OP, you have my deepest sympathy on the loss of your horses. What a tragic accident. 
To txhorsetrainer, can you please clarify the reason for stripping a barn owners property?
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[QUOTE=narcisco;8983483]
Where can I find the Invisible Verbal Leash?[/QUOTE]
It emanates automatically from rude people with ill trained dogs, I believe.
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To Ellen - I would love to join you in a room with the owners of the other three barns that kicked you off their property along with the governing body of the USEA. I wonder who they would believe.
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[QUOTE=patalane50;8983591]
To Ellen - I would love to join you in a room with the owners of the other three barns that kicked you off their property along with the governing body of the USEA. I wonder who they would believe.[/QUOTE]
I’m sure Ellen would be more than happy to oblige, she has actual facts, emails, text messages, etc to back up her claims. She’s not perfect and I’m sure she’d admit that she’s made her fair share of mistakes, and she’s always striving to learn and be better.
And just to get your facts straight, there are not 3 other barns that kicked her out… the one before yours she gave them her 30 day written notice that she was leaving, and then they got pissed that boarders were moving with her and told her to leave before the 30 days were up. They did some crazy things, such as lock up all of the jumps so no one could use them to try and make it hard for Ellen to teach lessons.
Yours, well, we all know what happened there with you and your crazy lesbian partner. You were supposed to be silent investors and as soon as y’all closed on the property, you wanted your hands in everything. And Ellen did not “strip the property” she only took things that SHE BROUGHT or bought. You did give her 5k in start up costs, which I know she used for things such as tractor repair, field maintenence, etc. YOU demanded that she leave all of the show jumping standards and poles that her parents came down and made for her, as well as personal property of hers. That’s crazy. For those interested, they purchased this property together with Ellen, it was an empty property that Ellen was going to build up. There was nothing there to begin with.
Ellen speaks her mind and is very honest, to a fault. Many people do not like that, even more so when she has become successful. Her loyal clients are still with her, and her barn is still full. I doubt this post will change that.
[QUOTE=Eventing212121;8983613]
I’m sure Ellen would be more than happy to oblige, she has actual facts, emails, text messages, etc to back up her claims. She’s not perfect and I’m sure she’d admit that she’s made her fair share of mistakes, and she’s always striving to learn and be better.
And just to get your facts straight, there are not 3 other barns that kicked her out… the one before yours she gave them her 30 day written notice that she was leaving, and then they got pissed that boarders were moving with her and told her to leave before the 30 days were up. They did some crazy things, such as lock up all of the jumps so no one could use them to try and make it hard for Ellen to teach lessons.
Yours, well, we all know what happened there with you and your crazy lesbian partner. You were supposed to be silent investors and as soon as y’all closed on the property, you wanted your hands in everything. And Ellen did not “strip the property” she only took things that SHE BROUGHT or bought. You did give her 5k in start up costs, which I know she used for things such as tractor repair, field maintenence, etc. YOU demanded that she leave all of the show jumping standards and poles that her parents came down and made for her, as well as personal property of hers. That’s crazy. For those interested, they purchased this property together with Ellen, it was an empty property that Ellen was going to build up. There was nothing there to begin with.
Ellen speaks her mind and is very honest, to a fault. Many people do not like that, even more so when she has become successful. Her loyal clients are still with her, and her barn is still full. I doubt this post will change that.[/QUOTE]
Wait, what?
I can’t keep all these alters/houseguests/newbies straight, so forgive me, but who are you, and what is your role in all of this?
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Quote Originally Posted by patalane50 View Post
To Ellen - I would love to join you in a room with the owners of the other three barns that kicked you off their property along with the governing body of the USEA. I wonder who they would believe.
I’m sure Ellen would be more than happy to oblige, she has actual facts, emails, text messages, etc to back up her claims. She’s not perfect and I’m sure she’d admit that she’s made her fair share of mistakes, and she’s always striving to learn and be better.
And just to get your facts straight, there are not 3 other barns that kicked her out… the one before yours she gave them her 30 day written notice that she was leaving, and then they got pissed that boarders were moving with her and told her to leave before the 30 days were up. They did some crazy things, such as lock up all of the jumps so no one could use them to try and make it hard for Ellen to teach lessons.
