Please help!

[Thalion]

Things at our boarding facility have spiraled out of control! The property manager has been harassing each boarder, especially me. The instances include:

• yelling at me every time I ride the horse I’m leasing, ever since I stopped riding his mares
• attempting to purchase the horse I lease behind the trainer’s back so I start riding his mares again (and insulting the crap out of the owner when she refused to sell)
• spooking the horse I am leasing on purpose, EVERY time I ride (he is a green 17.3 hand beast of a horse and I almost get bowled over every time I try to untack him because the dumpster behind the barn SLAMS shut, or the property manager decides it is a good time to weld, or “clean” his workshop). He follows these events up with comments on how naughty and spooky the horse is
• he tried to remove me from the property because he did not approve of my attitude (he was micromanaging me as I checked our horses - not his - for signs of VS and I told him “I know, M, I have to check every horse for lesions.” One of his horses has VS as a result of his refusal to provide her with any of the preventatives my trainer wanted all the horses on)
• he has begun telling every other boarder how he will kick our trainer and her clients off the property and that they can all thank me for that. We would willingly go if we were not stuck in a quarantine because of his poor mare with VS.

Any advice?? We are stuck for at least another month because of the VS. I cannot go out there without being followed, yelled at, and harassed. I want to ride, I own an old horse and I lease this young guy, but M always approaches me aggressively and rudely and anything I say to stick up for myself makes me a monster in his eyes. He does not own the property and cannot legally remove me without evicting my horse. What on earth can I do? I wear a GoPro to make sure I have any threatening behavior on film, and I try not to be out there alone. This man cannot be reasoned with and is a ticking time bomb. I am concerned for not only my own safety but the health of my geldings.

[PlanB]

[QUOTE=Thalion;7732149]
Things at our boarding facility have spiraled out of control! The property manager has been harassing each boarder, especially me. The instances include:

• yelling at me every time I ride the horse I’m leasing, ever since I stopped riding his mares
• attempting to purchase the horse I lease behind the trainer’s back so I start riding his mares again (and insulting the crap out of the owner when she refused to sell)
• spooking the horse I am leasing on purpose, EVERY time I ride (he is a green 17.3 hand beast of a horse and I almost get bowled over every time I try to untack him because the dumpster behind the barn SLAMS shut, or the property manager decides it is a good time to weld, or “clean” his workshop). He follows these events up with comments on how naughty and spooky the horse is
• he tried to remove me from the property because he did not approve of my attitude (he was micromanaging me as I checked our horses - not his - for signs of VS and I told him “I know, M, I have to check every horse for lesions.” One of his horses has VS as a result of his refusal to provide her with any of the preventatives my trainer wanted all the horses on)
• he has begun telling every other boarder how he will kick our trainer and her clients off the property and that they can all thank me for that. We would willingly go if we were not stuck in a quarantine because of his poor mare with VS.

Any advice?? We are stuck for at least another month because of the VS. I cannot go out there without being followed, yelled at, and harassed. I want to ride, I own an old horse and I lease this young guy, but M always approaches me aggressively and rudely and anything I say to stick up for myself makes me a monster in his eyes. He does not own the property and cannot legally remove me without evicting my horse. What on earth can I do? I wear a GoPro to make sure I have any threatening behavior on film, and I try not to be out there alone. This man cannot be reasoned with and is a ticking time bomb. I am concerned for not only my own safety but the health of my geldings.[/QUOTE]

What’s VS?

[Ambitious_Kate]

I know, I have never heard of that acronym.

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=PlanB;7732181]
What’s VS?[/QUOTE]

Vesicular stomatitis

[macmtn]

You keep wearing that GoPro. Then upload the results to the property OWNER. Sounds like this asshat could be dangerous…

[TBROCKS]

Something tells me there’s more to this story…a lot more.

[Thalion]

I’m certain you’re right… A month ago it was a perfect facility with a great atmosphere but suddenly we’re having to go out in pairs as a safety precaution. It makes absolutely no sense.

[Marla_100]

Maybe he’s on drugs or alcohol as an escape from the stress of being quarantined and all the problems that brings. Still doesn’t excuse the asshattery.

