They didn’t save the drama for their mama? (Therapy, lots of it)
I try and save the drama for my llama. :winkgrin:
[QUOTE=Lori B;4503491]
Stamp collecting is a hobby. If you leave a hobby in a closet for a week, and wander off to Tahiti on a cruise, NO ONE DIES
.[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah, what about George’s fiance on Seinfeld??? She died from licking stamps right;) LMAO!
Anyway, I totally agree, at some point we all have to be a little nuts to pick a hobby that generally takes our attention 24/7 and we have to be a little nuts to climb on the back of a 1200 lbs animal with a brain the size of, well not very big, and expect it to do our complete bidding. You wanna talk crazy horse people? I’m the office manager for a large sport horse farm- crazy calls me on the phone all day long:lol:
You want to hear crazy? Years ago I worked for a woman who had 30 race horses. Six stallions, all racers, and breeders. All the mares raced after being bred, and were off only for a few months to foal out and nurse. This lady was TERRIFIED of horses - wouldn’t even hold one on a shank over a stall door. Granted, her racers were just as jumpy and active as any other elsewhere, and the stallions were all typical; would bite, strike, whatever if given the chance. But she didn’t believe in gelding anything, didn’t let a mare’s chance to prduce go to waste. It was absurd, the only reason the numbers stayed fairly constant was if a mare didn’t take, or she aborted.
I only stayed long enough to earn a horse - I galloped them all up, put the studs on the mares, got gate cards and published workouts on the two year olds one year. Couldn’t wait to leave there, that woman was certified NUTS.
Only a few of her horses, including the one I took in payment amounted to anything at all, claimers, mostly, a handful of minor allowance. I wasn’t sure which I felt the most pity for, the horses, or this deluded nut case. Both?
Thank you, FatPalomino, for the wonderful laugh. I really needed it this week after having to make the decision to leave what should have been a fairly good facility because my request (very gentle and reasonable) that my horse not be fed dusty hay (there would be a cloud you could barely see through at feeding time and 2 of the human boarders had asthma attacks on separate occasions) resulted in the “BO” accusing me of fomenting revolt and giving me the silent treatment. Your post was very witty and yet still expressed the bewilderment and frustration of those of us who are beset by drama queens, and can’t believe we are paying this much money to be made this miserable. I have concluded that stable ownership is a secret government make-work program for people with personality disorders.
I am both a crazy horse person & a crazy cat lady. Embrace it.
Vet was out for fall shots last week. I started a micromanagement type of question with “you are going to think I am crazy but” I was cut off immediately by vet: “course you are crazy, you own horses!”
It was from an equine vet with a herd of her own, so I wasn’t insulted.
[QUOTE=Nic Nicodemus;4507618]
There are cat shows??!! People really are crazy :eek:[/QUOTE]
There are even GOLDISH/KOI Shows! And they actually do plastic surgery on the fish to make them prettier!
http://washingtonkoiorg.ipage.com/koi_show.htm
http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/main-forum/11290-has-anyone-done-cosmetic-surgery-their-koi.html
And the top show koi sell for more than many top Hunters…
I’d venture the Koi people are even crazier than cat people…
[QUOTE=jetsmom;7870687]
There are even GOLDISH/KOI Shows! And they actually do plastic surgery on the fish to make them prettier!
http://washingtonkoiorg.ipage.com/koi_show.htm
http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/main-forum/11290-has-anyone-done-cosmetic-surgery-their-koi.html
And the top show koi sell for more than many top Hunters…
I’d venture the Koi people are even crazier than cat people…[/QUOTE]
my <3 carp?
What do you think came first? The crazy or the horse?
Compared to Mom’s who dress their toddler daughters to look like strippers and put them in beauty pageants, we are normal!
In defense of “normal” people. . .
Oh, yes, this thread has taken a predictable course into glorification of crazy.
I hate to shock you all but there are people in the horse world who are NOT CRAZY. I board my horses at two different barns where everyone is certifiably sane. Can you imagine horse people who are nice and smart and fun and have real (non-horsey) lives outside the barn? They’re very good at what they do but know the difference between being dedicated and being crazy. Occasionally, a crazy or two will sneak in, but they won’t stay long because, lets face it, normal people are too boring. A true crazy needs to be fed a constant diet of drama. Ignore a crazy, and they starve.
I’m probably the craziest person among my real life horse friends, and I’m the only one who posts on COTH, so maybe that says something :eek:
My current barn is filled with (mainly) normal, women with solid professional jobs, many married (kind of boring but they are nice). My prior barn filled more with drama queens /misfits. I didn’t consider most of the DQ as truly crazy though…this thread refers to crazy in a kind of playful self mocking way, not a glorification of “true” crazy, which is either sad or dangerous or both.
Dog people are worse. Much, much worse.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;7870785]
My current barn is filled with (mainly) normal, women with solid professional jobs, many married (kind of boring but they are nice). My prior barn filled more with drama queens /misfits. I didn’t consider most of the DQ as truly crazy though…this thread refers to crazy in a kind of playful self mocking way, not a glorification of “true” crazy, which is either sad or dangerous or both.[/QUOTE]
My current barn is like this which I think is a huge help. Most people have a similar background and lifestyle and do similar things. I think this helps keep the drama down to a minimum.
