Horse People - what is up with them?

[foursocks]

Well, some people are annoying, but part of being a BO/BM/trainer is developing people skills. If a horse owner is concerned about something the person she is paying to take care of her horse needs to be able to address those concerns in some way. If the owner is needlessly concerned, or wants to have a long chat and blague on about whatever, then it is still up to the professional to be able to deal with that- it’s part of the job.

If one does not have the patience or the ability to handle annoying owners then that person is in the wrong job. They are not more important than their customers- it is the nature of the business. That isn’t to say that the pro should simply put aside everything to listen to whatever, but the pro needs to be able to handle those types of owners so that they don’t feel like they have to come on COTH and complain about it.

I would certainly not be able to happily do that job- I wouldn’t want to put up with worried/anxious/chatty/ignorant owners, and I wouldn’t be very good at it as a consequence. Therefore, I do not have that job. Simple.

[Skybox]

Watch just a few minutes of Dance Moms. You’ll feel better about horse people. I promise!

[ModernShowJumper]

I agree with you. I think it is the head injuries, causing mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar.

[RugBug]

[QUOTE=foursocks;7775953]
Well, some people are annoying, but part of being a BO/BM/trainer is developing people skills. If a horse owner is concerned about something the person she is paying to take care of her horse needs to be able to address those concerns in some way. If the owner is needlessly concerned, or wants to have a long chat and blague on about whatever, then it is still up to the professional to be able to deal with that- it’s part of the job.

If one does not have the patience or the ability to handle annoying owners then that person is in the wrong job. They are not more important than their customers- it is the nature of the business. That isn’t to say that the pro should simply put aside everything to listen to whatever, but the pro needs to be able to handle those types of owners so that they don’t feel like they have to come on COTH and complain about it.

I would certainly not be able to happily do that job- I wouldn’t want to put up with worried/anxious/chatty/ignorant owners, and I wouldn’t be very good at it as a consequence. Therefore, I do not have that job. Simple.[/QUOTE]

Sadly, this is what our society is coming too. People are no longer responsible for being annoying, over-taxing, high maintenance, etc. We’ve gone so far to the customer is always right that we believe it is always the other side that just has to deal.

Really, all I’m saying is people should be responsible clients. Try not to be annoying over the small things. If it’s a big thing, sure…get it dealt with…but if you are high maintenance over wee things, you’re not the best client ever.

Also, legitimate concerns are valid discussion points. Wanting an update on Pookie’s every move during the day is not. THAT’s what I’m talking about.

[Lady_Eboshi]

[QUOTE=Alt1Sad;7772386]
So, I came to the horse world late in life. I have found horses to be wonderful, beautiful creatures. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the same to be true about horse people.

This is not meant as an attack, and I hope many of you will tell me that I just haven’t met the right horse people. For the sake of horses, I hope that is true.

I am in a profession that gets low marks for consumer trust. I have to say, the horse world makes the people in my field look like angels–not to mention competent and professional.

Horse People:

1. They will continually promise to do things and then flake out on their promises. I haven’t figured out whether this is dishonesty or memory problems. Maybe there’s a lot of post-concussion short-term memory problems in the horse world.

2. They will hide health issues to sell a horse–apparently more concerned about making a buck then whether the horse will suffer from missing needed meds.

3. If you express dissatisfaction or point out that something promised wasn’t done, they will never apologize or take responsibility. It always either “isn’t a big deal” or someone else is to blame.

4. They will try to snow you when they don't know something--instead of admitting they don't know or doing some research.  
   

5. They would rather you NOT be an involved horse owner and not show up at the barn frequently during the day… because then you notice things about your horse they would rather you not know (like that your horse hasn’t been turned out because they were too busy.)

6. They are disorganized. Does any horse professional have (gasp!) a calendar? Maybe a notebook to write stuff down in? These might prove useful to keep track of things like farrier appointments and vet instructions, but I never see them being used.

