Free lease gone bad

[mmeqcenter]

@meupatdoes

I worked for a woman once who ran a middling sale/lower level dressage program. One of the sale horses was owned by an elderly lady with a cancer diagnosis who sent the horse to be sold so that she could see rhat he landed well before she died. On her good days, she would come out to pet her horse in her jacket that had his name embroidered on it and brush his tail while I got him ready and then watch him go. My then boss haaaaated it if I would chat kindly with the woman while getting the horse ready or let her brush his tail for two extra minutes before heading down to the indoor.
Literally the second the woman tottered off to vist the ladies room my biss would be in my face hissing “We don’t have time for all this entertaining!”

After a few months the womans health took a turn for the better, and she wanted to take her horse back to her former barn. She gave a month’s notice like a decent human, and still came out when she could to see her horse go.

Of course the barn owner instantly stopped putting him on the ride list, so essentially the elderly woman was paying for rides the horse wasnt getting. One day the woman came with some carrots and I said, “Oh hi, your horse is out, so you want me to bring him in so you can say hi?”

And my then boss just couldnt help herself and right in front of the client said, “Don’t you know she’s LEAVING?!” Evidently she forgot that the woman was paid up in full for the rest of the month…

Some barn owners just can’t bring themselves to be decent human beings to anyone. They act like complete @$$es and then act shocked and betrayed when people leave.

WOW that’s ridiculous! The sad part is, these stories are SO common! It’s really disgusting. Whether or not someone is leaving, they deserve the services they paid for. Period.

[Beck]

@Callista17

Trotapony- so…you auctioned off the pony to buy it back for yourself?!?
Yep, theres three stories to this one I believe.

Different place, so the laws may differ but my understanding is the person exercising the lien sets a ‘reserve bid’ (usually a value/amount in the range of the sum owed: the intent of the lien) and if that bid is not met, then the property (the pony) becomes theirs to do with as they wish. So they do not really ‘buy’ it back from themselves; they attain legal ownership. (And if the pony is not worth the reserve bid, nobody will bid on it and the auction in effect becomes a sham).

[Trotapony]

@Scribbler I inderstand how you would feel that way. I have no interest in doing any damage to this person, I just want my pony back. I have given her three separate chances to avoid this drama and return the horse and not pursue any criminal charges. She has refused each time. This is all unnessary drama being created and I can’t wait untill it is over and the pony is back where she belongs. It won’t change your mind and I’m sorry that you somehow got the impression of me. But my only goal is to get my pony back.

[RubyTuesday]

@Sswor

It aint worth the legal fees. I’m not sure I believe much of that. I can’t believe someone in the horse biz who “is not independently wealthy” and “doesn’t make a lot of money” with 2 small kids would pay a lawyer more good money to go after someone who is clearly also not independently wealthy for back board they will never get for a 20-something pony when they have 10 other school horses doing 20 lessons a week. (You have 10 horses doing 2 lessons a week each? This isn’t good business). Whoo wee.

I’ve been screwed for being nice too. More then once. But I never put myself out more then I could afford to lose and I always walked away. Lesson learned, yo. Not to mention–no one twisted your arm and held a gun to your head and forced you to “be nice” against your will. You chose to “be nice”, which basically by definition means “not for profit”. Sigh. No wonder we all get old and jaded in the business. There is no winning here, @Trotapony . Cut your losses and let it go. The only winning comes from being the better person even if it means you grit your teeth while smiling. This whole social media revenge campaign is not becoming.

Wow, hell has frozen over AGAIN and I agree with Sswor TWICE in 24 hours’ time! The very angels are weeping!

I agree, BO, your story is full of holes. All those horses for 20 lessons? Really??? With being a single mother with 2 kids? You don’t sound like a “business” to me either, you sound like someone who is desperately trying to hang onto and justify hoarding too many horses. Seen enough of THAT in my years in the horse industry. If you need an employee to manage enough horses for 20 lessons a week you either need to find another line of bull or give your kids a shovel and make them earn their keep. It’s worked for generations of Amish and they’re none the worse for it.

A REAL business doesn’t start social media campaigns over a former employee/client. For a 21 year old pony, really? This has Eau De Hoarder to my sense of smell.