Yours, well, we all know what happened there with you and your crazy lesbian partner. You were supposed to be silent investors and as soon as y’all closed on the property, you wanted your hands in everything. And Ellen did not “strip the property” she only took things that SHE BROUGHT or bought. You did give her 5k in start up costs, which I know she used for things such as tractor repair, field maintenence, etc. YOU demanded that she leave all of the show jumping standards and poles that her parents came down and made for her, as well as personal property of hers. That’s crazy. For those interested, they purchased this property together with Ellen, it was an empty property that Ellen was going to build up. There was nothing there to begin with.
Ellen speaks her mind and is very honest, to a fault. Many people do not like that, even more so when she has become successful. Her loyal clients are still with her, and her barn is still full. I doubt this post will change that.
And this is from someone who’s been riding for less than year? It’s interesting that your posts perpetuate and insinuate otherwise, what with all the firsthand knowledge of these experiences that transpired over a long period of time.
As countless others have stated before me, if one person had had complaints about Ellen, the OP could certainly be seen as partaking in hyperbolic references to minor events (with the exception of seriously injured horses and one that is deceased, of course)…however, as I’ve read here and on the original Facebook post, the list of complainants is growing by the minute, and each one has a few common undertones. If I were in that area and/or barn, I’d be seriously questioning whether or not I would ever consider riding, let alone board, with someone after all these stories have been shared.
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I can vouch for several of the items that have been pointed out here. First, the horse care (or lack thereof): There were numerous horses in Ellen’s care that became very underweight during their stay at her barn. I saw them in person. I also confronted her about it which did zero good. Speaking of horse care, a horse at her facility kicked another horse in the pasture. We both saw it happen. She brought the horse who had been kicked up from the paddock, and it was limping and had an open wound to the stifle area. She then put him back out in the paddock without treating it, calling a vet, or contacting the owner. The owner found out a few days later when she came to check on her horses and the one who had been kicked was three-legged lame. Now onto the business-y items: I have witnessed Ellen taking client horses to school cross country without the owner’s permission. As a matter of fact, I was mortified to learn after one particular schooling outing that I had been riding a horse to school cross country whose owner had not given permission to do so. Talk about awkward. Fun fact - this was NOT the same incident that the OP wrote about in her #6 (my incident happened well before that one), so this is clearly a pattern for her. I also was witness to more than one occasion of Ellen doing some…creative business deals in which the purchaser and seller of a horse were told different sales prices. I believe she has even had several instances of refusing to pay sellers when she sold their horses. From what I could tell, she usually didn’t seem to put much effort into trying to sell the sales horses that were brought to her facility and instead used the sales horses, some of which were supposed to be in full training with her from what I understand, as lesson horses in her program. I can’t even tell you how many times her dogs ran loose at shows and schoolings.
In response to the above post, the owners of the one of the previous barns had to lock their jumps up because they asked her repeatedly not to jump in the covered arena, and she refused to comply with their request. Also, I have no idea what sexual orientation has to do with a business transaction for a barn, however I do know that that property was not “empty”. There was a home on it, a covered arena, a round pen, a barn, and Kentucky-style paddocks as well as a driveway and gated entrance. You may want to brush up on your facts before you continue to embarrass yourself.
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To eventing 212121
Well, I can see Ellen lied to all of you. I’m not even going to respond to what you think is the truth. Except for this - I bought $5,000 worth of equipment for Ellen to help her get started. It was to be paid back. She came up with the receipts for what she thought she had bought with my money which included a picnic table and dog food. I could’ve cared less about the things her dad made and never requested those be returned. When she left she took all of the items on the list. She also took some heavy duty mats that came with the property as well as our personal hoses and one of our water troughs, among other things. If she told you anything otherwise, she is lying and she knows it.
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To eventing 212121
Well, I can see Ellen lied to all of you. I’m not even going to respond to what you think is the truth. Except for this - I bought $5,000 worth of equipment for Ellen to help her get started. It was to be paid back. She came up with the receipts for what she thought she had bought with my money which included a picnic table and dog food. I could’ve cared less about the things her dad made and never requested those be returned. When she left she took all of the items on the list. She also took some heavy duty mats that came with the property as well as our personal hoses and one of our water troughs, among other things. If she told you anything otherwise, she is lying and she knows it.