I am very, very sad that most of the experiences I have had with horse professionals have been disappointing. I don’t think I’m that demanding but yes, I expect people to be honest, to do what they tell me they are going to do, and to put the horse’s welfare first.

I’m sure many posters will disagree with me and like I said, I hope they are right and I have just seen more than my share of bad apples. I like to think the best of people. But right now I am really sad.[/QUOTE]

I haven’t read the whole thread–just responding to the OP. But how many barns have you been IN, OP, to make your blanket statement about an entire industry?
Ever occur to you that you may know a good deal less about those “things you notice” than people who do this for a living? Also, if you act like you’re trying to catch them out all the time, and then ask questions with an adversarial attitude, I can pretty much promise you’re going to get something similar in return.

In my state alone there are a couple of thousand barns. If you don’t like the service you’re getting (same as a restaurant or haircut shop), MOVE. Let your feet do the walking and your checkbook do the talking.

[merrygoround]

Having seen many barns, I will agree that there are incompetent , lazy ignorant BO and BM. It is the boarder/horse owner who must learn to study the establishment ahead of time. Sometimes the simply charming BO is just that and absolutely nothing more, nothing, lots of charm, that’s it. And the laid back with horses person, who keeps her barn clean, deals with routine care and whose boarders are in line, safety and management wise, appears to be awful, but isn’t if you want your horses done right.

A Code of Ethics? Is that why so many lawyers, not all of them, but many, get caught with their hand in the client’s pocket?

[foursocks]

Well, RugBug, I don’t think most people set out to be annoying, nor does this seem like anything new to me in the history of humanity! If the client feels like they need those updates then the other person in the equation can either put up with it or educate the owner enough to let him or her know that it isn’t necessary.

Or, I suppose the pro could say “STFU, Annoying Client! I’M BUSY! Why don’t you understand that??” <— this would perhaps be satisfying but it wouldn’t do much for the pro’s business. That seems to be your solution, though, since you appear to feel as if this is an issue of people being raised incorrectly, or something. Do you think that annoying people are going to magically figure it out? Someone has to help them along, right?

I don’t know what is wrong or unexpected about someone in the customer service industry needing good enough people skills to be able to deal with, and hopefully stop annoying clients wasting their time without losing those clients.

If someone feels entitled to waste the pro’s time and doesn’t respond to being re-educated about that, well, that is something entirely different. However, the onus is still on the pro to deal with it, unless s/he decides it is worth it to put up with it. Don’t want to deal with nervous/crazy horse owners who put all of their own problems right into their horses? Don’t run a barn. Tell clients not to text or phone past a certain time of night unless it is an emergency. Don’t respond to non-urgent texts when you are busy. If person wants to emote about something when you are in the middle of another task say: “I’d like to talk about this later, right now I need to stack 200 bales of hay. Let’s sit down on Tuesday and we can discuss it- I have time at 11:30.” <<— It isn’t rocket science.

[zippyrider]

Some great, some not-so-great. For the not-so-great horse people, it’s like, “Hellooooo, any people skills???!!!”. They spend too much time with large, sometimes ill-mannered horses.

[RugBug]

@foursocks;7776841

Or, I suppose the pro could say “STFU, Annoying Client! I’M BUSY! Why don’t you understand that??” <— this would perhaps be satisfying but it wouldn’t do much for the pro’s business. That seems to be your solution, though, since you appear to feel as if this is an issue of people being raised incorrectly, or something. Do you think that annoying people are going to magically figure it out? Someone has to help them along, right?

Really? That’s what you read? That I think the BO should blow everyone off? I didn’t say that. I said that people need to reflect on whether they really need all the information they are asking for and be respectful of other people’s time. That is all. If you recognize you are a high maintenance customer, own your sh$t and do your best to not be. Don’t be a helicopter horse owner.

