Oh and do offer to lease Tommy to the student, for one year at $1.M, on the condition that he stay at a barn (name another barn where you trust the owners). If they want to lease him and train him for one year, fine.
Just put every possible condition on the proposed lease, from what he eats to where he goes (no out of state shows) to farrier to vet to trainer, etc.
Tempting as it would be to respond with some outrageous price, don’t do it - you would be opening negotiations and inviting her to have ongoing contact with you and Tommy in the future, and that’s exactly what you don’t want.
Your reply needs to say
1. He is not for sale.
2. He has never been for sale.
3. He will never be for sale to you.
And most importantly
4. You are specifically putting her on notice that she is not authorized to have any contact with you or your horse, and you will regard any further attempts to contact you or to attempt to sell your horse to any of her clients as harassment. THEN you can go to the authorities if she persists.
:lol::lol::lol: Wow, just wow. I am laughing my @ss off, but also find this particular kind of crazy a bit alarming. If it was my horse that some crazy was stalking, I would move him to a secure boarding facility, preferrably in another town until the construction on your place is done. I am kind of shocked by the complete craziness this lady is exhibiting. I mean, has no one in her life realized that she is just not right in the head??
If it was my horse that some crazy was stalking, I would move him to a secure boarding facility, preferrably in another town until the construction on your place is done.
That’s what I had to do. I had to move earlier than I had planned because of a crazy woman stalking my horse. You never know with crazy people, maybe they are harmless, but maybe they aren’t. It caused me quite a bit of anxiety. She’s a sad and disturbed individual. I hope she goes back on her medication.
I would be very careful OP.
Definitely make it black and white. She appears too unstable to “try and mess with her as suggested by others - she wouldn’t see that it was sarcasm”. reply to her email - Tommy is NOT NOW for sale and it is NOT open for discussion. Please do not approach me with an offer to purchase or lease Tommy from you or any of your clients. I will not be needing your services at any time. This too, is not open for discussion. Thank you for your interest, but do not contact me about this ever again. Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice day. I seriously don’t think tactful or subtle will work for this poor young lady. She appears to be 2 quarts short of a pint.
Jeesh, this Chick is a real wackjob. I hadnt read your first thread, but I updated myself, and WOW.
Im ready to knock this girl’s lights out, and its not even my horse!
Yup, she’s a few fruitloops shy of a box of cereal.
However, in her honor, you could tie a Big Pink Bow around Winston’s neck…
Are you sure the person in question is the one sending you these e-mails?
I’m sorry to say that our family has had some direct experience with a stalker, and I have had long talks with LEOs, my attorney, judges, and the State’s Attorney on this topic.
Listen to what Quin and some of the other posters have to say. This is serious. People like this simply escalate matters; they do not back down, no matter how you phrase an email. However, legally you must inform her that she is not to approach you, your family, your home, or your horse ever again. You must also advise her that if she does, you will contact the local district court and obtain a protective order. She must be made aware that if you see her anywhere near your horse, you will call the police.
(It might be as well to let it be known that the horse is physically protected, though you will have to be very delicate about the phraseology here so it does not feel to her like a threat, only a heads up.)
Then do not have any contact with her whatsoever. Do not respond to letters, emails, phone calls, or in-person contacts. Do not have a conversation of any sort. If she calls your house, hang up. Use the *69 service to document any hangup calls from her number. Do not try to explain. Do not answer a question. Do not talk to “clear the air.”
What you are doing at this stage is assembling evidence a judge can look at, to make a determination about whether to grant a protective order. You can’t come back and try it again, so you have to have all your ducks in a row the first time you go to court.
I hope that you are keeping original printed records of all the emails and other harassing contacts. The first thread you posted constitutes a good diary, but you’ll need more specifics about dates, times, and locations.
Next step: remember that no protective order ever stopped a bullet or even slightly dissuaded a whack-job. The protective order is just a formality. If the woman continues to harass you after the protective order has been issued, you will have to kick things up a notch and go to the State’s Attorney about prosecuting. Again, you must have a good case before you even approach these people. A detective from the local police can be very helpful with this.
I hope that none of this comes to pass and that the woman still has enough of her mental faculties to realize that she’s making a very bad mistake. Usually, though, stalkers just go on until they’re physically stopped.
Dear XXX, I do not own a horse named Tommy, nor have I ever owned a horse named Tommy. My horse is not currently for sale, nor will he be for sale in the near future. Please do not contact me again, either by email or phone, or in person regarding this matter. Thank you.
so if you decide to keep him and show this year, I will be forced to ban her from the show grounds. It would be detrimental to her show career.
OMGWTFBBQ!!! That takes the fruitcake. :eek::yes:
She crazee.
Wowza. :eek:
As much as I would be tempted to mess with her, I have to agree with Ashby and Quin. I would do every single thing on Ashby’s list. Do not play with people who aren’t in posession of all their marbles. Install that microchip before tomorrow is over. Remember that you may not be the one available to identify him (i.e. they take him to another state, they send him to an auction) and just saying “I know that’s my horse” is not enough when you’re trying to establish ownership.