[QUOTE=Eventing212121;8983613]
I’m sure Ellen would be more than happy to oblige, she has actual facts, emails, text messages, etc to back up her claims. She’s not perfect and I’m sure she’d admit that she’s made her fair share of mistakes, and she’s always striving to learn and be better.
And just to get your facts straight, there are not 3 other barns that kicked her out… the one before yours she gave them her 30 day written notice that she was leaving, and then they got pissed that boarders were moving with her and told her to leave before the 30 days were up. They did some crazy things, such as lock up all of the jumps so no one could use them to try and make it hard for Ellen to teach lessons.
Yours, well, we all know what happened there with you and your crazy lesbian partner. You were supposed to be silent investors and as soon as y’all closed on the property, you wanted your hands in everything. And Ellen did not “strip the property” she only took things that SHE BROUGHT or bought. You did give her 5k in start up costs, which I know she used for things such as tractor repair, field maintenence, etc. YOU demanded that she leave all of the show jumping standards and poles that her parents came down and made for her, as well as personal property of hers. That’s crazy. For those interested, they purchased this property together with Ellen, it was an empty property that Ellen was going to build up. There was nothing there to begin with.
Ellen speaks her mind and is very honest, to a fault. Many people do not like that, even more so when she has become successful. Her loyal clients are still with her, and her barn is still full. I doubt this post will change that.[/QUOTE]
Again, to my earlier post to Eventing212121, trouble with barns and other people seem to be a consistent issue with Ellen. There are few barns in this area - she can’t have “left” all of them on her own accord. One - maybe. Two - maybe. More than that - feels like an issue with the trainer. It’s like any other person who “job hops” - affer a while, the red flags point straight to them.
That said, given the level of detail in your posts and the tone in which they are posted, I am left wondering the following:
Is Eventing212121 really TxHorseTrainer trying to defend herself secretly while publicly trying to be diplomatic (see her only post under her real username to this thread)?
Or has Ellen given you, a boarder, far too many negative-slanted details about other people without allowing them the benefit of sharing their point of view?
Or is this truly someone (other than Ellen) who was there and can speak honestly about what happened? If that is the case, please take the time to consider the other people’s point of view. As you yourself have said, there are two sides to every story.
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Okay, here goes nothing! Jumping back onto the COTH scene with a splash, I guess. If any of you missed my previous post, I am in fact the barn manager for Ellen, at her facility in Rockwall. (Rockwall Hills Equestrian Center/Pegaus Eventing.) I would like to put in a different view point on the list of problems Stormy has mentioned she’s had over the past couple of years.
I was going to start with a cast of characters, but that would mean I’d spend a gosh awful amount of time typing out back stories for everything. Frankly, I’d rather spend my time doing the dishes. Or sleeping. So, I’ll just go down the list, starting at one.
1). Her tragic loss of Bailey in the flash flood.
I can’t comment too much on the situation surrounding this incident, since I was not here in Texas at that point. All I can say is that the flash flood was just that. A flash flood. Which happened very quickly, in an area that hadn’t flooded like that for decades. I could tell you what I’ve been told about the other side of the story, but like I said, I wasn’t here for that and have no first hand experience.
I CAN, however, say that there are NOT horses going out there. Were there? For a few months this year, late spring/early summer, yes. There were 5 animals being pasture boarded in that area. Any time there was rain in the forecast, they were moved (and shut in) pastures on higher grounds that could not flood. They left before Stormy did.
2). Fella colicing and having to have surgery.
Once again, I cannot comment too much since I was not here for that incident. I will say, however, that a vet was involved, and the pony was being treated before being moved to the hospital. It turned out to be an impaction colic, and he had surgery to correct. I came here after he had been back for a few weeks. I even on one occasion drove to a feed store to pick up more hay for him, since he was not allowed to have coastal yet. I paid for it out of my own pocket, since Stormy and Glen were out of town and not able to buy him more.
3). Ziggy injuring his stifle in the hail storm.
I most definitely was here for that one…! If you look up the hail storm, you will see that it was a super cell that created record amounts of freakishly large and damaging hail. I don’t know much about the weather, but I have learned that super cells come out of nowhere, and move extremely fast, with little warning. Was I aware there was a storm brewing? Yes. Was it supposed to hit us? No. It was supposed to go safely north of us, but turned around and came back towards us at the last minute. It was also just a regular rain/thunderstorm. (I know now that there’s no such thing as a regular thunderstorm in Texas.)
