Absolutely! We did supply all feed (they were to supply balancer/hay), plus bins, buckets, fence feeders, meds, etc. I even gave them half doz new & lightly used fly masks for their other horses, and a nice fly sheet (ours don’t use). We are (mostly?) nice people & being used to self-care, we get it. Thinking “If you want something done right, do it yourself” was coined by a true horseman. Or a bank robber.
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I get that - that’s one of the reasons I finally agreed with buying a barn (my DH was trying to talk me into it and I avoided it for SO long). Boarding is hard under the best of circumstances, but it’s still harder when you’re at a distance or have a special needs horse (not that yours was particularly special needs, they really should have been able to deal with your requirements).
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I disagree about not exposing a specific, personal experience with a boarding facility. I have had experience with the same situation and living several states away my horses lives depended on someone voicing their experience with the barn owner. Horses that were competing were well cared for - the stock that did not were not so lucky. I am thankful that someone spoke up.
This is a small industry and animals lives depend on each and every one of us speaking up to expose those that will neglect a horse.
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We too thought about buying, in our area you can’t go wrong creating a nice little private horse property…the demand is insanely high so to resell after horses are gone seems a win. You certainly can’t find anything turn-key (w/ decent/safe fencing) for much under a mil. I’m retired & my husband is rounding that corner & this area is not affordable for us. Yet we are stuck in DC area due commute.
A lot of really good points have been brought up here regarding (horse) retirement & I’d like to add another. “Alterration” touched on it with the increased needs of an aging horse & the expense of properly caring for such. While this might not be a popular opinion, we are & have been prepared to euthanize should we feel our aging horses, or even the youngest (9), can no longer be comfortably managed by the facility they’re in. It’s a practical reality, and the kind thing to do. It infuriates me to see those ads trying to pawn off a crippled or older horse to the first pasture that will accept it. These horses rarely see stability in their twilight future. So along with finding that great retirement facility, be prepared to do the stand-up thing when the time arrives and make sure your BO agrees w/ your position in that regard.
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First - I agree with you having just looked at properties in your region due to a possible move for DH’s work. Prices are not cheap!
Senior euthanasia… That was the other heartbreaking thing about inheriting (I use the word, it isn’t quite right but we bought a boarding facility that came with boarders) senior horses that didn’t belong to me. The owners all seemed to be waiting for someone else to either okay it or to tell them it was time for the horses to pass on.
The vets, who are wonderful, seemed reluctant to help the owners come to that conclusion so it fell to me. Within 3 years I had to facilitate the passing of 3 horses who had, IMO, passed their “needing to go” clock about 5-10 years prior.
I know it is so hard for us to let go, but to see a blind, wobbly, painfully arthritic senior horse who can no longer chew hay and runs into fences and care for him every day when you cannot ensure that he won’t die a very painful and terrifying death because his owners can’t make the call - that was really hard. I felt like a huge jerk trying to gently help the owners understand that it was time and letting him go in the sun on a good day was a gift.
So - I’d just add - don’t wait for someone else to tell you it is time. If you’re wondering, you’re probably right.
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Generally speaking …
I think OP has a conundrum that is worth thinking ahead about, for all of us. What if you want to give an alert about a boarding/pasture situation where the care is substandard to very substandard to outright abusively neglectful? Or an abusive trainer, etc.
Currently, the fallout for the good deed can be immense and long-lasting. And frankly, to have an impact and actually divert horses from the facility, the words of warning have to be credible, significant enough to get attention, and long-lasting. The problem won’t correct itself overnight. Staying power is necessary.
There isn’t a horse-services review site on the web, a central place to capture feedback, by name. Anonymously or not. The old Rate My Horse Pro site seems to be long gone. Likely because of legal retaliation – I think that’s what I heard, but third-hand, so that may not be factual.
Current times, publishing a warning has to be done with acceptance of dealing with the long-term consequences to the person doing the outing. From having one’s reputation trashed online, to retaliatory legal action.
I’ve noticed that the people who can spread these warnings with effect are mostly those who are secure enough in life, financially and reputationally, that the inevitable attacks won’t matter. Their income won’t be at risk. They have the financial resources to fight back if someone targets them for legal action – possibly for quite a long time (very expensive for both sides). They won’t be bothered by the trashing of their character. Their online repuation, good or bad, is not a risk to their chosen way of life. And frankly, they have a LOT of time available to deal with the mess, indefinitely.