I barn I boarded at last year had all different types. Some people trail rode only. Some people rode for pleasure, but only in the ring. Others trained, but didn’t show, and some trained and showed regularly and were very competitive. There was a TON of drama at that place for a couple of reasons.
First, there were simply too many different personalities and types of riders for the space of facility that they had. If the people who jumped wanted to set jumps up, the trail riders who couldn’t get on the trail (too dark or it’s winter, etc.) didn’t necessarily want to be in the same ring or ride if someone was jumping. Even if there were only one of two jumps placed out of the way of everyone else, some still felt uncomfortable. you could also bring in whatever trainer you wanted, so the handfull of people who wanted to train had 4-5 different people coming in which created a mess on the calendar. Some people played by the rules, always scheduling in advance, some never played by the rules which made people upset, particularly when the barn owner said she would do something about it but never did.
Second, by the barn owner’s admission there were a few “problem” boarders. They were long-timers so they weren’t going to get kicked out. The barn owner would have the same conversations with them, but with no progress. It was just a lot of hot air. So they really weren’t serious about keeping drama low. It was just something they said to make people think they were addressing it when in fact they weren’t.
Over time, the owners /managers of the barn tend to attract and keep as long time boarders folks with the same vibe.
My prior two barns were high drama, and one had very few boarders and the other was mainly dressage. Both of the barn owners were very eccentric, (kind word for crazy). They had big money and big problems, messy personal lives worthy of the Jerry Springer show. Both were actually non horse people who did not know how to manage the places. Present barn a mix of HJ and dressage, part of a complex of very busy activity…an unusual place, 180 acres including a race track. Talk about a mix of people…but the Barn leaser and manager is a very practical, no nonsense professional woman, relatively young in age but old in thinking in a way…no drama as she sets strict boundaries and is a horse person herself who knows her stuff. Has a brusque personality but is straight forward and an advocate for the horses so it’s good.
I can see where a mix of riders and limited facilities can cause additional problems.
I don’t think it is just horse people. Many people are crazy but add expensive and dangerous animals like horses and the crazy gets magnified.
I have a friend that trained horses and then started working with dogs and did that for a few years. She quit the dog training because she said the people were crazier than horse people. Now she mostly teaches riding lessons.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;7870825]
Over time, the owners /managers of the barn tend to attract and keep as long time boarders folks with the same vibe.
My prior two barns were high drama, and one had very few boarders and the other was mainly dressage. Both of the barn owners were very eccentric, (kind word for crazy). They had big money and big problems, messy personal lives worthy of the Jerry Springer show. Both were actually non horse people who did not know how to manage the places. Present barn a mix of HJ and dressage, part of a complex of very busy activity…an unusual place, 180 acres including a race track. Talk about a mix of people…but the Barn leaser and manager is a very practical, no nonsense professional woman, relatively young in age but old in thinking in a way…no drama as she sets strict boundaries and is a horse person herself who knows her stuff. Has a brusque personality but is straight forward and an advocate for the horses so it’s good.
I can see where a mix of riders and limited facilities can cause additional problems.[/QUOTE]
That makes a HUGE difference.
I think the horse, dog, cat, koi, gymnastic, racing, competitive worlds are microcosms of the real world. Take a look at some parents at Little League games: how frightening is that?
When I was very involved in the dog fancy, I had a neighbor refer to me as obsessive because I had 10 dogs (quiet, well-behaved, clean, upstanding 4-legged citizens). I asked him if he labelled a ballerina as obsessive because she had 10 pairs of ballet slippers or was she just dedicated? He looked at me blankly and walked away.
I think there is a difference between obsessive and committed/dedicated. Is the dog/horse/cat owner obsessive because those animals require feeding, grooming, medical attention, while the ballet dancer hangs up her shoes at the end of the day?
I purchased my first horse when I was 50. All my animals live with me on our farm. I have no experience of boarding. But, I did work as a secretary in an advertising agency in Manhattan in my youth. There were genuinely dedicated individuals with whom I interacted on a daily basis. There were, also, a couple of loop de loops on our floor. Could we substitute horses for typewriters?
There was another thread asking if people regretted having their horses at home. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am neurotic about my animals’ safety, health, comfort. If I don’t know about something, I seek information and advice. Does that make me obsessive or dedicated and committed? I have a life outside of our 4 horses, 2 donkeys, and 2 dogs. Because of that commitment, I have curtailed my travel plans, more because of the difficulty obtaining reliable help, than because I just can’t leave the farm.
Now, if I were terrified by my animals and never interacted with them, that’s got to be a form of crazy!
[QUOTE=FatPalomino;4503308]
I wondered about the control issues too, and if that’s why some of these middle aged woman without much to do get into horses. They can “control” such a big horse, have “control” over the boarding barn they pay, etc, etc.[/QUOTE]
I think these two quotes really hit the nail on the head.
This thread was started in 2009, comforting to know that “crazy horse people” still exist. I know I’m crazy, you should see my horse bills!!!
Is the OP still on this site or was she outed as a hoarder? (sorry OP if I have you mixed up with someone else)
My first instructor said it best. He said;
So, you take a thousand+ pound flight based animal, nail iron onto it’s already lethal hooves and put it in a 12x12 box. When you take it out,you expect to control it’s every movement with with either a short length of rope, or some little leather straps not as wide as the ones you use to hold your pants up. Yes, all horse people are crazy. You have to be.