ALL of the horses were turned out for about 1/2 an hour before the weather started looking worse. As soon as the other working student and I realized there was something seriously wrong, we had about 5 minutes before the hail started. Which left NO time to try to catch spooky horses in the pastures. The other working student and Ellen were caught out in the hail storm, under a run in shed holding on to one of Ellen’s personal horses. There was nothing we could do but wait for it to be over, and put the barn back together afterwards.
Unfortunately, Ziggy had run into something during the storm, and fractured his stifle. Another horse was also injured, and sustained a puncture wound. Out of 50-60 horses, only those two were hurt. (Yes, I did take pictures of the clouds. Earlier in the afternoon, and ONE picture when the sky turned green. I didn’t know it did that.)
4). Buzz getting cellulitis.
I think I had only been here for a few months at that point. There were 2 other working students here at the time as well. There was a vet called, he was put on antibiotics and pain medication, and it was treated accordingly. There was excesses drama added, since Stormy was out of town, and one of the previous working students sent her a very erroneous message regarding what what going on.
5). Buzz and the Banamine charge.
Buzz (of the previous cellulitis leg) had ulcers, and was very sensitive to them. He was not on any feed through ulcer medications at the time, (just slow Vera juice) and this was after he had done a round of Gastro/Ulcerguard. Everybody was well aware of this, including Stormy. She even joked about him being a “Banamine addict”. Buzz was known to act colicky after being worked too close to having any grain. He was in training at the time (with Ellen) and had been ridden probably an hour after eating. He was acting uncomfortable afterwards (nothing new, we had been dealing with his ulcer issues for a few months, and he would recieve banamine if needed) so he was given 10cc banamine. Was fine in 1/2 an hour, once again, like usual. Ellen is a (busy) human, and forgot to mention it before she sent out her invoice for the month. (Stormy was out of town at the time.) Buzz was never ridden after eating any grain once we figured that out.
I’ve made it through 5 points so far, typed on my phone. That’s all I can do for tonight, so you’ll all just have to “discuss” this bit for now. If I’ve forgotten anything, I apologize. Typing on my phone is a bit more difficult than a computer. And if I come across as too casual about anything, I apologize. I realize this may seem an “un-feeling” post to some of you.
I’ll have to get to the other barn owners post later, in which she accused me of not feeding one of Stormy’s horses. Figured I’d add in that she owns the facility in which Stormy currently is keeping horses. One that has a past history with Ellen, so is not an impartial “neighboring farm.” One in which the horse I apparently starved, ended up extremely ill this summer from dehydration. Apparently none of the barn staff noticed he was being kept away from the waterers by the other horses…but I digress.
I can disprove all of these comments from Ainsley…A vet WAS called for Fella (HOURS after he was sick) and I was NEVER notified or even asked if I wanted a vet called. Of course, I would’ve said yes but wasn’t even given the option. The vet was one I’d never met but when I finally DID speak to her after the fact, she told me that it was her recommendation that Fella go to the clinic. This was late afternoon. Ellen chose pain meds and fluids. I still was not called. I have 4 witnesses to all of these facts…including the vet.
Also…a vet was absolutely NOT called for Buzz when he had cellulitis. Pretty easy to prove with the records I have from the vet office. I will say there is a good chance Ainsley BELIEVES that a vet was called. But… Ellen chose to treat it herself with leftover meds from another horse. I called the vet immediately when I found him unable to walk. I have video of him. I’ll happily share it with anyone interested. Ellen and I had a discussion about this and she defended her decision by saying “I know what cellulitis looks like and wanted to save you the money” (But still WHY NOT CALL ME??) She promised going forward that she’d notify me immediately if there was a problem with any of my horses…which is why the later banamine charge was such a big deal to me. Full disclosure: I did and still make regular jokes about Buzz loving Banamine. He’s a drug addict for sure. LOL…but I should be called EVERY time my horse needs vet care or a drug…especially an IV one. ZERO excuse for not even a courtesy text.
