The Maestro has written another book

[McGurk]

The problem with that whole ridiculous story is: Who were the checks made out to? The barn? Then there was no scam.

If Nick didn’t have access to the barn account, then his relationship with the barn is not how he represented it.

To Nick personally? Well, then, we do have people committing fraud. But I don’t think the checks were made to Nick personally.

The whole black mailbox thing is a red herring. It’s not relevant. Either the checks were made to the barn/business, the previous trainer/barn manager or Nick.

No scam.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the checks were made directly to the previous manager. How would that not have been discussed as part of the business arrangement?

My original theory was Nick tried to promote himself as a trainer in the same he promoted himself as a clinician. He signed a contract to lease stalls, thinking he would pay for them with the training income, and when no training income developed, defaulted on the contract.

The actual boarders were probably mystified by the whole thing. The end.

[Paint_Party]

Do you think he was just sort of hangin’ around this barn, offering up tips and suggestions to various boarders, thinking he was The Trainer and therefore would be getting some income? But in the boarders’ mind, he was just This Guy, so they had no idea they were supposed to be paying him a dime?

The entire story made absolutely zero sense. It read like he was tripping over himself trying to prove whatever point he was trying to make.

[Nous]

It just sounds like the slipshod / lackadaisical approach he takes to all his enterprises, either he didn’t bother to get a contract in place, or didn’t bother to read the contract he signed. Instead of doing a mea culpa and learning from the experience he looked for any excuse to prove he was in the right.
His boarders / trainees should also have contracts in place and should have known exactly who they were to pay.

[trubandloki]

@Paint_Party

In the book, he crafts a rambling saga about this event. Ultimately he asserts that the CEO shouldn’t be responsible for an email sent by an employee.

So, he is against the law that means the forum owner is not responsible for the posts of the random strangers that post on their forum, but the CEO of a company is not responsible for the employee (known entity, even more known since they inhabit the same body as the actual CEO) that posts things?

Does that not seem weird?

[Paint_Party]

@trubandloki

Does that not seem weird?

Yes. Yes it does seem weird, especially to us. But then, we are capable of reasoned, rational thought. So there’s that.

[Mara]

@trubandloki

@Paint_Party

In the book, he crafts a rambling saga about this event. Ultimately he asserts that the CEO shouldn’t be responsible for an email sent by an employee.

So, he is against the law that means the forum owner is not responsible for the posts of the random strangers that post on their forum, but the CEO of a company is not responsible for the employee (known entity, even more known since they inhabit the same body as the actual CEO) that posts things?

Does that not seem weird?

I think Nick daydreams of suing and getting a judgment in his favor with a sizeable dollar amount attached to it.
It’s hypothetically much easier than working a regular job.
He’d be his own worst enemy on the stand, though.

[Angela_Freda]

He wrote something like he “told them his business plan”

Dude, you don’t “tell” a business plan. It’s a document.

[RhythmNCruise]

@Paint_Party

Reading Nick’s book was a lot like my recent kidney stone. I’ve forgotten much of what I endured.

Ah. A similar indescribable agony, eh? I just remember writhing in excruciating pain in the ER and truly wishing someone would come in with an ax and tell me they were about to chop my head off. That would have been preferable to what I was enduring.

For the record, that was when I had a kidney stone. I haven’t read the book.

[J-Lu]

@McGurk

The problem with that whole ridiculous story is: Who were the checks made out to? The barn? Then there was no scam.

If Nick didn’t have access to the barn account, then his relationship with the barn is not how he represented it.

To Nick personally? Well, then, we do have people committing fraud. But I don’t think the checks were made to Nick personally.

The whole black mailbox thing is a red herring. It’s not relevant. Either the checks were made to the barn/business, the previous trainer/barn manager or Nick.

No scam.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the checks were made directly to the previous manager. How would that not have been discussed as part of the business arrangement?

My original theory was Nick tried to promote himself as a trainer in the same he promoted himself as a clinician. He signed a contract to lease stalls, thinking he would pay for them with the training income, and when no training income developed, defaulted on the contract.

The actual boarders were probably mystified by the whole thing. The end.

I had the same question. That story was just weird.

On Day 1, what incoming trainer doesn’t know who the clients are and how they’re going to get paid? Who doesn’t do the math to see if they can cover the cost of the stalls with existing clients and know if they brought in enough clients to pay for the stall fees? The whole black mailbox thing didn’t make any sense. It sounded to me like that is where those boarders paid board and since they were already there, weren’t a part of Nick’s stall lease.

And if the checks were made out to Nick, I don’t see how someone who was not Nick could cash them. Did none of the clients discuss his fee with him? Talk to him about a training plan? Vet him to see if they wanted him to ride their horses or give them lessons?

The weirdest part of the story for me was that he drove by the farm later and saw the BO talking to the trainer who departed who I believe was sitting on a horse, and they laughed at him as he yelled at them that they scammed him. I can picture his view of them laughing at him from his distorted perspective when in reality they may not have even noticed him.

[SillyHorse]

@RhythmNCruise

Ah. A similar indescribable agony, eh? I just remember writhing in excruciating pain in the ER and truly wishing someone would come in with an ax and tell me they were about to chop my head off. That would have been preferable to what I was enduring.

For the record, that was when I had a kidney stone. I haven’t read the book.

[Curly_Feather]

Of course. No one is the bad guy in their own story.

[FitzE]

I get what you’re saying and agree it applies to NP, without a doubt. However, fundamentally, I disagree with this statement.

You hear all the time mea culpas, confessionals, or simple self-reflection in which people see what they did, what they could have done differently, what they learned. Even if they aren’t able to learn and change, many people are still able to identify or at least acknowledge their part in whatever the story is. I just today listened to one such tale on This American Life.

I think a certain TYPE of person and, at this particular moment in history there is a very vocal and visible group of those types, is unable or unwilling to EVER acknowledge their part, their failings, how they contributed to or even created a bad situation. They NEVER accept personal responsibility, typically while simultaneously bleating on and on about the need for everyone else to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They view even the mildest attempt to hold them accountable for their own behaviour as an outrageous assault on their person, rights, and freedom.

[MorganSercu]

Already was and lost $1000 to The Chronicle of the Horse in 2014.

[trubandloki]

You make a very good point @J-Lu. To him, ignoring him is just as bad as laughing at him and I am sure he thought that laughing at him sounded better in his book.

[FitzE]

I’m confuse, if the old trainer left, how was there a conspiracy btw old trainer and BO? Also, if old trainer left, how was old trainer there and on a horse when NP drove by?

So many questions about every tale he spins…

[Ambitious_Kate]

This is one of the stories which jumps out as a indicative of his inability to read the room, and his social paranoia. There’s so much assumption on his part. Assuming they were laughing at him, for one. It sounds like his understanding of what his role was, and what the boarders were supposed to do, was way warped, as never there was such a bizzare arrangement nor a BO who would do it without a clear contract. Imagine his surprise when he was aghast expected to pay board on the stalls he rented. He’s a sad muffin, so lost and unable to navigate life.

[Unfforgettable]

and yet in the “book”, he refuses to admit that he lost and then had to pay COTH’s court costs.

[trubandloki]

@Unfforgettable

and yet in the “book”, he refuses to admit that he lost and then had to pay COTH’s court costs.

Well, he admits that he did not win, all while saying the judge said he was right but the judge had no choice but to rule against him because of the evil horrible law that allowed Swamp Town to do what they wanted.

[Mara]

Has anyone found a transcript of that case? It’d be worth a few dollars if that jurisdictional court charges a fee.

[MorganSercu]

No luck yet.