I doubt there’s a person here who hasn’t a boarding horror story. I’ve had a few, but not one like what we went through over this past winter. My question, when your horse has suffered at the hands of people (who appear competent) & are respected among their horse community, how would you warn others? This isn’t a riding facility which would have higher visibility, but a retirement farm with limited owner visits (or none at all).
I’d like to add that we had in-depth early conversations regarding our very reasonable expectations, & made visits prior to bringing horses. I looked closely at every photo on FB as well as at their horses in person, though it was after summer grazing, not following a winter. We supplied the feed, supplies, medications. Husband & I being horsemen ourselves, who’ve cared for horses in a professional capacity (racing/farm) over decades, we honestly get it. We get how unreasonable owners can be as well as our understanding the needs of individual animals as they encounter changes to their health & their physical demands. We then sent three horses to these people in early Oct., one mare in her late 20s (we’ve had her for 26 of those years) and who requires daily pergolide. While the other two suffered some weight loss & loss of top line/mass, the older gal (a breed known to not lose weight easily) dropped pounds like a rock. We tried to work with these people, recognizing their lacking winter pasture following drought & our mare’s inability to chew hay. We provided the feed to compensate for forage. The stabilized flax we provided is a 33 day bag that was on its 3rd month, my questioning this went unanswered. I finally looked inside the bag & instead of the 2c scoop I provided, they’d been using a 3-tbsp (laundry scoop?). We spoke (calmly) about the weight loss we noted through each month and reiterated what to be feeding (from the feed we provided!). By Feb. her ribs were easily palpable and my inquiries regarding her consumption was met with agitation or totally ignored. In March this barn owner literally began screaming at me…as she’d told me how this mare never completed a minimal ration let alone what I had dictated, yet on this visit I gave mare a whopping 2 (3lb scoops) that she devoured. This Buckeye feed suggests up to 20lbs a day. Out of safety concerns, I pretended to accept this woman’s excuses, then went home & aggressively searched another retirement farm. While losing more sleep over the behavior we had witnessed. I’d literally showed this woman a photographic timeline of this mare over 3 years and into her time with them, showing clearly the mare’s subsequent weight loss. Showed her the backbone now popping up & easily visible on this same horse standing in front of us. While patting her hindquarters “Look, she is still packing fat!” still excitably agitated & screaming. I replied that if a Fjord has lost the fat off of it’s bum, it is decomposing. By now my anger is showing. This woman then followed-up with emails apologizing (only for my having been upset!) and reported the mare is “now” eating, listed her silly excuses as to why, and adding that the mare actually “nickered for the first time” upon seeing her feed. I cried. This is a horse that would recite the alphabet for a treat. We found a new retirement home mid-March & were able to relocate the three on April 1st. They had stopped giving her the Prascend and returned a full box as well as several bags of feed. I cannot wrap my head around the prescribed medication part, not even a little bit. Was it out of spite or stupidity, will never know. Guessing it’s both as they displayed both. Our veterinarians were equally appalled.
But I want people to be warned, that while an easy-keeper just might fare well (until it doesn’t), that a horse who goes off their ridged know.it.all script, will not. And to quote another scream, “While these horses are in my care I will do as I please!” in case you as a loving, paying owner find that to be alarming. Again, these people are well respected, & the farm while basic, appears safe/inviting. They talk a good line upon initial meetings. They have a strong following…by people who obviously have not boarded horses with them in a retirement setting. I feel that owners who go great lengths (& often w/ financial sacrifices dipping heavily into their own retirement), deserve special consideration for their attempts to care for an animal that is no longer “useful.”
At least that’s how I feel. Thank you for listening.
Oh wow. I am glad you found a new barn and moved your retirees, before things devolved any more.
How did the rest of her horses in her care look?
I can’t profess to understand the BO’s logic here. Is there any possibility that your fjord went off her feed because of the pergolide and the BO was adjusting? Either way inexcusable that she did not call you to let you know.