I can’t even wrap my head around the Ziggy post. YOU even told me that you tried to get Ellen to wait a bit before turning horses out to see what the storm would do. Seems like a logical thing to do since this storm had just done MILLIONS in damage to the neighboring town. And he didn’t run into anything…a softball sized piece of hail hit him in the patella, breaking it. He required surgery and it was a career ending injury. He wasn’t the only one with a fracture. Did you forget about Rein Dancer? His owner saw the storm headed that way and frantically tried to call and stop her horse from being turned out. She got there moments too late to get him in. She, herself, was injured in the storm.
Side note: Buzz’s ulcers and tummy aches have healed with no further meds since leaving Ellen’s barn and rough handling.
The horse that she claims was ill from dehydration actually had choke because he was starving and inhaling his food. I will happily show that vet bill which includes a treatment for CHOKE…not dehydration. He wasn’t even given fluids…something pretty standard and important if dehydrated. Once again, easy to prove. In full disclosure…I NEVER claimed nor do I now that Ainsley didn’t feed my horse. She seemed as concerned about the horses on the property all being too thin as I was. I believe she cares (I could be wrong) but is trapped.
I know Ainsley can’t go against Ellen. She literally would be homeless given that she lives in a barn apartment and doesn’t even have a car. But she does know the truth so I’m curious how far she’s willing to lie (at the risk to other innocent horses) to cover for her boss. This is one of those moments where someone has to choose to do the right thing or not.
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I should also add that my OP was discussed (and approved by) an attorney because I can provide proof to each item listed. I actually removed some other things before putting it up because if questioned, my evidence wasn’t strong enough.
For those saying I should sue her, I thought long and hard about that. But Ellen has no money for me to win. It would only cost me money. I agonized over this decision for MONTHS because I know I should’ve left sooner and would be attacked for staying if I came forward. Nothing any of you say about that though can make me feel worse than I already do. Ultimately I decided to make this post so others could know what happened and make an informed decision before leaving horses in her care. I felt if I did NOT say something and another horse suffered, I’d be partially guilty because of my silence.
I will say that the response and other stories are mind blowing…both here and even more so on my FB post. I think even if my OP didn’t exist the NUMEROUS unrelated stories that followed mine are enough proof to show you what kind of person Ellen is.
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You know what? This whole thread is nothing but the “she said, she said” kind of drama that I honestly just.dont.care about. Do I care about the horses? More than most people ever do. Do I care that my employers name is being thrown around in a terrible light? Yep. Do I really care what a bunch of people (that I’m probably never going to meet OR work for,) sitting behind their computers think? Not really, no. I posted because people said I should, just to put things out in a different light. Well, I posted. Aaaaaand realized that it doesn’t matter. People will think what they want to think, no matter what, and they are the only ones that can change their minds. So, if you’d like to find out about my horsemanship, you’re more than welcome to stop by. You know where we are. I’ve got horses to ride,[edit]
Merry Christmas!
[edit]
[QUOTE=Ainsley688;8983671]
You know what? This whole thread is nothing but the “she said, she said” kind of drama that I honestly just.dont.care about. Do I care about the horses? More than most people ever do. Do I care that my employers name is being thrown around in a terrible light? Yep. Do I really care what a bunch of people (that I’m probably never going to meet OR work for,) sitting behind their computers think? Not really, no. I posted because people said I should, just to put things out in a different light. Well, I posted. Aaaaaand realized that it doesn’t matter. People will think what they want to think, no matter what, and they are the only ones that can change their minds. So, if you’d like to find out about my horsemanship, you’re more than welcome to stop by. You know where we are. I’ve got horses to ride, and fucks not to give.:tickled_pink:
Merry Christmas!
-The kool-aid drinking dumbshit, with the monstrous boss. (You can directly quote the OP on that one.)[/QUOTE]
With all due respect, this isn’t about you. So you can take comfort in that. it is, however, about your employeer. And based on what is being said, tread carefully - even if you don’t think you should. Best of luck to you.
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Also…that is NOT a “direct quote from the OP” and you know it. Stop lying.
It IS a quote from my very upset husband and he was out of line and I apologize. He’s out of state and still hasn’t returned to even deal with the death of his horse yet. It is not an excuse. Just an explanation.
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Ainsley - give it time. You might be looking to these other people in Area V for a job at some point. The horse community is small. And to another’s point, this isnt about you.