Not very many people are in those circumstances. It’s kind of a thing that people with more typical financial resources are in less of a position to challenge problems, especially legal ones. I guess life has always been like that. But social media has made it even more so, imo.
We have one legendary thread on COTH, started in 2016 and still active today, alerting to a very problematic trainer – one who continues to run a fair-sized operation. It was begun by someone who was in a position to deal with the consequences, and has done so (although no longer active on COTH). The thread continues under its own momentum. Because the problems with said trainer continue, even now, over 6 years later. [link below]
Other threads specifically outing a problem facility or trainer by name seem to primarily belong to a past when social media backlash was a given, but legal action was not likely. (Other than sex offenders, those are occasionally being outed on COTH.)
I think that the greatly increased probability of a retaliatory legal action, and the current inevitability that the identity of the complaining party will be outed, have greatly reduced the outing of bad actors on the internet. Just imo.
Below link, as an example, the thread that never dies, because (so far) the problems never die, either … even now, the same bad judgments and difficult behavior go on and on and on (see the last few months of the thread).
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A pancake has two sides (irrespective of OP, who I believe). As a past BM that vetted hundreds of boarders – if you were the type to air your problems on social media, I would tell you the barn is full. Running a boarding barn is hard enough with perfect boarders, never mind high maintenance crazy ones.
In an industry this small, do you want to burn bridges when you don’t have a home to move your horse to? You don’t want to be at the mercy of a stranger and have that stranger say “nah, I saw you torch Suzie on SM, I’m good” when you have nowhere else to go. Maybe that isn’t the reality of your world yet, but it in my pocket of the world – barns are closing left and right and there are more horses than available stalls.
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Everyone has their reasons for speaking up or not. I have been an owner of a big (60 stalls) training operation. I also have had my horses in the hands of others. I now only have my own retirees at home and a few of my horses out on lease with people I keep up with on a regular basis.
We are the only voice horses have. The person that did this was well known and had done it before. No one spoke up. My horses were removed but the one in the pic had to suffer to this point.
I will always speak up.
(I can’t get the picture to attach)
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To be clear I am not saying “don’t speak up”. I’m saying “don’t start a smear campaign on FB”. Nothing incriminates you(g) better than that. You can speak up about your experiences without coming across as a tactless loon.
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To choose a nice time to peacefully say goodbye is so much better than waiting until an ugly, horribly stressful (often in the night or worst weather) emergency moment. I’m so sorry the decisions fell mostly on you. I do get why vets have become more reluctant, the scrutiny from other boarders is insane & filled with online chatter. There was a time we (our vets & ourselves) could opt to put down a horse, even a healthy one who, for whatever reason, we deemed unlikely to re-home successfully. I’m talking racehorses here, but a sad/unexpected reality can surface anywhere. Family illness, death, divorce, loss of income…life happens and sensible people, who love their horses, understand & evaluate its future before coming to the difficult decision. Now one onlooker can make it unlikely a vet will risk the wrath on his/her reputation. It’s a shame. These horses trust us & we owe it to them to see the long game with eyes as wide open as our hearts.
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Well said, thank you.
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I would assume that having managed a large facility that you understand how even slight hire & management changes can change the care, for better or worse, with equal speed. Thus, I would advise all boarders, in-state or several away, to ask for frequent, many, & regular photos. I’ve no hesitation in expanding a pic to closely examine feet, bedding, fencing, seasons (trees), horses in background, feed bags by trash, etc. Having a little bird in your ear (even a trusted one) might not hurt, but I prefer seeing things for myself.
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This is just another reason why sending a horse away for retirement is a bad idea in so many ways. Unless the owner is close and can monitor the horse on a regular basis i just don’t see the benefits.
Just like many nursing homes can be a place of neglect for our elderly the retirement boarding has become the same.
I am not saying all of them ( for people or horses)are bad. Some have great care but if you can’t find one local it may be best to care for the horse yourself in a self care facility or …
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Something I don’t think anyone has mentioned: GET REFERENCES especially from the veterinarian the farm uses. Of course, be prepared to offer yours.
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Self-care is not always an option, nor is everyone experienced enough for the task. Regarding retirement facilities & monitoring, I did keep watch & they were pulled out. The benefits? Again, boarding has its own nightmares & self-care is no longer an option for me (like so many others), nor do retirees need a riding facility w/ it’s pricier amenities. Locally? Not everyone lives in an area that’s affordable (we have 4 retirees, 3 needing to stay together) so while your thoughts are appreciated, there’s far more to consider. 
