Windurra social media

[Rnichols]

He actually said “thousands of hours” in one of his posts and I was like wait……I’m no mathematician but I do believe there are not thousands of hours in a week. I exaggerate as well but that seems like a bit much to “prove a point”.

I’m not on FB anymore but when a friend sent me these SS the other day, my stomach literally dropped for Courtney. I think I had a bit of PtSD and it was deeply uncomfortable. I have been talked to in that tone before and it always takes so much self control to respond in a civilized matter instead of being unhinged right back at them. Talk about totally unprofessional and vile behavior for a long term client who has always paid via Venmo the night of. Ironically he is going to get the $$ in his account much faster anyway if you accept the Venmo versus depositing a physical check. Also it’s curious business behavior to belittle someone like this over an $80 schooling fee for one horse when she spends $1k a month there. Not saying she shouldn’t have to pay the $80 because she spends $1k, but it still seems curious. I find people are much more agreeable if you ASK them things instead of directly accusing.

And frankly I really don’t care if Courtney has issues keeping working students or not. To me that does not then allow another professional to speak to her in such an accusatory manner and then blast her on social media AND THEN tell his rabid fan base to call 911 if they see her on the property. Give me an ever loving break.

Also my first immediate thought when I saw all of this last night was that I wonder if those TBIs are beginning to have a behavioral effect. That and / or stress of running the facility he has. Who knows, but man, that was some extremely nasty and vile behavior and I hate that we live in a world where a man can act like this, but if a woman did the same thing she would be considered emotionally unstable and be told to calm down.

Also to add I’m not a huge Boyd fan (if it’s not clear in post lol). Before all this I wouldn’t say I disliked him, more so just not a big fan. I find that loud showboat behavior to be disingenuous and it is off putting to me, personally

[OverandOnward]

The real answer and preventative … people pay up before they come through the gates. No one who hasn’t already paid gets through the gates, or unloads a horse.

Advance payment is taking hold across the youth sporting world. In many riding programs as well. There have been articles about it on COTH.

The program I work with switched to advance payment at the time of each session, using QR codes, several months ago. It has been so beneficial on so many levels. Not only is the admin function not chasing people for payment, also the customer challenges to the accuracy of their invoice has dropped to almost none.

With advance payment, all 5 horses would have been paid for that morning or before. The rider could then request a refund for the horse that wasn’t ridden … or they could skip it.

[AMWookey]

I am curious about the people talking about karma, and at what point do you think “this is deserved” and by deserved, I mean, turning a fan base like Boyd’s on a professional, which could easily lead to massive online bullying and stalking, and be detrimental to a professional organization.

Is she abusive to her staff? Does she not pay them? Does she not pay suppliers? Is she abusive to her horses? Does she cheat people out of money?

Or is she a challenging woman to work for, that has a reputation of being so, and is not well liked for it?

For me personally, I am not a big believer in karma for the second one. Maybe not even karma for the first, because in situations like this, there are always others who are casualties.

[Bogey2]

If you make an appt like with the hairdresser or dentist etc and break it the day of, they lose money. Same here. Boyd would have to pass on someone else wanting to school. It’s 80.00 and it should be paid in full regardless of the factyb that they did not ride. I find her excuse plausible for not schooling the horse but the money is still owed.
Boyd was over the top but she was still wrong.

[AMWookey]

Question- does anyone who schools at Windurra know if you have to prebook spaces, and there is a daily cap?

Totally agree with the sentiment here - but only if that is the case. If its just a haul in system, with no prebooking, then there is no assumption of how many schooling fees you will receive that day.

I answered my own question. Only a few areas of the farm at by appointment only - dressage and jump ring. Everything else is just as per the yearly schedule

[tarheelmd07]

I don’t agree at all with how Boyd handled things - but Courtney choosing to ride 4 not 5 doesn’t mean Boyd had to turn someone else away. XC schooling at windurra does not require pre-booking and there is no cap on riders. You show up and school whenever the course is open, and pay via check/cash/venmo on site. If the 5th horse never left the trailer and did not use the facilities, why would they be expected to pay?

