I think there’s a big difference between discussing SLWs inference about Stormy in relation to Safe Sport and taking the politcal bait.
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Did anyone notice that EDH’s attorney is hooked into the Dressage world? https://crennelaw.com/attorney-profile
I found that information interesting considering the questions about other professionals turning a blind eye to the things being reported. It makes sense to have an equine savvy attorney in on this that is for sure. I would love to pick her brain to find out what she thinks of it all as an equestrian rather than an attorney. I wonder if the defendants have also retained counsel with this type of background.
I doubt it matters, I’m sure Stormy’s attorney is better. If he’s ready to take on Trump, he’s not worried about Ellen and her attorney.
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Research has gone both ways on this, and much current thinking is that yes, it is about sex, with a broader and accepted version being that it is about both.
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She has different lawyers for this case.
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Even so, surely the caliber attorney she can afford is multiple times what Ellen can afford. Ellen can’t keep alfalfa in the barn.
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Stormy’s book, ‘Full Disclosure’ is out now. I saw some copies in my local bookstore, and it looks interesting. “A little girl who loved reading and horses” growing up disadvantaged and learning from a very young age that anything she wanted she would have to do herself.
Has anyone read it yet?
https://www.amazon.com/Full-Disclosure-Stormy-Daniels/dp/1250205565
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I am sure she found a lawyer willing to take it on a contingency in hopes of garnering their own 15 minutes of fame.
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How much of it is about horses?
That would determine my interest in reading it. I’m enjoying single-minded tunnel vision on horses these days. 
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Anybody heard anything about the case?
I read it last week (also posted it on the What Are You Reading thread in Off Topic). Not a ton of it is about horses, but the parts that are are very sweet and genuine. I think she talks about 3-4 different periods in her life that horses were there when she needed them. Maybe a few pages out of the total book. Nothing about the EDH situation.
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Oh boy here’s some more name calling.
President Donald Trump lobbed a crass insult at Stormy Daniels Tuesday, calling the adult film star “horseface” after a federal judge dismissed her defamation suit against the president.
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“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present your president. In addition to his…umm…shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter AGAIN! And perhaps a penchant for bestiality. Game on, Tiny.”- Stormy Daniels
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Rather be a face than some other body part.
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This thread is about horse welfare.
There is a whole buncha stuff going on with in OP’s life that has nothing to do with horse welfare. That’s probably true of everyone who posts on COTH. But in this case the detritus is getting a lot of non-horse media attention (‘detritus’ as it relates to the purpose of this thread, that is, it doesn’t).
People seem to have different purposes and agendas for posting in this thread. Here’s one vote for asking the mods to prune all of the non-horse-welfare posts that are encouraging more non-horse-welfare posts. And for booting posters who insist on ignoring mod direction, and using this thread to rake over all of the chaff that has nothing to do with horse welfare.
Just a thought.
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Here is a second vote. I am very concerned about equine welfare and professional behavior. I do not care about the outside, political aspects to the issue.
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We removed some recent political commentary. Please avoid it going forward or the thread will be closed.
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I want to thank the OP. It is important to get stories like these out. Too many horse owners cower in fear of the “small community” and thus say nothing about poor care or abuse. It has to stop. I just stumbled on this thread as I have just recently been considering retiring back to Texas with my one horse. I no longer jump and am working on Dressage. Moving to a new area is just scary trying to find the right barn. I have had some very bad barn experiences in the Northwest. Some so horrible I could not figure out how I a college graduate with 30 years of corporate work experiences could make such bad choices. When I look at the scars on my horses hips from when the 10 year old barn owner kids would herd my nervous ottb into the stall and were too lazy to open the stall door all the way, I see the evidence of my not moving out fast enough. He now has permanent damage to his hip. When I look at the vet bills from bad fencing ( 2 lines of hot wire is cow fencing not horse fencing ) I cringe that I ever chose a place without real board fencing. Trainers that used excessive force on my rescue thoroughbred that just made him more bat shit crazy or used tie downs that roached his back. I only have one horse. I don’t have a trailer. I don’t have a farm. I have felt stuck. I was not aware until a few years ago just how dangerous and mean barn owners could be if they want you to leave or think your horse is too much trouble. I have had metal, broken glass thrown in my horses food, bedding withheld, my horse whipped in the face if he stuck his head out the stall door and many other horrible things I had never seen when I was younger. . What was different 50 years ago? The barns we boarded at were all owned by wealthy barn owners who had other income besides the barn and who also rode with the trainer. The barn owners lived on the property. Their kids were our friends. We had sleepovers at the barn. I guess it was a