We leased a horse from this barn and bought a block of riding lessons in advance. Since we have been there, the owner has started talking to my wife and child in a very abusive manner and they have come home on numerous occasions in tears. Once this lease expires, we will not be back.
Other boarders have told my wife that our child is the nicest girl there and even the owner/trainer's husband comments on how nice she is and how hard she works and I believe this has made the owner/trainer jealous.
When we first started going there, she had a girl working in the stables that fed the horses and cleaned up. The owner decided that the girls that leased or boarded there should do that work. She made it like a competition to do the most work so you could become one of her favorites. I think this gave her a huge ego boost to see all these young girls working their tails off to impress her. It also saved her a lot of money, since she no longer had to hire help.
We didn't pay to lease a horse so our child could be an unpaid stable hand. The owner even tried putting in a rule that if you worked that day, you couldn't ride (unless of course you were one of her favorites). Since we wanted our child to ride rather than work, except for normal duties involved when leasing a horse, we didn't want her on the assigned work schedule. This, of course, made us outsiders and she took every opportunity to berate both my wife and child.
If you are considering boarding your horse or taking riding lessons at this stable, you need to reconsider. Do you and you child need abuse? Are you willing to play all the politics required to become a favorite? Are you willing to become a stable hand so you or your child can impress this owner enough to become a favorite? If so, this is the place for you! If not, you need to find a place where the person running the stable is at least a business person and not a prima donna! Good luck with your decision.
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