So last fall I was asked to get a Kiger Mustang stallion (Brody) ready for the annual stallion parade. The lady who owned him also had another stallion (Fireman) in training with someone else, who she really wasn't overly fond of. She got stuck with the other trainer due already having paid her before she found me and had been fooled by all the "promises" the trainer had made. The owner had to make an appt. to even SEE HER horse, she was NOT allowed to ride him unless she was taking a PAYING lesson with the trainer. Fishy, fishy...
**OK, side note here, if someone won't let me come see my horse w/o an appt. than what in the hell are they doing to my horse that they don't want me to see?!?!?!? F-That...**
So I'm getting the Brody ready and minding my own business and the
owner is often at my barn because well, I LOVE people coming by (for the most part) and she's so distressed about Fireman and she finds out the "trainer" is 24 yrs old and her husband was a big wig in the army and he was around 42 and really controlling and he's the one calling all the shots, and the trainer PROMISED her that she would ride Fireman in the parade, but then her husband said she couldn't (WTF???) blah, blah, blah. Now I'm going to be honest here. I DON'T CARE!! It's not my business, not my horse, not my problem. Oh, but it soon became my problem... So the day comes and I'm down at the Stallion Parade with the owner and all her horses and their "get" and the owner is supposed to ride Fireman into his part of the Parade. Well here's the problem, stupid ass trainer lady never let her ride her horse so she had NO clue how he was going to be and Fireman is a bit highstrung anyway. So I'm like OK, OK, let me take fireman and work out his kinks and get him settled down enough for you to ride him. Well now while I'm getting him ready guess who shows up with an Appy stallion that she's going to be riding in the parade?? Oh yes, little missy prissy pants and her fab husband... Now I really have no personal issue at this time except that she lied and was really weird. It just makes the rest of look bad, that's all. Anyway so I start to lunge F.M. and hmmmm he doesn't lunge, OK, no problem, I'll round pen him, well he doesn't do that either. So forget I'll just get on him I guess. So I do and he is shaking like a leaf. Does NOT know how to rein and the speed he has is "I'm terrified so I'm going to go really fast, or buck." I'm going to go ahead and brush it off as he's scared. No big. So I take him back to the owner and I tell her that I think I have mo
st of the kinks worked out, but honestly I'm NOT OK with her riding him in to the arena and that I'll do it. She sighs this heavy breath of relief, jumps practically into my arms and is repeatedly thanking me as she was way too scared to do it. So I get on him and we head to the arena and I go in and he is a BALL of Dynamite! I kept him as calm as possible, but I could feel the tension in him. He is doing great, responding to me as best as he can, our song is over, we trot to the center of the arena and as I go to dismount the audience is clapping wildly (he was a beautiful horse) F.M. Goes Straight into the air. I hang on and maybe the audience thought I was doing a Zorro, I cranked his nose around and was off him in a flash. I waved and made my leave and then it hit me. That F**king Dumb B**ch would have gotten the owner seriously hurt or killed. Fireman was NOT broke or safe enough for ANYONE other than a GOOD trainer to work with. He was even MORE tense about being worked with and worse off than before she even sent him to training. And the trainer made no mention of any of this to the owner. What was her reaction going to be when the owner busted her skull open?? "Um, *hair twirl* he never did that me?!" Yeah, that's because you NEVER WORKED WITH HIM!!! Now I had an issue. It is OUR damn job as trainers to make these horse as safe as possible for people to ride and we ask a lot of money to do it and this bitch...ohhhhh this bitch...
st of the kinks worked out, but honestly I'm NOT OK with her riding him in to the arena and that I'll do it. She sighs this heavy breath of relief, jumps practically into my arms and is repeatedly thanking me as she was way too scared to do it. So I get on him and we head to the arena and I go in and he is a BALL of Dynamite! I kept him as calm as possible, but I could feel the tension in him. He is doing great, responding to me as best as he can, our song is over, we trot to the center of the arena and as I go to dismount the audience is clapping wildly (he was a beautiful horse) F.M. Goes Straight into the air. I hang on and maybe the audience thought I was doing a Zorro, I cranked his nose around and was off him in a flash. I waved and made my leave and then it hit me. That F**king Dumb B**ch would have gotten the owner seriously hurt or killed. Fireman was NOT broke or safe enough for ANYONE other than a GOOD trainer to work with. He was even MORE tense about being worked with and worse off than before she even sent him to training. And the trainer made no mention of any of this to the owner. What was her reaction going to be when the owner busted her skull open?? "Um, *hair twirl* he never did that me?!" Yeah, that's because you NEVER WORKED WITH HIM!!! Now I had an issue. It is OUR damn job as trainers to make these horse as safe as possible for people to ride and we ask a lot of money to do it and this bitch...ohhhhh this bitch...Now I'm out for blood. The other trainer was in the arena with the Appy stud and when she finished I was right there waiting. I asked her if she'd seen F.M. go and she said "Oh yeah, he looked amazing." Well that's about the time I lost it. I called her ass out in front of everybody. The fact of what an F-ed up trainer she is, she had no morals, no heart, she's a liar and could've gotten someone KILLED! On and On and On. Well the judges of this "parade" are not stupid, they could tell I was having some issues with F.M. while I was in there, so they ended up kicking her out and I made damned sure she refunded ALL the supposed training that she did on F.M. to the owner, and I come to think of it... I haven't heard from her since... no ads, no shows, no nothing. Good, she was a damn waste of flesh anyway. Gossip and news in the horseworld spreads like wildfire which can help you or hurt you...
