some people....... I'm venting again...

starting to come around to what some of you folks are talking about when you complain about horse people.
We don't take in outside mares for breeding usually. If the folks are decent and are ready when our mares are being bred, we'll slip in a couple or three.
Anyway, person showed up at the house about a month ago. We said OK and the fun started. 4 weeks later, she finally shows up with her horse on the day that we were going to email her and tell her to forget it (we try and get the stallion put in the pasture with the gelding by mid July so we can ride them the rest of the season).
She started right in with she would be visiting her baby every day. Told her we didn't have time for that and we'd call her when it was time to pick up the horse. She showed up the next day and helped herself to the place and when we came into town, she was walking her horse up the street. Told her that as long as the horse was in our care, it was to stay on our property. We explained to her that we are not a public riding stable and not insured for strangers on the place.
Today, I was just finished cleaning the mare's paddock and going to pick up a water tank to fill and put on another pasture before going to work and here she comes....

Told her that I didn't have time to stay with her and she'd have to go. She got in her car and left. 2 hours later I had finished and was putting my tractor away and she was walking her horse up the street.

I lost all people skills and blew up. She just happened to be by a small piece that I had fenced off on the edge of town. Told her to put the horse in there and get her trailer and pick her up NLT tomorrow. "It's going to rain tonight". told her she better hurry andleft her talking to herself.
I'm out 30 bucks for 3 days of boarding, but it's worth it.

Done now.

Dave

Dave ,I have what you would call a very short FUSE!!! And you were alot more pleasant than I would have been but one thing is for sure Lesson Learned and better luck next time !!
p.s. go have nice cold drink and relax

Dustin IL

REAL "horse people" aren't like that...the folks who ARE like that think of their horses as oversized puppies or kittens...and probably shouldn't have puppies or kittens, either.

REAL horse people understand horses, and they understand that other people have demands on their time that must be respected. Unfortunatley, over the years I'm seeing MORE horse owners, but fewer actual "horse people."

I have to agree with Buzzman. There are more and more horse owners, but horse people are getting fewer.

I make a point of telling people horses are NOT big dogs. If you think horses are big dogs, just wait until you get stepped on.

Wife and I used to have horses, up to twelve head one year. Then prices went to the bottom. We finally got clear last year by giving away our last two. An incorrigible AQHA mare who couldn't figure out what her foal wanted. The other was an old gray mustang mare from the BLM. Wonderful horse, had several foals, ride anytime.
My wife grew up on horses, I rode a few. But that is where we part. She understands the animal, I don't. I actually grew up on a John Deere G, and it was everything to me; I really miss it. s/n 48259 (1951) The community we came from in Arkansas had some pretty good horse people, and I enjoyed having them for neighbors.

(quoted from post at 16:08:24 08/02/10) REAL "horse people" aren't like that...the folks who ARE like that think of their horses as oversized puppies or kittens...and probably shouldn't have puppies or kittens, either.

REAL horse people understand horses, and they understand that other people have demands on their time that must be respected. Unfortunatley, over the years I'm seeing MORE horse owners, but fewer actual "horse people."

Click to expand...

Guess I should have put it a little different... I just experienced where the negative steriotype can come from.

Dave, I'm not sure why such stigma seems to attach itself with so many people involved with horses, but it's here to stay, like you said, you really have to scrutinize any arrangement made for boarders and or customers, because depending on the horses and the people, very easy for situations to become more than just undesirable.

At our place, we currently have 20, ( last count LOL ) I'm not sure of the excact count of ours and another farm we keep horses for, some of ours have partners as well, but financially, which is most important it works, marginally, but it works and provides some benefit above that. We have 1 summer boarder and just took on another boarder, this provides revenue, to support the place, and it is needed. 2 of the horses from the latest customer, seem a bit fiesty, and present us with more of a risk for our help when dealing with them, hopefully they will adapt to the new place, and calm a bit. We certainly will do our best to help that along. Things change quite a bit when you have customers on the premises, so it is very wise to find a good fit, because less than desirable ones can be more problematic than it is worth, that is the philosophy that I think one must have if you run a stable. By the same token, we will bend backwards for our customers, and it is very important that the care of theirs and our horses is #1 priority. It's not an easy business, but with a careful eye on things at all times, decent help and so on, it makes all the difference. We have done some breeding and I've had a few kooks show up, one brought the mares in a cattle trailer, all banged up, they had lost their mood, total waste of time after a long day.

One thing I am proud of, is that the horses we have are easy to deal with and work around, it kind of spoils you, they all have their traits, but even the stallion is an absolute gem behaviour wise, if things were different in this area, our work would be much more difficult.

Sometimes I wonder why anyone in their right mind would get involved in this business, but it seems to work out for the most part.

Anybody I have talked to about this subject, mostly hay producers definitely have the same view of horse people, err, horse owners. My wife is a horse person.........I am a horse owner. I wouldn't know good hay from bad hay until the horse either eats it or doesn't. She does.........but we know other horse people who definitely don't understand their animals and do treat them like they are big puppies or kittens. That's not what they need.

Dave, if it were me, I would have told her after the first time she disobeyed your wishes that the next time would result in her having to remove her horse. Sounds like you did the right thing and gave her more than enough opportunity to obide by your rules. Some people just don't get it.

Well, the main thing that can be said is that there was a lack of understanding betwen the two of you on what was allowable and what was not. LOL. Beyond that, I wouldn't automatically assume that her behavior was attributable to being a "horse owner" or that the next "horse owner" would act the same. BTW, aren't YOU a "horse owner" too? LOL. I am around people (mostly women) who DO think of their horses as big pets and I shake my head in wonderment at some of the stuff they do. (I got chastised for not COMPLETELY brushing all the dust off my horse's legs when I was going for a trail ride while they'll spend hours grooming them, just to have them go out and roll in the dirt/mud.)

Anyway, sounds like you stood your ground on your terms (good for you).

That $30 is chump money compared to the agrivation that customer was causing and the agrivation was probably the tip of the iceberg.

Be thankful you saw her true colors so quickly.

Dave, idiots are idiots, no matter what they own.
Some have horses...some have cars...some have dawgs...some even have tractors.

I spend a lot of time around horse people...the "horse idiots" usually don't end up staying long around me because I don't let them. Just like in your example- crazies can only stick around for as long as you allow them to.

My biggest problems have been with "customers", not "horsemen".