it annoys me to no end he has this name!! He’s made more kids cry than the Grinch.
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Ha yes!
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Older friend of mine rode at a farm in the late 70s/80s ish where he did regular clinics and had lots to say about him and how people were treated. She’s gone now so can’t ask her again.
Younger friend of mine went to Millarbrooke to be a working student through this same connection - and was warned. She lasted a few days then basically quit riding altogether. The big leagues are a whole different ball game she found out quickly.
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Damn. Another idol shattered. 
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That’s awful. 
Yup I wouldn’t trust any of them at this point.
I still very much admire Beezie still and love her Madden Mountain retirement set up. I really hope she is one of the good ones but I can’t consider any of them idols anymore.
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I certainly got a lesson in Idol Shattering when I moved to Calgary for school and volunteered at Spruce all year.
Quickly learned who would be happy to chat in the hot dog line, and who to move to the other side of the path and give a wide berth on the fence at warm up.
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For contrast to some others mentioned here, I think the Maddens have the highest staff retention rate I’ve ever seen in the horse business. There are multiple people who have worked there for decades. A friend of mine knows somebody who has worked there for more than 35 years. I don’t remember the exact number.
But a long, long, long, long time. Especially for the horse world. Plus they take exemplary care of their retired horses. Both of which speak volumes to me.
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I don’t know for sure but I don’t think it’s just an “act” with them. I think they really are good horsepeople who care about doing things right. The lack of turnover and care given to the retirement of former show horses says a lot. As does the way they structure the retirement to be horse-friendly rather than human-friendly. Plus, honestly, have you ever heard a bad word about how they treat horses or people? Name anyone big time and SOMEONE has something to say about them, whether valid or not, but the fact that there’s never even whispers about them seems significant to me.
Now the Wexners are a whole OTHER story… but that’s not the Maddens themselves.
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I love that!
Nothing to do with Big leagues, more like
Big bullies and celebrity worship turning a blind eye!
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Exactly.
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Yes, partly – and the expectation of a star struck young adult that it was going to be about how much “we all love horses” and that it would be so happy and friendly. Nope.
Having said that - I feel obligated to also say I haven’t had a negative interaction with the “Captain” either time we showed at The Royal and ran into him in the Horse Palace. Super friendly and took some time to ask about our horse etc. (sport horse Cup class).
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A friend from Alberta told me a story here Leslie Howard held someones horse for like a 1.20m coursewalk. They were desparate to find someone to hold their horse and didn’t know who she was. They were mortified when they found out but Leslie was really nice about it.
And I agree about Ian, I’ve overheard him say some not very nice things at Spruce
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Have you all forgotten how mean George Morris could be???
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I remember watching her years ago in Bromont running around to either do up or take down flaps on a stabling tent. I was impressed that she didn’t seem to feel above doing the dirty work around the barn.
Another time, I was doing night check at a show when someone walked around to my aisle and asked if I could give her a hand. It was one of the grand prix riders who was doing night check and struggling to get eye drops in one of the horse’s eyes. Again, she seemed lovely and clearly willing to do some of the less glamourous work herself, and was so thankful for the few minutes of my time.
I found working in a show office very interesting, too. The behaviour of the riders who came to the show office (and the complete absence of some others) was very revealing. Some only wanted to have the attention of the show office manager, while others were so lovely and polite to me, the nobody assistant, and introduced themselves every time they came in without assuming I would know who they were.
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John Madden used to be very mean to long-time groom Clark. He would grab the straw fork and kick him out of the stall when it was time to make Authentic’s bed in the morning. Double stall with mile high flaxen banks for the golden boy. John smugly owning the snores that ensued (“Bud” not Clark).
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I don’t understand how wanting to do a particular stall in the morning makes him “mean”.
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It was a failed attempt at a joke.
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He cared so much that he took over stall duties to make sure it was perfect for authentic.
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