Not sure if this is dumb, stupid or cheap- perhaps all 3! Woman at my barn has a nice 3 yo green broke horse. It was started last year, sat on a few times and meandered around the arena- no steering and no real brakes installed. She is offering horse for part or full on property lease because she’s not comfortable riding it. She has been given names of reputable trainers but doesn’t want to send horse away, has not pursued option of training and lessons at the barn.
First off, why would anyone PAY YOU to train your horse, and if they were dumb enough to want to, would you want them on your greenie?
I don’t think she has been overwhelmed by offers yet…
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gawd, I can just imagine that the only fool ignorant enough to agree to this “lease” would be a total greenhorn rider, or someone with a black beauty complex. Lets hope no one gets hurt.
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So what they want is a crash test dummy.
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Got a new one tonight. Priority in the arena goes riders > lungers > turnout
My saddle fitter is out, we talk about the fit and she wants to see me sit in it. No problem. I grab my bridle, am nanoseconds away from taking my horse’s halter off when I see two turned out horses zoom by the arena gate, who had just been turned out because they weren’t there 2 minutes ago.
No big problem, I put the crossties back on, go all the way across the barn so I don’t have to yell, and tell the horse owner the same thing I do every time in this situation - “Hey, just a heads up, I’m about to ride.”
Her return response “Ok, but why are you being so rude about it?”
Now, her husband (Eastern European Man) tried angrily telling me to just ride with his two loose horses in the arena not long ago, so this is a “thing” with this couple I guess.
I tried to explain to her that I wasn’t being rude, I came all the way across the barn so I didn’t have to yell, and that I was saddled when she let her horses out.
She held fast to my “being rude.” Not wanting to hold up my saddle fitter’s time any longer, I walked away. As soon as my saddle fitter went to adjust some flocking I went back over there to try and straighten things out… yeah, that went about as well as you’d imagine.
I was told I have no friends (true, by choice and I desire to have no more than the one or two I have thanks), and that I think I’m the barn manager (not true, I defer people to the barn owner all the time, but I do know the rules really well since I’ve boarded there for 20+ years, and have no problem calling people out on it when it impacts my ability to enjoy my horses), etc.etc.
I flat told her that I am entirely uninterested in being anyone’s friend at the barn, that I am not there to be social - I am there for my horses and that is IT. She was so mad at me, over me telling her that I was going to ride, thereby ending her arena turnout session. ugh
Jesus Christ woman. We have 15 outdoor turnout paddocks, all of which were empty when you decided to put your horses in the indoor. One of those paddocks is literally a 15 second walk from your stall. PUT YOUR HORSES OUTSIDE FOR CHRISTS SAKE.
I will totally admit that I passive aggressively chide people for running the halide arena lights when no one is using the arena by mentioning that we, boarders, pay the electric bill. I also water the arena on a regular basis to keep the dust down. I paid out of my own pocket for Arena Clear last winter. I also drag out the track and use the ball field drag to level out footprints in the arena. I also will dump and refill buckets if a horse has pooped in it. I also built an entire course of jumps that anyone is allowed to use at any time - I honestly dont care if something gets broken if it was truly an accident and not negligence. I also have 8 jump blocks in the indoor that anyone can use at any time. I also live 2 minutes away from the barn and feed in a pinch often. If all of that, that I do for free to try and keep the place nice and enjoyable, means that “I think I am a barn manager” then sure - I guess I’ll take it.
^The BO loves me because of these things. I come and go and he never has to worry about if I’ve gotten killed on my horses. I help people a LITTLE. At some point, I tell them they need lessons and/or pro training and give them an instructor’s number. I have made many people mad when I do that, but I already don’t have time for my two, I’m not going to spend a ton of time on others. Full stop.
Sorry, long vent. It’s funny - the experienced horseman at the barn and I never have run ins, we bounce ideas off each other and it’s enjoyable. It’s always the beginners and ignorant people that I rub the wrong way.
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One of the weird things about the horse world is how quickly people become expert and develop firm views on how to proceed. Sometimes it requires no more than sitting on the back of a horse, once, as a kid
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I saw one on CL not long ago. Someone with a two year old looking for someone to part lease and sign a contract that the lessee would be responsible for all boarding costs, must work with owner to learn their training methods, work with horse a minimum of 3 days a week, and sign on for a minimum of 6 months. I’m sure she had a waiting list of people wanting to pay for someone else’s horse and to train it for free.