I have shipped young horses to windurra to school on numerous occasions who are nervous shipping alone or will not stand alone on the trailer- so I’ve thrown my retiree babysitter on the trailer. The retiree never gets off the trailer - so I’ve not paid a schooling fee for him because he has not used the facility. If we brought a babysitter to be tacked up and give a lead through the water, trail ride around so a youngster doesn’t school alone, or taken a baby to handwalk around and see the sights I’ve 100% paid the schooling fee because the horses were using the facility, putting wear and tear on the footing, etc - but for a horse not getting off the trailer? Nope.

[mvp]

@AMWookey

Totally get his side of the story, and i had zero issues with his initial post or the one after…until I saw the responses from Courtney.

The text message exchange tells a different type of story, and I just feel personally that folks should get to see both sides of the issue, and hers won’t get the traction his has.

There isn’t another side to the story. The only story is: Be nice to the landowner, always.

I think Martin didn’t need to air his dirty laundry, let alone asking others to call 911 should they discover Cooper back on his farm during the farm. But he cooled off and said as much in a second post, the only one I saw, after the fact.

But for everyone, and on the topic of this tread: Of course their is a power differential! Martin owns the venue that others want to access. Everyone knew that going in. What’s the surprise or problem? If that issue is large enough, avoid patronizing Martin’s cross country course. Cooper is the consumer here; she has the power to choose where she schools her horses and spends her money.

I ready Cooper’s comments as de-escalating but also explaining in a way that might have sounded like justifying “her side” as others have praised her for here.

I side a bit with Martin here as I do property management for a living. If someone has not paid me what I am owed and when, the first (and perhaps only) thing I want to hear from them is about when they will pay me. I don’t care why they chose to borrow money from me without my consent. And to be clear-- I grew up poor so you can bet I had to learn how to carefully manage creditors and learn about being nice to land owners.

So for those who have not been poor or in business, here’s some advice: When a someone whose business you value comes to you clearly pissed about missing money. Pay them and apologize.

[Harriet1]

Great post.

The whole thing is messy and would have been better left off social media.

Like many things.

There is more to the story. But that’s better left off social media as well.

Eventing requires access to land and cross country courses. Land in prime areas is EXPENSIVE. Well maintained courses are EXPENSIVE.

People who enjoy eventing would be wise to consider this carefully.

[Bearx2]

37K views · 1.1K reactions | There’s no better way to spend your summer than...

https://windurrausa.com/

This video gives me good basic overview of his cross country course and he does mention signing the waiver and paying the fee. Edited because of a typo.

[enjoytheride]

I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here. Are you saying that because this video doesn’t mention a charge to school it’s free?

There’s a sign at the front gate, a QR code, and a mailbox for cash or check payments.

I have always had to either pay in advance for XC schooling, or before I unload my horse. XC courses open for schooling are a GIFT. Regardless of if I feel this should have been aired out on social media, telling a frazzled land owner they should lease the property out or that they can’t possibly be spending that much time on it are what get courses closed. We should be looking at our industry if our top level riders are in debt trying to provide courses for us, or riding at the top levels.

[FitzE]

@mvp

When a someone whose business you value comes to you clearly pissed about missing money. Pay them and apologize.

Ironically, if you read the text messages, that’s exactly what she did. She only ‘explained’ about the 5th horse who didn’t come off the trailer (see above another poster here who also doesn’t pay for a horse at Windurra if that horse doesn’t come off the trailer, so that is not an Courtney thing) when Boyd asked.

And after being called a liar, she paid that one immediately as well, except he told her not to bother and banned her.

The first response that they pay via venmo that evening wasn’t an explanation - it was a statement of how they have historically provided payment.

Property management is challenging. The way he treated her in that text exchange is not okay.

Yes, we need access to land to do this sport, but these messages that people have to put up with landowners (and doesn’t he rent?) who are abusive (and that’s what those texts were) is a really bad policy.

Rich people (not Boyd here, I know he’s obviously not rich) have to be civil and poor people have to be civil. Business owners have to be professional and customers have to be respectful. Human beings with power and prestige and huge SM followings have to be careful how they deploy all that.

Let’s not normalise kowtowing to people having utterly inappropriate emotional meltdowns in a professional setting, treating customers/students/clients badly, going full Kate Shearer on SM and DM, and turning a mob of rabid fans against a fellow competitor just b/c they can gate keep access to land.

