Hi all, thought that after lurking for six or more years on this board in particular I’d finally join in.
I’m quite at home on the dressage page as it was an internet search to find out more about a random friend request that brought me to the Chronicle forums a good few years ago.
That friend request was from Nick Peronace………needless to say after reading about him on here I declined 
I’ve been popping back to read as a non-member ever since, often thought about joining and posting. Finally the annoyance of never being able to find where I was on every Barisone thread prompted me to join. 
Followed all the LaLa crazy from pre- incident on and as someone who suffered at the hands of a bullying narcissistic drug abuser you can bet your bottom dollar what my opinion is on all that.
What I will say as a total outsider reading years of back and forth (going for the popularity vote…not!) is that some of you are blatant, but woefully bad trolls.
Hope thats not too contentious a first post, don’t really wish to fall foul of the mods at the first hurdle 
Welcome! So glad you decided to stop being a wallflower and join the party!
oh boy, a friend request from the Maestro, lucky you 
I’m comparatively new as a poster (after being a long time lurker), but I’ve learned that the moderators don’t like more than one Barisone thread going at a time, and especially don’t like what they call “personal bickering”.
So saying “some of you are blatant, but woefully bad trolls” could get you into trouble.
If you want to “join the party” I think you’re better off posting in the current Barisone thread rather than creating a new one, and I’d recommend not going around calling other posters “trolls”.
But I’m not a moderator, so your call. Welcome.
Welcome @Hightale! Don’t be intimidated by the Barisone threads…most of the contributors enjoy a good discussion without provocation and arguing. Everyone has an opinion for sure. Respect is the key.
See COTH did it’s job, warned the unwary from accepting a friend request from The Maestro🤣
Welcome glad you joined in.
I know, that was my first thought. All those people who said we should not talk about him… They were so wrong.
Welcome to COTH @Hightale! So many smart people here. So much more than Nick and Barisone threads.
I saw we had a couple of mutual friends, but I don’t generally accept FB requests from random men, so went digging and wow!
I think he was trying to break into the UK dressage market at the time - to usurp CDJ obviously
Cheers @eggbutt!
I’m not intimidated btw, I cut my teeth on some interesting forums over the years 
[edit]
That’s the thing about lurking for so long I have a pretty good idea who’s who in the worthy of respect stakes and who to refuse to engage in nonsense with.
Thanks KBC, it really did, those threads worked a treat!
Hi @trubandloki
Truth! It was the first thing I came across when I googled and I’ve had much fun reading subsequent threads too. I have a fairly thorough classical dressage background so I’d have binned him for his nonsense (and his misogyny, racism, homophobia etc, etc,etc) fairly smartly but you guys saved me the bother, hurrah!! 
I’ve lurked the whole board and yes, there’s some absolutely great content - I’ve read through all the classics and train wrecks lol! Being a Brit not all of it is going to be stuff I can particularly relate to, but I hope I can add some conversational value too
Well, @Hightale I extend to you an open invitation to join the “Illegal Mob” whenever you have the notion.
That is most kind, invitation graciously accepted. 
Welcome!
Thank you!
Ah, transplanted Brit here, now Canadian, have fun doing all the translations, and don’t confuse the poor colonials with terms like head collar, or rug
My personal favorite;
NUMNAH
Hello and welcome! Glad you didn’t end up a friend of the Minute Rice Risotto Maestro. The Barisone threads can be a volatile place. I’m still waiting to see what materials come out in the civil suits. Soooooo many horrible social media posts!