I know for an absolute fact that what you and Eventer 21 have been told about several instances youve referenced are WAY off. Witnessed with my own two eyes or I was actually involved - so Im hoping youll just take a minute and think about it. What IF the stories are true and now youve burned all these bridges? Not good.
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Okay. I was staying out of this but I decided I needed to speak up, even if just go back up Stormy. I took lessons from Ellen, took a job as a working student and moved onto her property. I can tell you first hand what happened when the pasture flooded and drowned the most wonderful horse, Bailey. (A horse I was particularly close to, rode and cared for often, and grieved greatly over his loss). It was tragic and traumatic. I can tell you exactly what happened with Fella, because I was there. Two other working students and I begged Ellen to call Stormy/call the vet. She threw out some [edit] answer about 90% of “colics” resolving on their own. I am a certified equine veterinary technician who was working for a prevalent equine veterinarian at the time (I now live in tyler Texas a couple hours away) and told her in my opinion he needed to be seen and not just given pain meds and thrown in a stall. Ellen said just to give him banamine and moniter him. One of the working students and I were gone doing a few other things for maybe 2-3 hours in the afternoon and came back to find the third working student walking Fella frantically as he continually collapsed and thrashed around-- STILL not enough for Ellen to let us call anyone. I told Ellen he needed to be seen and called one of the vets I worked for on her personal phone and asked her to come out, despite her instruction. Ellen refused to contact stormy because she said she was out of town and didn’t want her to worry. My vet saw Fella and recommended he be brought into the clinic and hospitalized, Ellen refused. We gave banamine, buscopan, and xylazine and continued to sedate to manage his pain. Hooked him up to IV fluids. Ali and I stood in the stall with him for hours that night trying to keep his as comfortable as possible. Ellen went home for the night and her phone was dead or off or whatever but she was unavailable. We contacted stormy ourselves, she tried to contact Ellen and was unable to reach her, and contacted us frantically because she thought Ellen’s lack of communication meant Fella was dead. Eventually Fella blew through our sedatives and was painful and thrashing around despite our best efforts, so I called it and we sent him off to surgery, Nikki came out and drove him two hours to the surgical facility, we were flooded with relief when we found out he’d survived.
Let’s quickly discuss Ellen’s dogs on a so called “verbal leash.”
Ellen’s pack of four (now 5 or maybe 6) dogs ran amok all over whatever property she was on. Ellen came to my personal property where I kept my horses for a lesson a couple times, her dogs tore up my yearling jolly ball, knocked over the trash can in my barn and terrorized my dogs (that were clearly inside a fence, unlike Ellen’s uninvited, unannounced dogs). When I moved onto her property, I brought my sweet, well-behaved dog. (albeit she does like to dig through trash on occasion) she never behaved poorly while down in the barn/on the property, or caused any issue. Ellen’s four dogs attacked her, unprovoked, pinned her to the ground and all had mouthfuls of her. I had to rush her to the vet clinic to get stitches (Ellen told me I should just "use the staple gun from the tack room to close it up, I politely declined). My dog is now timid and terrified of dogs she does not know.
I had my horse on the property with me. Every other working student who had a horse there got stall board, was fed the barn hay/grain, etc. and my horse was moved to the property under those expectations. After he’d been there for a week I was informed he had to be pasture boarded instead and I would have to provide all of his own food, including hay. Since I didn’t have a car on property, I had to be picked up and taken home to get grain/hay etc. we did it over a weekend and I spent my weekend off at my parents home, and came back to find out since I hadn’t managed to get food there yet, Ellen did not allow anyone to feed him while I was gone.
Ellen required every horse boarded to be in either training or a lesson program, but didn’t have time to train all of them so horses whose owners thought they were getting a 4* rider backing their horse 3x a week were getting rotating working students not even supervised by Ellen, sometimes even a lesson kid would be told to go hop on and ride a training horse if no one else had time to do it.
Ellen did a lot of really wicked things, but those are the things I can mention and back up, so I’ll stick to that. I watched her royally screw over several other working students, mistreat animals and endanger people and horses.
I don’t really want to involve myself in any of this drama, but Stormy has been 100% fair and factual and gave Ellen a hell of a lot more grace than she deserved.