Regardless, this bodes badly for your future there so now is the time to plan your escape. Get your ducks in a row- find another barn, make your plan to be out in a month.

Be very careful when at the barn. Yes, buddy up with others. Watch your old horse’s care and treatment. this could slide also.

Does anyone at the barn have a relationship w/ property owner? Is owner involved at all in the barn /property management? Would they even care if they knew this was going on?

For your safety, be as quiet and submissive as a mouse as it sounds like this jerk is absolutely volatile.

Make your plan, starting today.

[californianinkansas]

What does your trainer have to say about this situation?

What does the barn owner have to say about this situation?

Have you considered applying for a PFA/PFS (“restraing order”)?

Are there any other boarders being treated the same way?

What ages are all parties involved?

Has any of this escalated to any of the social media sites?

[Thalion]

My trainer is also being bothered by him every time she goes out there, so she is desperately trying to either (a) buy a place or (b) find a barn already under quarantine that wouldn’t mind having us and extending their quarantine! The barn owner won’t get involved, urgh, and we have looked into restraining orders but the best we could do is “no contact,” which still means he can be near us and won’t do anything to keep him away from our horses. As my husband said “you probably shouldn’t poke the dragon.” All the boarders have dealt with this behavior. He’s yelled at girls to get off their horses, telling them they don’t know what they’re doing and HE would fix it; he’ yelled at one boarder to stop hand walking her horse in the road by the arena (the arena was soaking wet) even though he watched many times before as people walked along the road. Fortunately there is no social media escalation. This is the first place I’ve posted about the issues… I prefer hearing other horse people’s advice and input.

[Thalion]

Unfortunately the property owner does not give a rat’s backside about what is happening. We have looked into property after property (one a day!) for weeks. Once we have it all set up we are going to request the presence of a uniformed officer during the move, I think. We’ve got our escape plan mapped out, we just have nowhere to run to! And these problems began about two-three weeks before we were under quarantine. I’m unsure exactly what triggered it but I wish I knew! It might give us some answers

[js]

Is there a vet hospital/vet school nearby with a quarantine barn that you could move the horses to temporarily?

[Thalion]

That’s an idea! I’ll look in to that, thank you!

[IPEsq]

Are you in TX or CO? If you do find an alternate place to move to under quarantine, make sure that it not only checks out with the host vet but also your ag department. I read yesterday that the CO dept. of agriculture is investigating reports of people moving horses from places under quarantine or hold order, and if found to be in violation will be fined under the applicable state law.

[kaitsmom]

I wouldn’t move without contacting the ag dept. I would think a move to a certified quarantine facility is ok, but make sure first. I don’t care what caused him to get this way, it doesn’t matter
Annoying you and being a pain in the ass is one thing, but some of these things are outright dangerous. Slamming the dumpster, and yelling at people while they are riding or handling their horse. Someone or their horse could get seriously injured. Not to mention the horses may develop behavior problems, like becoming overly spooky to the loud noises.

[SandraD]

If you are in TX it is my understanding that horses cannot be moved even if it’s to another quarantined facility. I am also not aware of any “preventative” for VS.

I agree with the other posters, continue to wear the gopro. Since others are having issues could you get a collection of letters from boarders about the property manager? The owner might step on if it means a loss in revenue from people leaving

[IPEsq]

Yeah, there is no preventative, from a pharmaceutical or dietary standpoint. Aside from keeping your horse away from the affected horse, the only preventative the dept of agriculture has been stressing is fly control.

[Thalion]

We are in CO and have contacted the state veterinarian. We’ve received a few conflicting answers so we will need to look into it further so we can avoid a fine!

[Thalion]

Oh, and the new fun part is that he put his infected mare back out to pasture with our healthy horses and refused to move her again. I think at this point the virus has likely run its course in her but I don’t know if he’s received an “all clear” report from a vet. Even if he does it’s not likely he’d share that info with us.

[Zu_Zu]

This ~ and be careful … never go alone / carry pepper spray / phone !

This from js is a great idea ~ talk to police … paper trail …

• & never go alone and always carry pepper spay and a phone

BE careful !!!

[QUOTE=js;7735454]
Is there a vet hospital/vet school nearby with a quarantine barn that you could move the horses to temporarily?[/QUOTE]