Seniors can be very hard to keep weight on once cushings and pergolide are in the mix.
Given how small the horse world is, I wouldn’t make a FB post about this. But if you see people asking specifically about that farm, you can always reach out to them privately and share your experience.
Can you say what state this retirement farm is in?
Oh my gosh, that sounds horrible.
I am so sorry you had to go thru this.
I just can not imagine a barn agreeing to feed but not feeding a prescription medication.
It is not like they were using it for some other horse, because they gave it back to you, so they were just not feeding it. Just weird.
But it sounds like the barn was not giving the pergolide or the feed.
OP, that is horrifying & every caring horseowner’s worst nightmare.
I’m glad you were able to move your horses to a safer retirement.
IIWM (& you haven’t already), I’d share the reasons for the move to the new BO/BM & ask that they please contact you if there’s ever a reason to deviate from the care you both agreed on.
Not snarking on the place you moved from, but laying out the reason for the move & your expectations for future.
And where is this boarding farm? If you have photo’s as evidence, I would be posting the name and location and warning folks that unless horse is an easy keeper, this might not be the place for them.
I saw that but wondered what the timeline was. I couldn’t tell from the OP if the BO never fed it at all, or if it stopped along the way. It sounds like it may have stopped sometime around Feb? I was wondering if the stopping was related to the inappetence that pergolide can often cause.
Exactly & all valid observations of both the med & PPID. But the horse was not being fed because she admitted to thinking/believing she was “morbidly obese” in spite of photographic evidence (the day she shipped) showing otherwise. Not to mention our vet had recently run a panel on her & neither her weight nor insulin levels were abnormal. This woman took it upon herself to adjust the feedings purposely for reduction. I’ve since learned (through people dealing w/ a Goochland starvation case) that there are people who believe in “seasonal fasting.” I was very concerned over her having difficulty administering the pill (she couldn’t manage my fail-proof method that had worked on this mare the previous years). I offered multiple suggestions, she said she was giving in molasses and all was going well. I mentioned not putting on food & even asked, to assure that wasn’t the case. Funny, but the people who have her now are having zero issues giving the Prescend out of hand. And regardless, if the last place was having problems, they should have told me…not simply stopped giving. I could have worked w/ that.
I think you’re spot on about not making a post publicly. Though I sure wish we could. Her other horses looked fine (good!) in early fall, after summer grazing. But I wouldn’t know what they should be looking like after a winter, giving their individual baselines not being my job. But our other two had definitely declined, though nothing really noteworthy to a casual observer. Oooof, trust is hard & hard earned.
Horrible. I’m so glad you got your horses out of her “care”.
It’s VA.
While I’m hesitant to create a direct public storm, our veterinarian(s) and many reputable trainer/owner friends are aware & have all seen the photos & most know the horse. Hoping word travels. Again, I think if one is desperate & has an extremely tough & easy keep, it will survive (& be happy even) so long as it never requires anything out of the ordinary. But aging doesn’t favor those odds, as we know. So a retirement gig should not be their thing, except for the appeal of absent owners? But I share your urge to broadcast it all, honestly. I suppose I’d advise people to really look at a farm’s photos during winter & Spring…note the horses, what’s available for them to graze upon, giving an older horse’s dental challenges.
I guess my Question #1 is why you are not using their farm name here.
Why do we as a society publicly outrage over abuse of all kinds, give accounts of the horrors, while continuing to protect the abuser by withholding their name.
Why not? For fear of public backlash, litigation and the ‘snitch syndrome’ that is often ingrained in us as children.
As one who cares for aged horses on medication, I have never not followed the owner’s reasonable and veterinary approved directions. I treat my boarder’s and my horses exactly the same. OP- I am glad you were able to monitor the situation and got your horses out safely and in time. Many of us have been in your shoes where we thought we’d made a good choice and it turned out terribly.