different time. All the horses were treated like the barn owners horses. I realize that now days finding a barn like that is rare. Many of the barns in my area, the owners just don’t have the funds to run the barn in a safe and clean environment. They make promises they can not keep. They don’t keep up with the repairs. There is not a lot of profit in boarding so unless the barn owner has a 2nd income from a business, that is a red flag for trouble to me. At least 50 percent of the boarders do not show up more than 3 times a week so most barn owners get way with not providing services promised. . Here is my advice for Stormy When you choose a barn ask a lot of questions. Go back at least 3 times at different times of the day before you make a decision. Make sure you show up at feeding time to see how they feed. Show up at turn in time to see how they handle horses. When your horse is in full training do not except to get what you pay for. But have a contract and you can add in what is important to you. Show up for some of the pro rides. And don’t tell the trainer when you are showing up. If they require prior notice, don’t trust your horse in their care. More than likely your horses will not get all the pro rides promised. More likely your horses will be used as school horses some days or taken out their stall run in tiny circles on a lunge that stresses their joints then put back to stand in stall. Many younger trainers today may look like good riders but have poor horsemanship skills. Some trainers I see today tend to be harsh with the punishment, over ride and over jump the horses with no leg wrap or cooling care after. And real trainers spend a lot of time having clients practice over low jumps or even just pole work to get the timing. If a trainer is always pushing for the high jumps that is a red flag. As far as boarding… The owners that do not show up almost daily do not get the same care as those that do. I now show up daily. I am officially a 61 year old barn rat because I make sure my horse is not longer a victim of careless barn owners and staff. My horse now gets the hay I pay for and the turn time I pay for. Unless you can get camera in the stalls, someone needs to show up on a very regular basis. I was at barn a few years ago with multiple trainers. The crap I would see made me cringe. But that trainer was in the ribbons. When the show moms came in the afternoon the trainer put on a good show. But at night, horses were down with colic or water broken barn flooding , the trainer would never even answer her cell. Horses doors would not be locked, I would find horses wandering about and the gate to the main road was always broken. By 7 pm none of the horses had any hay left which meant they were going 12 hours without food. The stall cleaners were always smoking pot in the hay barn. And this was considered a nice barn. I now hire a horse nanny to check on my horse EVERY DAY I AM NOT THERE. I also am part of a buddy system at my barn. People can see I am responsible and I will if asked check on someones horse when they are out of town as a favor. I now have a better exit strategy. NEVER tell the barn owner or trainer you are leaving. Just don’t. Best to find the new barn show up with your trailer the day you are moving and pay for a month of board at the old barn and write the loss off. But most important, you are on the correct track to get your property. The amateurs I know that have 3 or more horses have all realized they need property. They may not use the horse property for their full time horse home, but its a place where your retired, injured or you just need to move your horses asap place. I have seen enough of the full training barns to be confident in saying just don’t trust anyone but yourself to advocate and check on your horses. Now I need to start a new post to ask about Dressage barns in Dallas Ft. Worth yikes, I was hoping for better options in the Big D!
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I too thank the OP for speaking up in the way she has. I admire her. Logical, factual, detailed. Happily not all boarding/training facilities are bad, but when there are abuses, IME, all too often the boarders just leave quietly, not wanting to ‘make waves’.
And I have been one of those owners. There have been horror stories, and some not so horrible, but just bad.
I remember boarding at a very nice facility, with one of the owners being an equine vet. They had horrible moldy 2nd cut hay which they fed to the boarders’ horses, and lovely hay which they fed to their own. Because they assumed the boarders knew nothing, they made it sound like they were doing the boarders a favor. When I pointed out to them that the hay was moldy, the vet just poo pooed me saying it was “dusty” because it was dry out when it was baled. Rather than fight, I told them my mare was ‘allergic’ to 2nd cut, and needed 1st cut. And then quietly moved out, without ever complaining. Because it is a small world, and you don’t want to offend anyone. Right?
Another barn I boarded in again everything was fine during the day when people were there. But at night, when the boarders had left, they brought out some rancid hay they had probably been paid to take out of a barn… and threw that in. Not surprisingly, my horse would not eat it, but next day he would not get more hay because ‘he still had plenty’.
In both those cases I did what the previous poster did and came every single day. And in the latter case, brought a full hay net of hay for my horse. And when I left, I left quietly.
Recently I was in a full training situation with a young horse, with the trainer being a friend. Beautiful facility, thought we were on the same page on all things related to the horse and his care. I would schedule an appointment to come out to see him, but there would always be reasons why that time wasn’t good. I would get texts saying how well things were going. Without going in to details, the horse was not being trained, he was barely even getting turned out. I was just being lied to.As were the other owners who had horses in training. Lots of talk, lots of excuses, but bottom line, people were not getting the service they had paid for.
I know not all barns are like this, thank goodness. But people need to be vigilant.
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