That’s a rather shocking approach to what was a breathtakingly bad handling of an easily sorted situation.

[RedFox5]

But she did? Even paid for the 5th without an argument. Also your post comes off very “but what were they wearing” victim blaming. Even if she had been an absolute twat a professional needs to conduct themselves in a manner that things coming to light does not make them look like someone on a power trip. Also the power dynamic is not he owns the property. It’s that he is one of the most popular equestrians at this point in time turning his rabid fan base on someone. And name dropping them

[trubandloki]

@RedFox5

If there was backstory that would show him in a better light after those messages then why isn’t he sharing them?

Because he is getting reamed for this much of a complaint. Can you imagine what people would do if he said something else bad about this person?

@Bogey2

Suspension? Then welcome back after the suspension? Very weird. I do think they should pay for the 5th horse regardless, if that’s what they signed up for. But I have never heard of anyone posting a suspension from a BUSINESS.

The way I understand it is that the sign at the entry is very clear and says that if you do not pay you are not allowed to come back for a month. Use whatever word you want for that, they chose suspension.

[tiktokontheclock]

Long time lurker, finally made an account because of this thread. As someone who has connections to Courtney, she is well known for being one way face-to-face then being holier-than-thou over text messages so she can play the victim. Yes, there is a reason…many reasons…she can’t keep staff, and we should view that as a reflection of her character. I imagine the in-person confrontation was significantly less friendly than the texts we’re seeing shown here.

My day job is in marketing and PR within the horse industry, and I’ll be the first to admit this was handled remarkably poorly on both sides. It should have never gone public in the first place but I feel it’s also telling that it did. We are missing something in this story.

Boyd’s comment about being up to his eyeballs in debt really reaffirms my choice to quit trying to go pro. I feel that he’s one of the most well known American riders, like, ever: pretty much every discipline knows who he is, while I’d be hard pressed to name a single professional reiner or polo player, for example. If he’s struggling, what does the future of our sport look like…but that’s a bigger conversation.

[RedFox5]

He is not getting reamed. It’s either very well worded hey I think you’re in the wrong or literal praise. To say he is getting reamed. If he’s not in the wrong he can share the messages. But I suspect he’s going to cause that was ugly behavior in those messages he sent

[FitzE]

His rising hysteria makes much more sense if there is bad blood between them. But it still doesn’t excuse his texts and his SM meltdown.

If she behaves as you say, all the more reason for him to have made sure to maintain his own professionalism so as to protect his personal integrity and reputation.

It’s hard not to give into big emotions, especially when you think or even know someone is playing you. But that’s what grown ups and professionals do, all day long, even if the day is a tough one.

[trubandloki]

@RedFox5

He is not getting reamed. It’s either very well worded hey I think you’re in the wrong or literal praise. To say he is getting reamed. If he’s not in the wrong he can share the messages. But I suspect he’s going to cause that was ugly behavior in those messages he sent

And yet everyone (general people everyone, some in this thread, not RedFox specifically) is saying he should not share this stuff on social media, but now you want him to share more stuff on social media.

Maybe consider it a success on a professionalism front that he is not willing to post old text messages that make this person look bad and show that there is a history of her not paying in a timely manner.

[FitzE]

@RedFox5

He is not getting reamed. It’s either very well worded hey I think you’re in the wrong or literal praise.

Yep, that’s what I’m seeing. 90% fawning fandom, 5% maybe she is difficult and he had a bad day, 5% dude, WTH happened here, not cool.

[tiktokontheclock]

I totally agree. I probably wasn’t clear enough in my initial post that I’m not picking sides and I’m sure working for Boyd isn’t a walk in the park either. The text messages he chose to send made him look like a child and he fell right into Courtney’s “trap” of making her look like the solely rational person. Anyone excusing his behavior is also in the wrong.

[trubandloki]

@tiktokontheclock

Anyone excusing his behavior is also in the wrong.

I am not excusing his behavior and I am certainly not a fan girl.
I agree that they were both wrong.

She broke the rules of his facility.
He took to social media to get his point across when he should not have.

But people can not have it both ways.
They can not on one hand be angry that he went to social media and then demand he go back to social media and share more texts to show there is a history here.