If you’re thinking of messing with her, consider the possibility that she may shift her attention to you or your family. And pissing her off might make her switch from loving the horse to hurting him.
[QUOTE=amastrike;3732549]
You should look on Dreamhorse for big black horses which are actually for sale, email her the links, and suggest the student look into buying one of those.[/QUOTE]
How about buying a big black horse for cheap and then jacking up the price a whole bunch and claim it is Tommy/Winston? I think it sounds brilliant!
Ashby, those are such good suggestions and I’m sorry you have been stalked. A weirdo stalked me around the time of my marriage…phone calls in the middle of the night, sitting in a parked car outside my apartment every morning watching me. It was in the early '80s before there was even a term for it, but I know how creepy it is. I didn’t even know the guy. this went on for months until one day I went to get into my car and he was blocking my driveway 20 feet away from me, just sitting in the car sideways, staring at me. He looked like the creepy guy in the movie Star 80. In that moment I learned what it feels like to have the hair on the back of your neck stand up. We moved and changed our number and he was gone, just like that, thank God.
To the o/p, it is tempting to go right back at her with snappy comebacks, but I would urge you not to play into her insane game which might escalate things. There are some unstable and scary people in this world and the safest thing for you and your horse is to minimize all contact with and from her.
I would urge you to show her harassing emails to the police and get a lawyer to write her an official sounding letter demanding that she stop harassing you and telling her that “Tommy” is not for sale to her for any price. Make it clear to her that further contact from her will constitute harassment and will be considered a police issue.
Best of luck to you. That is scary-weird.
I keep thinking of that quote you hear from people who live next door to serial killers: “He seemed so was harmless…”
She definitely has a screw loose. :o Love the part about “banning my student from the showgrounds…” That’s rich! :lol:
Save the e-mails in a separate folder and also on disk. Follow Ashby’s and Quin’s wise advice to the letter.
Keep us posted! :yes:
I agree w/Quinn & Ashby.
But I’d drop ‘please’ from any text. To hell with polite. Be direct. Anything less, she might fantasize in her head that you two are friends and act upon it.
Keep yourself & your horse safe. This one is going to go off the deep end.
The most difficult thing about the whole situation is this: the cops will have no difficulty believing that a pretty young girl could be stalked by a guy. They might even believe that a pretty young girl could be stalked by a woman. But it will be hard to explain to them that a pretty horse is being stalked by a woman. For this reason, as for others, the documentation must be immaculate and seamless. Fleur, you are going to have to keep a diary about your contacts with this woman. You must put together a case that would convince even the most skeptical judge.
Much depends upon the laws in your state. In my state, Maryland, the laws are enormously supportive of stalking victims and will slam the stalker. In my jurisdiction particularly the authorities are hard on the stalker. But in nearby Virginia, the laws are sketchy and stalkers can get away with all kinds of nonsense. My friend’s child was stalked by a woman so badly that the family had to move, and she was unable to get Virginia authorities to help.
There are also new Internet stalking laws that have some relevance in this matter. If the stalker has been writing emails across state lines, she may even be dealing with federal e-stalking laws and could face doing time in federal prison.
So it’s very important to find out what the laws are in your state. You can do some research on your own, but when you have your paperwork together, you should have a frank discussion with a lawyer and with a detective from the relevant patrol area.
As I understand it, you are a young girl or woman. If you are a minor (or even if you’re not), could your parents be involved in this? It’s very helpful to go to the cops or to a lawyer or judge with some support.
Don’t underestimate how serious this can become. I don’t mean to scare you, but people who are mentally ill in this particular way tend to get worse, not better. A borderline personality with obsessive-compulsive overtones is not a condition that spontaneously improves. It’s very, very important to do nothing that will escalate an unpleasant situation into something dangerous. So after you send that cease-and-desist message, you must not have any contact with this creature.
Good luck. And please let us know how you and Tommy are doing. You can PM me for further information if you like.
I’m totally with CloudandCallie and Ashby on this. The hubby is a cop and let me tell you, it’s hard getting a case going on stalkers. So do it sooner rather than later. We had a psycho lawyer stalk us after a rather, ummm, ‘domestic’ issue he had. Of course blamed the hubby for ruining his life, etc. Tried to sue …
Anyway, please please please, I beg you, call the cops, get your horse microchipped and lock and secure the entire premises. Including getting a front gate and padlock the sucker.
Do not, I repeat, do not, think this is funny or cute or think she’s not going to do anything to you or your family or your horses.
You didn’t get the hint the first time you posted about her. And I certainly hope that you get a clue this time around!
Apparently this woman is not busy enough being “super trainer” if she has time to keep sending you theses ludicrous e-mails…
Quin’s list is perfect… be to the point on all accounts and let her know that you are willing to involve the police if she does not back off.