Can you share the county in VA or would that put you in legal jeopardy? I know even if you won a civil case if they brought it doesn’t mean you won’t be stuck with the out-of-pocket fees and social blowback.
Because of the backlash anyone will tell you, who’s done that, experiences. I’m opting for word of mouth to avoid the wrath of crazies that no doubt would follow.
I applaud you for keeping such close tabs on your retirees! You are definitely giving them a safety net that all horses need. 
You experienced a deeply painful situation that many of us who can’t keep our horses at home worry about.
how would you warn others?
By telling your story to the audience likely to explore her services, with photos, vet remarks and evidence that you have, and giving their name. You’ve done the first part of that here.
Consider giving your name as well, for credibility, but these days only in a limited-exposure audience of people directly concerned. Not the gp.
You can try doing this anonymously. But anonymous warnings often are not given high credibility. And it opens the door for the warnings to be dismissed by the farm itself.
Showed her the backbone now popping up & easily visible on this same horse standing in front of us. While patting her hindquarters “Look, she is still packing fat!” still excitably agitated & screaming.
This indicates to me that skinny horses are her norm. This is the case with certain horse people. They always have reasons when people notice, “aging”, “fit high performance horse”, “carries more fat that you think”, “they naturally lose weight in winter”, etc.
Whatever their reason, this thinness is what some people feed and manage for. I’ve seen it in action. It’s alarming that they don’t see the difference, don’t recognize when a horse is suffering from poor nutrition intake, not a natural, healthy lean profile.
In March this barn owner literally began screaming at me…
Along with your other descriptions of her behavior: This sounds to me like a routine behavior that she allows to be triggered. Not a one-off just for you. Total uninformed guess on my part that this is not the first time an owner has told her that they are unhappy with her care of their horses.
There is a chance that lashing out is how she gets concerned owners out of her face. They back down and accept her level of care, or they back down and leave. Either outcome satisfies her. Her longer-term owners aren’t questioning her, aren’t bothering her – that’s what she wants. The rest she wants to move on. For every owner that leaves, another one comes along to replace them. That would be my impression.
Question - The herd: While your concerns increased over the winter, how were other horses faring? Guessing there were at least some that needed extra care they weren’t getting. Is there enough winter grass that horses living primarily on that would have been ok? Or was the loss of condition apparent generally in the herd? Do you have photos? To help round out your concerns and the need for a warning, and to use in the warning.
Basically, is there an obvious neglect situation there, at least during the late winter season? To the degree that it would be reportable and get some attention? Although this is, of course, likely to be a frustrating and unsatisfactory outcome, nonetheless it would be a benchmark to go from. (Authorities say “horses will have new grass soon, it’s temporary”.)
Question - Other owners: Have you talked to other owners boarding retired horses at this farm? Or have boarded there in the recent past? In your place, I would try to find out if other past or current owners boarding retirees at this farm have had similar concerns. To test the waters for their support for a public outing of neglect.
You could do some owner-searching with some publicly posted inquiries that don’t give your details of concern, just asking for feedback about owners’ experiences with the farm. Maybe with the ‘reason’ that you are seeking information for a decision. What you don’t share at this time is that the decision is how to go forward with your warnings, and if you are likely to have others with similar experiences willing to support your effort.
Invite both satisfied and unsatisfied customers to respond, to give you a better overall picture. If you do get some accolades for this farm, find out how involved those owners are with their horses. However often they say they see their horses, the reality is probably half that, at best. Gently and politely inquire about ‘the last time they saw them’ – if they can give a month and year, or even a season, such as “last summer”. If they don’t have time specifics, they haven’t seen their horses in some time. That will help you weigh the balance of owner accounts you receive.
Overall thoughts: Publicizing a warning may be needed, but it will be a hard and possibly unsuccessful journey to travel alone. To have more impact, you need others with similar experiences to vouch for your experience, and add their credibility.
