HorseShowDiva IS BACK and functional

[Night_Flight]

Are you hungry, Scribbler?

[Scribbler]

The spartan bowl of oatmeal is clearly not going to get me through a cold wet day!

[Sticky_Situation]

I mean, it’s great that he was able to buy it and keep it as an Eventing venue. He seems like a good kid and he’s done something good for the sport … my criticism wasn’t against the young man at all, it was about the tone of the article implying that all the average kid needs in order to buy a million-dollar farm is to work hard, help out around the farm, and do some odd jobs in their free time during high school.

[Mara]

As much as I dislike the “I know something you don’t know” tone of Diva, they’re sometimes the first to report something. If you can overlook the snark, they are generally spot on with their information.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Sticky_Situation

I mean, it’s great that he was able to buy it and keep it as an Eventing venue. He seems like a good kid and he’s done something good for the sport … my criticism wasn’t against the young man at all, it was about the tone of the article implying that all the average kid needs in order to buy a million-dollar farm is to work hard, help out around the farm, and do some odd jobs in their free time during high school.

This!

On top of it, not to be a jerk… but the jury is still out as to whether or not the venue will survive, and be successful. Keeping a farm like this operating in the black, and putting on successful events, year in and year out? There is no way an average 18 year old, who has never run a business, can accomplish this without significant support and guidance. Which is totally fine. But the article glossed over this in a truly weird way.

[ClassyJumper]

I went back to reread the article thinking maybe the author took some liberties with the writing but the statements regarding the financing stuff were direct quotes from parent and son.

If it was supposed to be a feel good story about a family saving a venue and letting their son run it, they should have left out the vague nitty gritty of the financials.

[mvp]

@ClassyJumper

Ok. **Not to derail but I have wanted to talk about this but didn’t want to be that B to bring it up.**That article irked me. Kid seems sweet and a hard worker but… No.

No bank is loaning money to an 18 y/o for anything, let alone property in an expensive NE state. Give me a break.

Also real patronizing to all of us living in reality who busted our bums for 30 years to finally get that itty bitty 3 acre farmette.

Privileged kid who decides to do good with family $$, h*ll ya, good for him! But I am not buying what that article was selling.

I could have done without the second sentence since, apparently, I’m “that B” who you (and a bunch of other people who liked your post) wanted to be.

Can’t there be a different way to say it so that the messenger isn’t shot?

[mvp]

@Virginia_Horse_Mom

@BAC

If the bank gave the kid a loan I’m sure they have a reasonable expectation that he or perhaps there is a co-signer, can pay it back. Banks don’t just give money away.

Correct.

But let’s be honest. There was either a co-signor, or the kid had a trust fund to use to buy it. Which is fine. That’s none of my business…

And of course there was a down payment… that was in the hundreds of thousands.

But when the Chronicle wrote up a story saying he worked and saved and somehow convinced a bank to take a risk on his business plan or something (I can’t recollect the exact details of the article) - it comes off as bizarre and dishonest.

I hope the young man does great things with Huntington. But let’s be honest about one more thing… it was unlikely that property was in imminent danger of being turned into McMansions. It’s a very specific location in Vermont. Beautiful… but preserving open spaces from suburban sprawl is not the same issue there as it is in parts of Pennsylvania where his family came from, or in Loudoun County, or any number of other historically horsey areas where beautiful old farms are getting consumed by suburban developers. That whole angle of the article also fell flat with me.

Here you go, BAC.

It’s not “griping about privilege” to ask a question… unless you think no one with a sufficiently high net worth ought to be investigated. Surely, that can’t be the argument you mean to make?

My point was that COTH never bothered. And now, here we are, doubling down on the idea that all anyone should do is praise the rich. And sheeit… no one knows my net worth. How do you know I’m not just a total cannibal of my own class?

[ClassyJumper]

Sorry! For the record I was tottaly referring to myself thinking about starting a thread on the topic. I just couldn’t in good conscience start a thread on a topic that was bound to be a train wreck and centered around a harmless kid. Is posting in this one any better, probably not but I couldn’t help myself.

I definitely have trouble with the financial disconnect of the sport. I wish there was a journalist who actually connected with the 95% of us busting our bums to get the barn full of hay before winter instead of saving for WEF.

[Xctrygirl]

Gotta admit…The sheer amount of Andy Kocher related stories and tidbits MADE HSD somewhat relevant and I will still wonder if he didn’t have a hand in getting it taken down for a while.

But honestly… some of the stories from the lowest minions in our sports, tend to be the ones with more truth to them.

Em

[Xctrygirl]

FYI it’s down again.

[endlessclimb]

https://horseshowdiva.com/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=93aad7f3d60325322e19c3963c9f423c

^is this what everyone is talking about? I don’t even know what HSD is so I’m stupid, sorry…

[endlessclimb]

That’s what I was thinking. These people are the kinds of people I actively avoid. Yuck.

[Railbird]

I’m a mortgage banker- there absolutely would have to be adult credit/assets/income to extend that loan. I also have a hard time, based on what I do for a living, deciding that a horse show venue is the greater good than housing for a market that has a historic shortage. I wouldn’t expect COTH to be delivering hard hitting journalism, but I struggle with the idea of “saving” horse show venues from development into a use that likely better serves the surrounding area. By all means anyone with the funds should feel capable of purchasing a property they would like to own and run the way they want, but to call something saved rubs me the wrong way a little.

[trubandloki]

The term saved does not bother me in the slightest. We (general) regularly lose facilities/land for large outdoor horse activities. Keeping those facilities matters.

[Sticky_Situation]

I agree. Surely there are ways to address housing needs beyond carving up perfectly good farms into a bunch of overpriced cookie-cutter condos. Horse show venue or not, I can’t manage to see developing all the open land as some kind of noble move toward the greater good.

[BarbaraC]

Yeah so just thought I’d take a peek after hearing about it so much. They have 405 members. Domain is owned by a URL farm called “NameCheap” based in Iceland. Not sure of revenue model since I wasn’t seeing any ads. At any rate, sad people who maniacally post there. Literally the definition of having no life!

That’s all - I won’t be joining and the posts were exactly as expected.

[Pokerface]

Just popped over to HSD to see what was the hot goss.

THEY MADE A POST ABOUT COTH

These people are the key members of Qanon, I swear.