I don’t even know what that means. 
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Was it a longstanding agreement or a longstanding problem? Big difference there.
Yes, Boyd’s social media outburst was unprofessional. I can’t think of many people, from any walk of life, who haven’t been guilty of bad judgement at least once in their lives. It doesn’t make the behavior acceptable, but it does make it understandable and relatable.
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Put it this way - in all my years doing scoring and secretarial work for Area 2, there are always competitors that were missing information or payment. It’s public knowledge on entry status pages. Lots of BNRs, including BM, did their entries themselves or had a working student do it, and we had to chase down deposits and coggins on the regular. Nowadays they have a third party “professional” do all their entries.
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I’m having trouble connecting the dots.
Are you implying Boyd is a hypocrite for being guilty of late payment in the past himself? Or are you saying something else?
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that’s wild if you can school without a trainer. most places require trainers b/c the trainer’s insurance is very important for liability purposes…
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That’s great in theory but as you can see from this incident that 4 horses paid and the question of a 5th that didn’t. I’m associated with a facility that also offers XC schooling and this is an ongoing issue. You have a trainer bringing a group over, they’ve paid up, but a couple more clients decide to join at the last minute - they haven’t paid. You can give out daily gate codes to those who’ve paid but that doesn’t mean a 2nd trailer won’t come in behind them or there’s an extra horse or 2 on the trailer. That’s the problem. It’s hard to employ someone check people in at the gate (or check cameras) - even with a list of people who have prebooked a time and paid, doesn’t mean that some random people won’t try to come w/o scheduling a time. The majority of time it all works out but it’s interesting to see how some people will try to buck the system. We have one trainer who claimed they could school for free anytime because when the facility first came to be, they helped out. Um sorry, that would be a no. LOL.
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The other thing too is that this is a VERY busy working farm, with all sorts of traffic in addition to the people coming to school, unscheduled, throughout the day, along with the horses that are in training at Windurra. The only scheduling that has to be done is if one wants to use the jump ring or the dressage arena, but I would say the vast majority of outsiders are coming in for XC.
The XC area is big enough that generally everyone fits- a group schools one part and then moves on to the next, and then another group does the jumps the first group had been riding, etc.- and it all works out with the usual consideration being paid. The galloping track is also open, and the basic rule is if someone is using it to gallop they have the right of way over those just trotting or whatever.
I suppose they could hire someone to sit at the gate and count horse heads and take payment there, or check that it had already been sent but it would be such a PITA! I could see trailers getting backed up (while semis zip past- they are right.there and this is a main thoroughfare), other farm-related vehicles trying to go in and out, the poor gate checker person being harangued, and so on. This might be what it comes down to, but I think the basic ethos is what Boyd has been trying to maintain- be a good person and pay what you owe, respect the farm and your fellow riders/trainers, and everyone benefits.
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Do you know this?
Or are you assuming it since CC simply said she would pay later?
Can you help? Explain how this answers the question, please.
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Definitely.
When I went there to audit a clinic, there were people who were putting their horses back on their trailer when I got there, which made me panic for a minute and think that maybe I had misunderstood the schedule and the start time, since I thought I had missed seeing the first group in the clinic.
But it turned out they were people who had just come to school over the course, and were completely unrelated to the clinic that was scheduled for that day.
And then throughout the day, there were different people using the gallop track and this and that as the clinic went on.
So there is a LOT of activity there.
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There are lots of places in our area (although they are not as fancy/ extensive as Windurra) where you can do this- obstacle courses, indoors, xcountry courses, etc. I’ve never seen any of them require a trainer, just money, coggins and signed liability form
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Windurra is a VERY busy place.
Though I thought Boyd’s first post was unprofessional and ill advised, and directing people to call 911 over trespassing was inappropriate…
He was onto something in terms of ‘crowd sourcing’ the enforcement aspect of a suspension from schooling on the property. That is almost certainly the most effective and least expensive way to address this problem. Public shaming is a tactic that has been used forever in a variety of contexts.
Windurra has tried to manage non-payment issues by installing additional signage on the property reminding people of their policies. I think they should install another sign. A big one that says “Currently Suspended from Schooling Access.” They could follow that up with something along these lines: “If you see this person schooling on property, please call the following number to contact management.” They could add a whiteboard or cork board portion to the bottom of this sign, so that they can periodically add/remove names of suspended people as necessary.
I think the fear of the embarrassment involved in having your name added to that sign at the entrance to Windurra might be a powerful motivator for people to stop taking advantage of easy access to schooling. After all… it’s a very busy place. No one would want their name to be on that sign for a month. So embarrassing.
In practice, Boyd could opt to privately grant people two strikes and a firm warning before adding their names to that suspended list. That seems like a fair and generous option to avoid accusations that he’s a vindictive bully, and give people a chance to get it together.
One more sign out front is far cheaper than a new gate or another FTE.
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Omg.
Huge flashback to the Seinfeld episode with something similar at the local bodega. Lol.
But it might work!
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Off topic:
The pricing to use the facility seems awfully low for the quality of facility offered. I’m out west though, so maybe it’s competitive for the area.
I can’t imagine only charging the fees they have listed to build, maintain, and babysit this quality of a venue.
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I wonder if they have played around with different price points, and landed on the ones that people will actually pay in that area.
It certainly seems like a huge bargain to me.
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When I lived in middle Tennessee, everything eventing or English discipline related was so expensive. We had these “big fish in small pond” no-name trainers who would change more than any Chester County eventer for far lesser quality services.
People would get so angry at me when I would balk at the prices. They didn’t believe me when I would say “I can ride with Bruce or Phillip or Boyd than for less than what you are charging.” But it was true!!! The mid-Atlantic horse market is pretty cool because competition really does keep the prices in check.
(Adding: I understand people need to make a living. It’s just hard to shell out the $$$ for a low quality trainer when you can get better quality training for less money elsewhere)
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It’s competitive for cross country schooling in the area. There are other options available for $50-$75. But… they aren’t in the same class as Windurra.
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Jerry bounced a clown check!
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Yes, that’s the one.
I know a bunch of the stuff in that show was based on their real life experiences in New York City. Like the episode with the Soup Nazi.
So I wonder if somebody in the writers’ room actually had that happen with a bounced check posted in a bodega at some point.
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But, like, does anyone else find it completely wild a 3-time Olympian and US champion with a crazy busy training business is spending his little spare time chasing down non-payers who come to school?
Like him, don’t like him, think he was a meanie pants to CC or think CC is playing sweet and innocent… just pay ahead of time? Follow the rules? Don’t decide you are special and the rules are different for you? Don’t waste busy people’s time?
If you can’t do these things and can’t proactively communicate with Windurra if there is an issue, you SHOULD be suspended.
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Isn’t it 4-time Olympian?
Which makes it that much more ridiculous that he has to spend his time and energy chasing down slow/bad/non-payers.
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