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- No veterinarian, for even the most jerkwater facility, will ever provide a potential client with his/her opinion on a current client (unless you are good friends). 2. Most facilities use more than one practice w/in their area & often those practices have more than one veterinarian, so back to #1. 3. We’ve already discussed why offering a public opinion can be dicey, though I do consider with whom I’m speaking (& where) when asked for mine. When reading reviews, those are often hard to gauge…and go both ways between BO & client.
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One needs to know how to listen to references. If they don’t say "this barn has the best care, I’ve known them for 15 years, and they are fantastic at catching things before they get serious " or whatever, and they say something like “yes, they’ve been a client for 15 years; we don’t give recommendations” that tells you everything you need to know.
I’m on the other side, getting references for potential boarders. No one says anything bad! But the glowing reference from someone who had only known them for 3 months was a huge red flag, for example. I look for people to say things like “you don’t know how lucky you will be if they are in your barn”. If they don’t say things like that, even though they are saying positive things, it’s noted.
Plus, one should also get references from current and former boarders. You listen to all of them to get a good picture. If everyone is saying the same sorts of things, that’s probably accurate.
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Re the hazards of outing an irresponsible service provider … I know that it was pointed out upthread that the Rareshide situation is not like this one, but I wanted to point out one thing …
… 13 counts of animal abuse charges stemming from a February 2023 complaint of animal neglect at her 100-acre farm. After hearing the testimony of horse owners who left their animals in Rareshide’s care and others from within the local horse community, a judge convicted Rareshide, 59, on five counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty Friday, according to court records.
Successfully acting on abuse and neglect is very often a group effort, by necessity. It is essential to find ways to get others to tell their story. People have to be motivated and inspired to report to authorities, participate in interviews with inspectors, provide their own evidence of photos, vet reports and the like.
It takes a leader to reach out to others, to motivate and cheerlead, to bring it together. People don’t automatically act on their concerns. Many, maybe most, have to be hand-held through the process.
Because people are rightfully concerned about the fallout and blowback on themselves and even on their families. That is an intimidation that works. But they will feel – and be – much more comfortable in a group, than doing this alone.
The February 2023 complaint prompted an investigation into Rareshide’s farm by Goochland County Animal Protection.
For that investigation to have proceeded effectively, it had to have the cooperation and participation of enough owners to give them the grounds that a prosecutor would think worthwhile to pursue.
Someone has to provide investigators with a list of names and phone numbers of affected owners. Because the farm isn’t going to provide that. How else would the investigators from outside of the horse community find out who was affected.
It is hard to get these cases off the ground as frankly they are competing for the prosecutor’s time, against many other criminal matters directly affecting the public.
It takes numbers of owners, not just one. And that takes an effort among the owners, with at least one willing to be a communicator, an organizer, a voice, a motivator and comforter.
If the situation likely isn’t prosecutable, it still takes more than one voice crying in the wilderness. People figure that is just a one-off complainer. They have to hear from multiple sources. And someone has to organize that into one easy-to-locate resource.
Even without going through legal channels, it is hard to act effectively to slow down or stop a bad board manager. But it someone thinks it is worth it and has the means and resources to do it, it may be the only way to alert the owner public.
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Excellent points.
I think prosecution is also far more effective at building a community shunning of the guilty party than word of mouth.
Keeping things quiet while one goes to the authorities as a group will help more animals on the long run.
.
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I think there are 2 levels of neglect.
One is OMG call animal control body score of 2 and dead horses etc. You call animal control. They will visit etc.
The other is when you are unhappy with the care, you feel ripped off, your horse looks like crap, you are being lied to. But things haven’t reached AC/ SPCA levels of concern in part because you saw the writing on the wall and moved your horse in time.
This situation is more like this.
Locally we have a Bad Boarders and Barns FB group where you can use the Anonymous feature to post things like “I had a bad experience at Boggy Acres Barn, has anyone else had that?”
Or on COTH you can make an alter and a thread “My bad experience at Boggy Acres Barn in Yourtown” and invite comment. Sometimes we end up with dozens of “OMG those people at Boggy Acres are the worst” and sometimes we get Boggy Acres Barn manager coming on and either effectively defending themselves or else showing up as plain craycray. Either way the thread persists and shows up in searches
But no, you cannot speak out either to AC or even anonymously online without some possibility of blowback. Only do it once your horse is safely out.
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