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Okay. I was staying out of this but I decided I needed to speak up, even if just to back up Stormy. I took lessons from Ellen, took a job as a working student and moved onto her property. I can tell you first hand what happened when the pasture flooded and drowned the most wonderful horse, Bailey. (A horse I was particularly close to, rode and cared for often, and grieved greatly over his loss). It was tragic and traumatic. I can tell you exactly what happened with Fella, because I was there. Two other working students and I begged Ellen to call Stormy/call the vet. She threw out some bullshit answer about 90% of “colics” resolving on their own. I am a certified equine veterinary technician who was working for a prevalent equine veterinarian at the time (I now live in tyler Texas a couple hours away) and told her in my opinion he needed to be seen and not just given pain meds and thrown in a stall. Ellen said just to give him banamine and moniter him. One of the working students and I were gone doing a few other things for maybe 2-3 hours in the afternoon and came back to find the third working student walking Fella frantically as he continually collapsed and thrashed around-- STILL not enough for Ellen to let us call anyone. I told Ellen he needed to be seen and called one of the vets I worked for on her personal phone and asked her to come out, despite her instruction. Ellen refused to contact stormy because she said she was out of town and didn’t want her to worry. My vet saw Fella and recommended he be brought into the clinic and hospitalized, Ellen refused. We gave banamine, buscopan, and xylazine and continued to sedate to manage his pain. Hooked him up to IV fluids. Ali and I stood in the stall with him for hours that night trying to keep his as comfortable as possible. Ellen went home for the night and her phone was dead or off or whatever but she was unavailable. We contacted stormy ourselves, she tried to contact Ellen and was unable to reach her, and contacted us frantically because she thought Ellen’s lack of communication meant Fella was dead. Eventually Fella blew through our sedatives and was painful and thrashing around despite our best efforts, so I called it and we sent him off to surgery, Nikki came out and drove him two hours to the surgical facility, we were flooded with relief when we found out he’d survived.
Let’s quickly discuss Ellen’s dogs on a so called “verbal leash.”
Ellen’s pack of four (now 5 or maybe 6) dogs ran amok all over whatever property she was on. Ellen came to my personal property where I kept my horses for a lesson a couple times, her dogs tore up my yearling jolly ball, knocked over the trash can in my barn and terrorized my dogs (that were clearly inside a fence, unlike Ellen’s uninvited, unannounced dogs). When I moved onto her property, I brought my sweet, well-behaved dog. (albeit she does like to dig through trash on occasion) she never behaved poorly while down in the barn/on the property, or caused any issue. Ellen’s four dogs attacked her, unprovoked, pinned her to the ground and all had mouthfuls of her. I had to rush her to the vet clinic to get stitches (Ellen told me I should just "use the staple gun from the tack room to close it up, I politely declined). My dog is now timid and terrified of dogs she does not know.
I had my horse on the property with me. Every other working student who had a horse there got stall board, was fed the barn hay/grain, etc. and my horse was moved to the property under those expectations. After he’d been there for a week I was informed he had to be pasture boarded instead and I would have to provide all of his own food, including hay. Since I didn’t have a car on property, I had to be picked up and taken home to get grain/hay etc. we did it over a weekend and I spent my weekend off at my parents home, and came back to find out since I hadn’t managed to get food there yet, Ellen did not allow anyone to feed him while I was gone, although we had agreed I would bring food when I got back.
I was also supposed to receive a weekly stipend from teaching lessons for her, which other working students received, but she decided since I worked at the vet clinic on Saturdays it was unnecessary to pay me.
Ellen required every horse boarded to be in either training or a lesson program, but didn’t have time to train all of them so horses whose owners thought they were getting a 4* rider backing their horse 3x a week were getting rotating working students not even supervised by Ellen, sometimes even a lesson kid would be told to go hop on and ride a training horse if no one else had time to do it.
Ellen did a lot of really wicked things, but those are the things I can mention and back up, so I’ll stick to that. I watched her royally screw over several other working students, mistreat animals and endanger people and horses.
I don’t really want to involve myself in any of this drama, but Stormy has been 100% fair and factual and gave Ellen a hell of a lot more grace than she deserved.
I will clarify that I do believe my horse was fed some rations while I was gone, but no where near what my OTTB in full work was supposed to be eating (had beef eating) and he was not allowed the hay. To be fair to Ellen, I believe he did get some sort of food.
