Yup, I left the barn I'm at now for the one down the hill. The guy who owns this place, who've I've griped about before, has rubbed me the wrong way for the last time. I'm so, SO done with him and his attitude towards my animals and how I want them cared for. So done.
It seems like every time I was at the barn he came flying down in his truck (yeah, it's creepy, let me tell you. I swear he was watching for me) and came to talk to me about one thing or another. There's always some issue: Ernie wasted hay, he doesn't want them in the round pen, I didn't ride his 3 year old, I'm not riding his 3 year old hard enough, blah blah blah. Basically every conversation we had turned into a negotiation or an argument.
I don't negotiate my horse's needs. Anyone who is adamant about their animals receiving proper care wouldn't either. And it's not like what I'm asking for is crazy, insane stuff either: I want a regular feeding schedule, daily turnout for at least 8 hours, grain meals prepped the way they need to be (Ernie gets a grain mush, for example), clean and well-bedded stalls, access to water 24/7, and quality hay. I don't think this is a lot to ask. Apparently it was, according to this old fart.
The hay was fantastic quality hay, they were turned out a lot (although it was in a lot of mud from the culvert running through it, and the fencing was REALLY questionable) and he did feed them regularly. However, I ran into far more hurdles than I should have:
1. He refused to feed my supplements at first; he said they were making Ernie "hot"...uh, yeah, joint supplements and an HERBAL CALMER tend to do that. *insert biggest eyeroll ever*.
2. Once we got over that hurdle, we had it out about bedding: Stella pees like a racehorse, and she likes to lay down a lot. I wanted a nice, padded layer of bedding so that it was comfortable enough to lay on. I DIDN'T want 5 wheelbarrow loads, but that's how he understood it. I also wanted the stalls cleaned thoroughly each day, which means liming the pees spots, cleaning out wet bedding and any old hay. That didn't happen until I about blew up at him, and finally started doing my own stalls.
3. As for the water, the guy underwent knee surgery and apparently couldn't lift any objects over 40 lbs. At one point, he told me he was going to fill the water buckets in their stalls only half way because "they weren't drinking inside and he couldn't lift the buckets." He even told me not to refill them if they did drink. And because Ernie didn't like the auto-waterer outside, I filled a big muck bucket with water. The old man didn't like that, and told me the water "would get hot and gross, and they would never learn to drink from the auto-waterers." He said, "if they get thirsty enough, they'll drink from the automatic waterer." Bullshit, old man.
4. When Stella tore her leg open last week, she was supposed to be on stall rest. I couldn't turn Ernie out by himself, and I sure as hell wasn't sticking him with another horse. So they were to do out in a roundpen in the indoor. That lasted for a day, and then the old man bitched that his "ring smelled like piss" and he didn't want them in there anymore. We argued and agreed to every other day. That didn't even end up happening: the next morning he had the BRILLIANT idea to stick them in the breeding shed, complete with sketchy gates, lots of cobwebs and a lovely phantom mare. Needless to say I was majorly PO'ed when I saw that, and he got chewed out for that one. After that, we agreed to 4 hours a day of turnout in the round pen.
If that list isn't enough for you, the guy was just a total ass about me riding his horse. He had a 3 year old Trakehner gelding he has asked me to work with at the start of June in exchange for board. I agreed. He said he wanted the horse gone, and that he wanted to get as much work on him as possible. The horse was a total nut, had only really been sat on couple times, rode with his head up by your eyeballs, and couldn't steer to save his life. I started with groundwork, lunging, backing, disengaging, head down command, all that good stuff. After a couple weeks of that, the old man got impatient and kept asking me to get on. I said no, he wasn't ready or balanced enough, and he'd be much more valuable if he handled well on the ground than if he'd just been sat on. That didn't fly with the old man. He literally asked me to get on, run the horse around until he got tired, and get off. I said I didn't want to push him or kick the shit out of him. He said that's exactly what he wanted me to do.
Yeah. Needless to say, this guy was a total whackjob. He's a terribly horseman, crappy trainer, and a tireless, irritating old coot to boot. So today, at approximately 2:00 o'clock PM, I went up with my dad, loaded my stuff up in my car, led my two horses down the hill and put them safely in stalls in barn at the bottom of the hill, owned by a different woman who I've boarded with before. All without a word to the old guy. I left him a message saying, rather politely, that I had taken my belongings and moved my horses, that I was not happy with the way myself or my horses were treated, and that if he had any questions, to please call. The guy still owes me about $400 worth of rides on that horse, but I said "f*** it". At this point, I'm just glad I'm outta there.
Ernie is less than excited about the move, Stella seems to be settling OK. It always takes Ernie a couple days to get used to things, so I'm not too worried. They'll go in a round pen together outside tomorrow and eat hay all day in the sun. When Stella gets her staples out next week and is cleared for turnout, they'll go out together on lots and lots of grass. With no mud!
Stella after her first ride!
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