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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