ok, didn’t see a thread link…operating on an old tablet until new laptop is received and charged/set up.
The OP of the thread “Would Anyone” that I linked to in my post. Nothing to do with you. Sorry my post was unclear.
no…I"m sorry! I just didn’t realize the link. mea culpa
THAT was great, thanks! I needed something to cheer me up while I’m sitting here sick.
For a bit, though, that thread reminded me of a girl I knew when I was a working student. She did 3rd level, thought she was The Bomb, and finally our instructor had enough of the attitude and had a friend bring her Grand Prix horse over one day for a clinic. Miss Third Level never did figure out how to get the horse to stop piaffing. Man, I wish I had that on video . . .
My sincere apologies to all for being the first to mention that thread.
There are forums that have a rule that an argument cannot be dragged to another thread. Hopefully COTH is one of them.
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Honesty, I found it slightly sad that a young person would feel it so difficult to tell the truth and would go to such lengths to lie. That, I believe, is the downside of allowing young teenagers on BBs that are comprised mainly of adults.
There are many ways of being young and stupid.We oldies did it on horses, as we were not of the internet age.
Hopefully this young person learned from the experience and is well and happy today. 
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We removed a tangent getting more into personal commentary between a couple of posters and continuing discussion from another thread. If anyone would like their posts moved over to the whisker thread, we’re happy to do that, but it sounds like the points were already being made on that thread.
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I dunno. She was caught lying on multiple threads about multiple things, created 2 different accounts, couldn’t afford a horse yet owned a $4,000 saddle (still unsure of the brand), and disparaged those jumping 3’ while she herself was only at 2’6" … I had the feeling she’d just read one too many issues of Practical Horseman and didn’t ride at all.
IMO that was an adult troll entertaining themselves by baiting COTH posters, and not the horse-crazy youngster the person was claiming to be. Someone who had some past contact with the world of lesson barns and showing.
Someone who knew COTH well enough to know what the reaction would be.
In those days, trolling COTH was more easily done, as enough people hadn’t yet tired of engaging with probable trolls. COTH has had several lengthy turns around the trolling block, IMO. Some epic meltdowns that moderating no longer tolerates, thankfully.
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I don’t think so. There were several PM’s and issues surrounding that poster that made it clear she was a teenager.
Well now I’m disappointed, I can’t find the “Would Anyone” topic
Her name was Chanter, wasn’t it?
I’m reading the beginning of that one now and I have some mixed feelings as well. On one hand that kid sounded delusional, naive, and entitled. If I was a CotHer back then I probably would have reacted the same way everyone else did.
But reading the whole thing now has me a bit uneasy. I think the reality that you will never be competitive at that level (as a junior at least) unless you have money is a big pill to swallow when you’re 15. In most other sports if you’re talented and you really work hard the sky is the limit. With horses, you can be insanely talented and insanely hard working and 2’6 might be the limit, if that. When you’re a kid your view of the world is just different and you kind of expect things to be “fair” but it just isn’t fair that some riders will never have the same opportunity as those with financial privilege.
And for the record, I’m not at all saying those Maclay kids aren’t talented or hardworking. There are 11 year olds competing at that level that have more talent in their pinky than I will ever have in my entire life.
I just know I also struggled with this reality as a kid and I wish someone would’ve help me cope with this frustration better. I wish more people had explained not to compare myself to kids with completely different circumstances. I wish people didn’t scoff at how high I was jumping. I wish more people recognized how to measure my ability as a rider in ways other than competing. I also wish someone told me about programs like IEA. I wish someone told me that it’s ok to not own your own horse or even lease your own horse and it doesn’t make you any less of a rider.
But anyway, I too feel a little bad for the OP of that one. I wish we could get a “where are they now”. I really hope she’s still riding and that whenever it was that she eventually got a reality check, she didn’t get too jaded to give up riding.
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There was a thread about Melanie Talent (?) who died at a cross country jump . She was much beloved, both here and IRL. Then her nephew started posting here saying we were all going to die riding horses. Then a poster revealed in a PM that he had mental issues and I think many of us tried to shut people down from answering him. Many posters were very kind and tried giving him words of comfort but his disability kept him coming back and lashing out at anyone who suggested maybe COTH was not where he should be posting. I think someone contacted his family and I haven’t seen him in awhile.
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Oof that one was hard. I have a lot of respect for the ones who nicely let everyone know the back story and didn’t engage.
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yeah…that’s an example of a gone wrong thread I really didn’t mean (as that is unique in so many ways, and a mental concern of a family member responding) 
When I began this, what I meant was: What have you seen begin as a normal inquiry/sharing that others dissolved into such a whacky tangent it became pure entertainment! The original one that made me muse on this was someone asking about a mode of hanging/displaying a nice bridle in her office. It collapsed into people telling her WAY offtrack opinions on why she should never utilize the treasured piece of tack in her office — literally in regards to her career and how horribly it would be impacted to reviews of her financial status if she did…to me, it was so laughable! BY FAR not one of our worst! just made me realize SO many more go wrong than continue in same true vein of original inquiry.
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Ooo, I have another general one to throw into the pile. It isn’t as zanny as some of the other ones posted here but there are a few threads on the horse feed Crypto Aero (Crypto Aero Horse Feed) that just go completely off-rails. This was the first thing that popped up when I googled reviews of the feed (saw it on Chewy and was curious). The OP just wanted some general feedback, and wound up with a lot of pseudoscience claims and Houseguests appearing.
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Lol you know it’s going to be good when you click on a benign, simple topic and your like “i wonder how this got to over 60 comments…?”
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Just got finished reading the “Would Anyone” train wreck. I tried to look away and do something else, but it’s tractor beam kept drawing me back in. Two “posters” who tried to conflict with each other but kept running into themselves. WTF?