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Not dumb, but in response to repeated dummy behavior: the admin of one of the statewide horse/tack/etc Facebook groups I belong to has declared that she will no longer approve any posts with the words “cheap” & “equine” used next to each other. 
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Dang, Arena Clear is NOT cheap.
There are 2 kinds of people in this world - those who treat other people’s property even better than their own, and those who borrow or use things and trash it because they don’t own it. The classic ‘friend’ who borrows your car but returns it with their used fast food wrappers and an empty gas tank.
Some boarders are just the later category.
I’m sure the “newbie experts” don’t realize how much effort and sweat equity all the freebies you offer is saving them. Keep in mind that they are gifts freely given, and it sounds like you are entirely reasonable in your expectations. Someone with your same standards of care will appreciate them, but for others who have lower standards (born out of ignorance or just plain bad horsemanship) its like pearls before swine.
Its a shame your BO doesn’t deputize you as his BM, even in title only, just to give you a little teeth for when you have to enforce the property rules and safety protocols when dealing with these morons.
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Happy update!!! I was able to talk to her again and yep - it turned out that “she is really attached to the mother cat now and is concerned about her welfare and making sure the babies get to nurse as long as they need to”
My rescue contact (who is amazing ) was able to arrange a time to go over to the house and assess the mama, and explain things clearly to her. She then finally agreed to let the rescue get the kittens (who have already started to roam into the neighbor’s yard) and she will foster the mama until we can get the spay appointment! total win! I told her she should just adopt the mama after her vetting, since this cat has already chosen her 
So happy she was able to listen to reason. Its wonderful to have good intentions, but when an expert who has been doing this for over 10 years personally looks that the situation and advises a course of action, its better to listen to wiser minds.
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I try and keep myself sane by repeating “I do it for the horses, not the people” over and over in my head.
Thank you for understanding how much time and effort it takes! 
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This reminds me of the post I made where I got reamed out for being rude by the BO’s daughter after I had to tell her husband (so BO’s son-in-law) to stop smoking in the barn that MY stuff was in - not the BO’s barn, guarantee he wouldn’t smoke there, but the barn I used with two tons of hay I paid for and my tack etc, who cares right. I was told by the BO’s snotty daughter that while I may have been right, I didn’t have the right to be rude. I sorta felt like after I asked nicely once and he snorted at me and went farther into the barn with his lit ciggy, I was justified telling him again. COTH was on my side until they learned I called him “dude” and then COTH decided I was indeed rude 
. I think it was better than “dumb shit” but hey.
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Or any of the other things you could have called him. Dude - to me - was being nice. But like you said - hey. lol
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I just realized they now make headphones that let ambient noise in. Previously, that’s why I did not like wearing headphones at the barn, because I was too oblivious to my surroundings.
Well now, I can pretend to not hear what I don’t want to hear. Perfect. They should arrive today…
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First off, the headphones are awesome. Only complaint is that they let a little bit of wind noise in.
Second off, here we go again. Mister Trainer says that two of his underlings’ horses are foundering because they spent a GRAND TOTAL of 1 hour on grass.
Never mind that both horses are obese in general.
Never mind that the one horse is only lame/has heat/pulse on one front foot.
Nope, FOUNDER. What do we do?
Call the vet? Easy boot clouds? Ice the feet? NOPE.
We bute them, and tell the owners to lunge them! Because that’s how to fix it. Movement! Lots of it!
I left last night just as one of the “foundering horse” owners was dumping a 3qt scoop of sweet feed type grain soaked in applejuice in her horses bin.
I’m sure this will be the newest excuse as to why these horses don’t get turnout, because they might eat some grass from under the fence eh. I just can’t…
It’s getting harder every day to hold my tongue…
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Oh geez poor horse, hate that they are suffering 
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Sorry, I think I’d be calling the police about that one. That’s clearly animal abuse, and anyone who knows anything about horses knows it.
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Police wont/cant do anything about what a horse is fed.
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Maybe the ASPCA or Animal Control?
No, they will only act on horses that don’t have food or water. Never on fat horses.
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It’s not about what the horse is being fed; it’s about the fact that the horse is suffering and being denied adequate medical care. That’s abuse.
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