friendly and nice at a show can really make a difference.
Well, their barn is gorgeous, if you don’t mind purple. And I wish I could see the genyoowine Swarovski crystal stuff on the stalls.
Wait, do they still have the trainer featured on their website when he’s long gone? And they’re in the middle of a lawsuit with him? 
[QUOTE=MyssMyst;8498282]
Yes and no. I wasn’t in full training at the barn I was at, but I still noticed some things that just didn’t add up, and things the trainer was saying that just wouldn’t produce the results he was getting. I had really strong suspicions after a horse that was advertised as safe enough for a young child to compete on lost its sh!t in the ring with a competent amateur rider. If a kid had been on board, the kid would have been badly hurt. What finally made me jump and leave was shortly after that show, I overheard a discussion on drugging a dangerous pony to get it leased to a 5yo child.
Trainers running these scams are incredibly good at it. I knew something was up, but just couldn’t prove it. The amount of circumstantial evidence wasn’t huge, but it was there. In this case, this trainer made a point of “barn spirit” being a huge deal, and how the barn always did things with each other. I learned it’s actually code for, “We don’t want you talking to anyone else, because then you’d learn that we’re sketchy as hell.” They make the barn very much its own social environment, which at first feels awesome, and like you’re really part of a barn family. What ends up happening is that, not only do you NOT talk to anyone else, but your entire social network in the horse world IS that barn. If you leave, you’re going right back to the start: you don’t know anyone, and at least you know the game that particular trainer is playing. You do NOT know the game the next trainer might play. If you do start talking to people, the scammer is usually right there with horror stories about the other person. You learn rapidly you can’t trust anyone, but it can make getting out harder rather than easier. I knew there was a problem about a year and a half before I actually left, because I simply had no idea where else to go. And the stories that barn spread about me after I left… I found out later just how bad their reputation is, and I felt dumb for not leaving earlier.
I’m grateful for the people outside that barn who were nice enough to talk to me, and when I really knew I needed out, I had people to help point me in the right direction. Side note: You never know when being friendly and nice at a show can really make a difference.[/QUOTE]
Yes, this is it exactly.
I see this more and more (and in QH also), as the good independent been there, done that, home-based, meet top coaches at shows, riders disappear due to the increasing cost factors, and the Svengali, Charismatic full program trainers run their programs with newbie clients as a very closely held social club.
However, 4 years?
Addng, that my BFF, a been there, done that, good horsewoman who needs full board/training due to her work-travel schedule, is in just such a concierge-type barn, complete with high priced horses, frequent parties, dress-up celebration dinners, and a charismatic, handsome Svengali trainer. It has been a hoot to see all the usual horse sale shit tried on her and watch her deflect same with aplomb, and get good value as the trainer does not drug and is an OK trainer.
[QUOTE=MHM;8498347]
Wait, do they still have the trainer featured on their website when he’s long gone? And they’re in the middle of a lawsuit with him? [/QUOTE]
Page with trainer is still “out there”, but I do not believe it is accessible from the web site’s home page.
[QUOTE=Groom&Taxi;8498357]
Page with trainer is still “out there”, but I do not believe it is accessible from the web site’s home page.[/QUOTE]
Ah, I see. Thanks. I followed the link in an earlier post.
MyssMyst, thank you for a great post. Sounds to me like you did a good job figuring things out. No, it’s not easy to be a savvy client.
[QUOTE=MHM;8498347]
Wait, do they still have the trainer featured on their website when he’s long gone? And they’re in the middle of a lawsuit with him? [/QUOTE]
Sometimes you have to leave that stuff up in on going cases. Looks like they unlinked it from their page but it’s still out there.
[QUOTE=Groom&Taxi;8498357]
Page with trainer is still “out there”, but I do not believe it is accessible from the web site’s home page.[/QUOTE]
Why is an AMATEUR rider on “staff?”
[QUOTE=APirateLooksAtForty;8498038]
Some kids are untrainable. And some parents are pushy, insisting their little peanut move up the ranks whether they are ready or not.[/QUOTE]
Jeez, I’ve seen her go and she seems to be doing quite well. She also looks happy. I’m glad she’s got a serviceable animal and a new trainer. I wish her well. If the trial proves that they were cheated, I hope they get their money back.