To begin with, it was never my problem. However, I am FIERCELY loyal to my clients, as they are to me. But, if you choose to use multiple trainers that's fine. I will NEVER discourage the use of another trainer, second opinion, whatever. But I take it immensely personal when you represent yourself as a trainer and then pull shit like that could've seriously hurt someone, see then I'm forced to hurt you...
8 comments:
Wow. You hit one of my pet peeves: trainers who do NO TRAINING. None. What. So. Ever. I have been run into by two different horses at the same show. One, because it was an absolute idiot who must have been like riding a brick, apparently. The second, because it was a three-year-old greenie who had its head tied down with drawreigns so tightly it could barely see and a rider in lalaland. Both horses were in professional training. Hmmm...
Yeah, I know and then it makes people sketchy to use trainers or they try to train their own horses and get hurt, or the horse has no value because it's not trained, On and on and on... *HEADDESK*
Ok, how about a trainer who then sends her own horse to another trainer because she can't train it herself? Yeah, THAT instills confidence, doesn't it?
Oh, but wait! then said trainer makes fun of others who have troubles with their horses.
Oh, but wait! said trainer hasn't been on a horse for years because she can't get her chubby little legs over the saddle.
Ok, just me venting again, but c'mon. If you are being paid to do a job, then do the flippin' job.
You went above and beyond to take FM into that parade. And I repeat, I WISH I had the cajones you have to speak your mind the way you do.
I don't consider myself a trainer but I've started colts from A-Z and I have a sweet herd of colts right now that are at various stages of accomplishment.
I would die from shame if I charged someone to take a horse and do nothing with it. At which point to people lose their sense of integrity???
It slays me.
(Why is it that I come off pissy when I post here? lmao)
I Love your posts don't woory LOLZ!!! I'm very paasionate about what I do and I don't F around, especially when someone could have gotten hurt. I mean what the hell?!?!?!
And then we have owners who dump the horse off and aren't seen again until it's time to pick the horse up. They aren't interested in learning what you've accomplished, nor are they interested in increasing their knowledge in order to successfully communicate with that horse.
Off they go thinking they will have a perfect horse when they get home. Hmmm... what's this? I'm riding the same as I was when he left, so WHY is he still doing the same things he was before I took him to the trainer? And why didn't I win my class at the show I hauled him to when I left the trainers????
"(ring ring)"... Hello? my horse isn't any different than he was before I took him to you! I want my money back!"
Big fat DUH there, wouldn't you say?
:-)
Ohhhh, one of my pet peeves ever. I got a call to ride another trainer's Appy, 16h3" in a hunter class. She was just too busy to show him, so paid me to ride. Never met the horse, other trainer tells me "he's fiiine". What was I not thinking!
The first round, he goes past the entry gate and TRIES TO JUMP OUT! I gotta kick him in the nose to turn him because he has neck like iron,... snot flies, cussing begins. When I ask for a canter he tries to buck, so it's ask, buck, trot, ask buck...I was kicking him so hard with my outside leg that he was grunting! I finally got a cross canter out of the big chunk of meat and called it good,...I was never so glad to see the lineup in my life!
Gets better. The idiot judge tells me "I really like this horse and would like to have placed him, but you need to learn your leads better, and your toes are pointed too far out."
It's called the survival clench you moron! You missed the thundering hooves?!
I did realize that I was a better rider than I thought I was because the judge missed the whole fight, but I could never respect either the trainer or the judge again.
Oh yeah, I've had rides from hell and then get placed. I look around in surprise wondering what the hell everyone else did wrong lol!
But I've also had really nice rides and then someone who travels the entire circle in the wrong lead (not asking for a counter-canter) gets placed.
I often wonder where in the heck judges are looking sometimes.
What part of the country are you in? I like your style, and if/when I ever get back into horses, I'd like to have you on the list of possible trainers.
(knowing my luck, you're in Washington state or something.)
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