[CrittersMom]

[QUOTE=RugBug;7776997]
Really? That’s what you read? That I think the BO should blow everyone off? I didn’t say that. I said that people need to reflect on whether they really need all the information they are asking for and be respectful of other people’s time. That is all. If you recognize you are a high maintenance customer, own your sh$t and do your best to not be. Don’t be a helicopter horse owner.[/QUOTE]

There seems to be just as many “challenging” boarders as there are horse professionals. I’ve seen both sides - from the BO/BM that won’t let you haul your own horse to shows because she wants to make money on hauling for you, to the border who requires that their horse’s face be wiped down with baby wipes twice a day (am & pm, tuvm) and be fed a special snack twice a day in addition to the regular meals and turn-out - YES THIS IS TRUE.

Unfortunately, the obnoxious people tend to stand out, giving the rest of us a bad reputation. My advice to the OP is to not get discouraged. Realize that the horse industry is like any other business in that people need to make a living. If something looks too good to be true (like a super inexpensive boarding facility with a great indoor, outdoor, etc.) it probably is, and there is a good chance you are missing something (like the lunatic BO/BM). Focus on your horse and what you enjoy, and let at least some of the rest of it go.

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=sammicat;7778475]
Realize that the horse industry is like any other business in that people need to make a living.[/QUOTE]

Yep. I’ve worked in the horse industry and I’ve worked in many other industries. These days, I work in corporate America and am a client of the horse industry.

There is NO industry that is immune to drama, poor communication, substandard service, troublesome bosses, troublesome coworkers, troublesome customers, etc…you can’t pin it on any particular industry.

I think many of us make the mistake of thinking the horse industry is “special”. It’s easy to be taken in by that thought process. Everything about horses is expensive, so customers want everything to be perfect in exchange for the money they are shelling out. Many people working with animals of any kind are doing so because they prefer animals to people and don’t really like dealing with people (I’ve been one of those!). The problem is that animals don’t have any money of their own, so there is no way to make a living with them and totally avoid dealing with people, complete with all their foibles.

The horse industry really isn’t THAT special. Car mechanics! Customers are emotionally invested because they NEED that car to get from A to Z and repairs can be very expensive. Their expectations may be unreasonably high for what can be fixed for how much money (I’m thinking of my DH here, all the mechanics around here hate him ;)), because they don’t understand what it takes for the guy fixing their car to make a living. Then, there is the mechanic thinking…geez, I work on cars because I’d really rather not deal with people, I wish these darned customers would just pay their bill, shut up, and drive off ;).

Everyone is just trying to get what they need or want and trying to make a living. Some are better than others (on both sides of the transaction fence)

[Albertabound]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;7772979]
Many horse people are crazy and incompetent. Find the ones who aren’t these things, and keep your horse there. Even if it isn’t the fancy barn or the best arena. Look for the ones with shiny, happy horses kept outside most of the time and board there! Put up with some quirks, all people have them, and stay heavily involved with your horse’s care. A good BO will appreciate it in the long run even if she finds it annoying on a random Thursday that she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I love my boarders very involved and won’t take them any other way, as I rely on my boarder to feed my horses when I travel. My boarder is awesome and I rely on her for second opinions about my own horses’ maladies.[/QUOTE]

This is great advice. I moved my horse because the barn managers didn’t want to give him the level of care or the amount of hay he needed. They didn’t understand basic good horsemanship either. For example, my horse got injured because they were leading two at a time through a man-door (this was standard practice, too much work to open the horse door and take one at a time!) I noticed that 90% of their school horses were chronically lame, yet they rode them anyway. They were obese and foundering all summer and skin and bones by mid-winter. I could go on, but you get the idea.

We moved him to a smaller barn with much better care. He is flourishing and my daughter’s show career has taken off!

Moral of the story: look closely at how they care for their own horses. If its sub-standard then move.

[wood_snake]

I can trump the boarder who wanted the horse’s face cleaned with baby wipes twice a day.

Baby wipes. Once a day. Mare’s lady parts.

Big, crabby mare. Did not want clean lady parts.

People in general are crazy. I’m sure that everyone in that woman’s life found her unreasonable.

I’m sure she thought I was unreasonable. (for the ‘great lady part revolt of 1993’)

People are people and most of us are crazy at some point.