My daughter and I both ride. We currently have two horses boarded at a barn near our home, where they have been for ~8 years. When we moved to this barn she was doing short stirrup and I was already active in the jumper ring. There were some great girls who were within a year or two of her age and they were fast friends. They all rode together, showed together up the ranks in the area shows, etc. Now, she’s a junior in high school. Her friends have all graduated and most left the state for college. Their horses were sold or sent out on lease. Now, she’s the oldest teen at the barn, with a whole pack of girls who are middle school age.
This group of girls are MEAN. They threaten others (yes, I’ve heard this), make snide comments constantly and generally make things miserable for anyone else in the barn. Parents aren’t often around, or when they are, they sit and socialize with themselves. Several of them have made themselves buddy-buddy with the barn manager, so he’s no help - he won’t say a word to his friends about their kids being brats. Our trainer is busy teaching, so doesn’t see much of the issues that happen in the barn aisle, tack room, etc.
I really do not want to move our horses, but I’m not seeing any other options. It will make me very sad as we’ve been here a long, long time and have friends there, but it’s gotten to the point where neither of us go to the barn when the Brat Pack is there.