[Sswor]

@RubyTuesday you are making me lol. Guess just goes to show that neither of us are total lunatics. Thanks sister.

[Beck]

As my mother used to say: it takes two to tango.

(The OP and the BO. Not referring to anyone else posting!)

[Trotapony]

I am far from a hoarder- wow- you got that from my simple explaination. And I never said I was single. I have a husband and have been in business for over 27 years, so I guess that I must not be as stupid as you think. Yes I keep my school horses , they all have a forever home with me untill they pass. Yes that is not the ideal business model, I agree. But I also board horses and some of them are leased out- not that I owe someone who is as obviously as judgmental as you any explaination. You can jump to conclusions and bash me all you want that is rediculous. My story has no holes, just truth , which the op post did not. Judge all you want, your opinion of me, isn’t any of my business or my problem. Just to help you out- happily married to a man who works hard and makes good money.

Not sure how you got that I need help caring for my animals, but they are all cared for fine, living into their 30’s and 40’s. I have wonderful employees and boarders who would be happy to tell you anything else you would like to keep from jumping to conclusions . Not for anything but my TWO year old and EIGHT month old are a little young for farm work. as far as being a real business, I started a social media campaign to find a pony that was stolen from me, weather she is 21 or 2, all my animals are part of my family and loved.

[Callista17]

I agree Scribbler, and if I was thinking of having my kid take lessons there, this is the bad press that would make me run!!!
I can count on one hand the horses I knew sold by lien, and the ones I knew, the BO wanted to get their names away from the horse in question, even selling for a low amount. Now I know why. I sold one horse on a deal I thought would be going south for $1. The “very good friend” promised we’d stay in touch. Haven’t heard anything since the paper was signed. I feel badly for the horse, and not sure where she is now, but I no longer am involved with that person.

[CHT]

If the Trotapony’s story is true, then it makes absolute sense to me that she would want the pony back. Not because it is valuable on the market, but because it has been a part of her life/business for years, and she likely doesn’t want to see it go back to the condition she says she got it in. Sentiment & ethics. Why do others assume spite? She has only outed her own identity…not the OPs.

If our rescue dog’s old owner ever found and stole him back, I would fight as hard as I could to get him back…not because he is valuable or because we are rich, but because he matters to us and he deserves better than his old owner’s poor care.

Why is it bad if a trainer/coach makes some business decisions based on sentiment rather than profit? As long as they are ok with it.

I haven’t seen the social media stuff, but if it helps Trotapony get the pony back (if the story is true), then it seems like using social media may be justified.

[SnicklefritzG]

If you are that concerned about this person posting details about something that could to court, why did you quote them? They can delete their own posts, but not yours where you quoted everything they said.

@Bluey

I was wondering if we would ever hear “the other side of the story”.
Guess that maybe we just did?
Some of it didn’t quite make sense as we were told, if nothing else, because of the time involved.
Too much seemed to be missing.
That quoted puts more on the table.

For us here, this is a “she said/she said” type story.
We don’t have any way to tell what is true and what a stretch any other from all that has been presented in this thread.

First, paragraphs are your friend.

Second, if there is litigation pending, ask your attorney, but generally you are advised not to say anything to anyone anywhere, less your words may be able to be twisted around and not help, but hinder you.

May consider deleting all that, maybe leave a notice like “there is more to this story and is not over” and chime in later once it is resolved.

Would be nice to know pony is where it should be, that is an important part of this story for most here.

[SnicklefritzG]

If you are concerned about the details that person posted about something that could go to court, then why did you quote them and then tell them they might want to delete what they said? They can delete their own post, but not the copy that is contained in the post you made where you quoted them,

@Bluey

I was wondering if we would ever hear “the other side of the story”.
Guess that maybe we just did?
Some of it didn’t quite make sense as we were told, if nothing else, because of the time involved.
Too much seemed to be missing.
That quoted puts more on the table.

For us here, this is a “she said/she said” type story.
We don’t have any way to tell what is true and what a stretch any other from all that has been presented in this thread.

First, paragraphs are your friend.

Second, if there is litigation pending, ask your attorney, but generally you are advised not to say anything to anyone anywhere, less your words may be able to be twisted around and not help, but hinder you.

May consider deleting all that, maybe leave a notice like “there is more to this story and is not over” and chime in later once it is resolved.