You need not just words, but photos and documentation of weight loss and lack of administration of medication. It sounds like you do have much of that evidence to get started. It will help even more if other people with this experience also collected data.
Keep in mind: How the farm owner is likely to react, how they will publicly backlash against you, trying to make you the unreasonable ignorant bad guy, in the eyes of the world. Striking back for you damaging their reputation in the eyes of the world.
There is a saying “don’t mess with someone else’s living”. But, sometimes it is necessary, and that individual needs a different form of earnings, because the present one is problematic. Just be aware of how this farm owner is likely to react given the impact of your warning on their life. And if the impact on you is worth it to you. It may be worth it for you, to spare some horses.
Thank you for understanding.
[quote=“Calvincrowe, post:12, topic:794914”]
Why not? For fear of public backlash, litigation [/quote]
I was a party who was sued for wrongful injury, I had nothing to do with the plaintiff’s injuries but my cost to defend myself was just short of $25,000 …yeah I fear the court system bigtime
I am using my married name here and while I never frequent this forum, some might know me & our family. While I never made the other horses in their care my business, our 3 all had decline. Only the Fjord was most alarming. After an unsuccessful early attempt to add our 3 to the existing herd, they moved ours into a separate field that, in spite of the supposed addition of regular hay (in huts), the field went to nubs quickly. The area had suffered drought, I get the struggle…we’ve all been there & most of us know how to adjust for the horses’ needs. No, I will not be reaching out to other boarders. They should know their own animals & be keeping track of their needs. I pretty much mind my own business sans glaring abuse/neglect. But I did note, with concern, that aside from one stint, they did not stay in one place long…I gave them the benefit of the doubt, knowing the horse industry as we do. I did note how oddly shrill she became when speaking of others with whom she disagreed, but by then it was too late. If doing a search, they look glowing & to people not under their thumb, I’m sure they’re lovely, as I thought upon first impression. If you want photos, tell me how…IT challenged boomer here.
If you were so inclined, you could PM the details to posters here who asked.
That way only you & recipient see the info.
You can also.post pics on a PM, same as on the general thread.
Tap on the Upload icon at the bottom of your reply - the one left of the screen one.
This:
Then select the file you want from your photos & attach by clicking on it
So, OP, it sounds as if you want to warn people, but you don’t want to warn people. Because of the exposure and potential backlash. Absolutely that is the major consideration. Not going forward is a very fair decision in your own best interests.
It would seem that you already know what decision you have to make. Is the reward worth the risk? The potential exposure, the opening of Pandora’s box? You would need to be ready to accept and deal with the problems from doing this good deed. A personal question that only you can answer.
It’s an option to try an anonymous campaign, but it may be difficult to get results and it will probably still result in exposure anyway. I think the retirement farm owner is going to know your identity just from the info that you share, and from good guessing.
Can think of one anonymous campaign that was instrumental in bringing down a large, truly heinous neglect & abuse farm, well-documented, eventual charges brought against the neglecters/abusers. The campaigner used technology to shield her identity behind a VPN and various dark-web communication channels. She (I think ‘she’) had many ways to gather ongoing information and publish it, without being outed. People communicating directly with her didn’t know who she was. It took years and thousands of hours of work by the anonymous campaigner, along witht the public assistance of an attorney, before the neglect place finally closed and the charges were filed. After it was all over she just disappeared and never shared her identity.
The attorney’s name was public. It did bring some problems to her door that she accepted and dealt with.
I realize that that anonymous campaign is a much bigger situation than you are facing. But it’s just as an example, the only way that I know of to completely shield one’s identity. And in a case like yours, it is quite likely that someone will guess correctly, anyway.
This is the reason this retirement farm owner is getting away with this. It is a risk to go public with warnings, even if past owners also wanted to do so. No doubt others have had the same experience and concerns that you did and also haven’t seen a good safe way to warn others.