Would be nice to know pony is where it should be, that is an important part of this story for most here.

[Palm_Beach]

@RubyTuesday

give your kids a shovel and make them earn their keep. It’s worked for generations of Amish and they’re none the worse for it.

*** BRILLIANT !!!

@Trotapony - LOSE, not loose.

[cloudyandcallie]

@Trotapony

I am far from a hoarder- wow- you got that from my simple explaination. And I never said I was single. I have a husband and have been in business for over 27 years, so I guess that I must not be as stupid as you think. Yes I keep my school horses , they all have a forever home with me untill they pass. Yes that is not the ideal business model, I agree. But I also board horses and some of them are leased out- not that I owe someone who is as obviously as judgmental as you any explaination. You can jump to conclusions and bash me all you want that is rediculous. My story has no holes, just truth , which the op post did not. Judge all you want, your opinion of me, isn’t any of my business or my problem. Just to help you out- happily married to a man who works hard and makes good money.

Not sure how you got that I need help caring for my animals, but they are all cared for fine, living into their 30’s and 40’s. I have wonderful employees and boarders who would be happy to tell you anything else you would like to keep from jumping to conclusions . Not for anything but my TWO year old and EIGHT month old are a little young for farm work. as far as being a real business, I started a social media campaign to find a pony that was stolen from me, weather she is 21 or 2, all my animals are part of my family and loved.

Too many typos in all of trots posts.
And in their 40s? I have questions about that.

[RubyTuesday]

@Sswor

@RubyTuesday you are making me lol. Guess just goes to show that neither of us are total lunatics. Thanks sister.

You’re welcome!

[RubyTuesday]

@Trotapony

I am far from a hoarder- wow- you got that from my simple explaination. And I never said I was single. I have a husband and have been in business for over 27 years, so I guess that I must not be as stupid as you think. Yes I keep my school horses , they all have a forever home with me untill they pass. Yes that is not the ideal business model, I agree. But I also board horses and some of them are leased out- not that I owe someone who is as obviously as judgmental as you any explaination. You can jump to conclusions and bash me all you want that is rediculous. My story has no holes, just truth , which the op post did not. Judge all you want, your opinion of me, isn’t any of my business or my problem. Just to help you out- happily married to a man who works hard and makes good money.

Not sure how you got that I need help caring for my animals, but they are all cared for fine, living into their 30’s and 40’s. I have wonderful employees and boarders who would be happy to tell you anything else you would like to keep from jumping to conclusions . Not for anything but my TWO year old and EIGHT month old are a little young for farm work. as far as being a real business, I started a social media campaign to find a pony that was stolen from me, weather she is 21 or 2, all my animals are part of my family and loved.

Is anyone else wondering why, IF the OP was such a nefarious person, she was allowed to not only bring MORE horses to this barn than the pony but also allowed to LIVE THERE with two small children in the home??

This just smells more every time the BO posts a reply.

[starhorse]

The social media stuff is just photos of the pony and to ask anyone who knows anything to report it the police. It isn’t naming names but indicates they know who, just not where. Trainer has a lot of support from reputable people in the area who have complaints of equipment going missing as OP made her way out of the barn.

I do think many of you are basing your judgement of the case on grammar and what you heard first erroneously.

Again, don’t know these people, but do know acquaintances and where just about everyone has landed in the real world as far as whose side is true.

[llt]

So, if the OP has the pony, did the BO give it up? I may be late to the party, just curious.

[Scribbler]

@llt

So, if the OP has the pony, did the BO give it up? I may be late to the party, just curious.

No, the BO took out a lien, sold the horse back to herself at auction, and the OP “stole” the horse back. According to B0.

At first I wondered if this was a complete confusion and B0 involved in drama with a totally other HO, because the stories had almost nothing in common. But apparently not.

What I don’t ever get, is why go on an anonymous chat board with an largely falsified story and ask for advice. Our advice is worthless if the story is falsified.

I can see going on social media with your true identity and a falsified story because that could be useful to you.

Anyhow, only Judge Judy could get to the bottom of this.

[llt]

I think people who present a largely falsified story to get advice are looking to gain a win in the court of public opinion, not necessarily in the eyes of the legal system.

[JustTheTicket]

I can’t wait to see how all this ultimately plays out.