on making the right choice

Sometimes you have to protect people, or animals, you care about knowing that it may come back to bite you. I was put in that type of position last weekend, when during a lesson I was teaching, Dreamer was led out of the barn, put on a trailer, and driven away. I hadn't been told anything about him leaving and since he did not belong to the individual who was caring for him, I called his owners to find out if they had any information. They did not, and they were understandably very upset. You may remember that Dreamer, the same pony I leased for a few years when I was in grade school, had been leased by someone at the barn where I was boarding Lucy. In fact, I had played "pony matchmaker" and connected the two parties. I have known Dreamer's owners for many years and I felt I owed it to them, not to mention the horse who had taught me most of what I know, to make sure he wasn't in any danger. I wasn't trying to tattle on the people who were supposed to be leasing him; the only thought in my head was the horse's safety, especially since the whole situation seemed very shady. The thought that this could affect me in a negative way didn't even cross my mind.

It turns out that the person who was caring for him (as part of a free lease/trial to own) knowingly sold Dreamer when that person did not legally own him herself. He was on a trial, and legal ownership was never signed over. If it had been, the contract would have included a right of first refusal. She, along with the people associated with her, shot themselves in the foot repeatedly, changing their story and lying to the police, who unfortunately had to be involved when she refused to tell Dreamer's owner where she had taken him. It took a few days, but Dreamer was located and contact with the person who bought him was established. Luckily, the people whom Dreamer was sold to have provided him with a suitable home and he will be staying there.

The person who sold Dreamer was upset that she had been caught red-handed and made a big stink about it, and I was given less than 24 hours to leave my barn and move Lucy. I had a place lined up to take her to, and a friend who could trailer her for me, within ten minutes of receiving that phone call. Lucy was moved in less than 8 hours. It's amazing that in a time of need, when someone you consider a friend and whom you have gone out of your way to help turns and does their best to make your life hell, how many people show you their best side. I had so many offers of somewhere to take Lucy, I had three people say they could trailer her for me at the drop of a hat, and the outpouring of support was amazing and just what I needed to get through this without losing it. Not one single person thought I had done the wrong thing; it seems the only person who thinks that is the one who tried to sell a horse she didn't own.

I am aware that the person who sold Dreamer has been trying to figure out where we went, and honestly I have no idea why she'd care. I left the barn when they asked, cleaned out all of my things and left my spaces in better shape than I found them (even gutted my stall for them!), and was nothing but polite and cordial to everyone, even when they were being very hurtful and rude to me. I try to find a silver lining in every situation, no matter how upsetting it is initially, and the best part about this new barn is the awesome trail system that starts right off the back of the property. We will get a lot of trail riding in until the weather warms up enough that I'm motivated to do ring work :)

I am also aware that this person is trying to ruin my reputation. I'm not really worried about it, because they don't have a particularly good reputation themselves (and especially not after this stunt with Dreamer) and anyone with questions about the incident can approach me and I will be more than willing to tell them the story.

There is no need for me to trash this individual or "out" her. Dreamer is safe, Lucy is fine, and life goes on. I was initially very hurt by what happened but I learned a good lesson, and I'd make that phone call to his owners again, even knowing what the outcome would be. Dreamer is a special pony who is dearly loved by myself, his owners, and many other kids whom he has shown the ropes. It would have been SO easy for him to fall through the cracks, and in this day and age when there are so many trailers going up to Canada, horses disappear at the drop of a hat and by the time you figure out what is going on, they're already on someone's plate at a fancy overseas restaurant.

Dreamer and I, about ten years ago

Restructuring

Lucy's had an easy week and I have been a bit quiet because there has been some major drama, which resulted in some large changes at the barn where I keep Lucy. I was given the option to leave with a large group but at the last second chose to stay. Lucy is happy where she is and so am I, and the barn has everything I ever wanted in a barn and is very convenient for me to get to. The future may hold some changes for Lucy and I but for now we will stay put.

The biggest change is that G is no longer around, and I am now trainerless. This sucks because I was really looking forward to having more lessons from her, especially now that the canter is coming along. I guess I need to consider finding a new trainer, which I am not looking forward to...sigh.

Since I was part of the now defunct co-op, I'm having to go out every day and clean her stall, but I kind of like being in charge of everything. I also increased her hay to two flakes in the AM and four at night, with one flake for lunch. Hopefully she'll fill out over the last sets of ribs, towards her hind end, where hay really counts more than grain for weight.

I noticed a hard, small lump on her right front leg, just below the front of the knee in the middle of her leg. It's cold, there's no swelling or heat, and she doesn't react to me poking and prodding so I am going to leave it alone for now. She's completely sound (phew!) and has no problem playing like any normal 3yo in the indoor. I have no idea what this would be...she may have whacked herself on something but there is no tenderness or swelling, so I don't think that's the case. It's not the right place for a splint to be an issue. Any other ideas?

In the coming week I am hoping that things will be much more low-key! Lucy has a chiro appt on Tuesday first thing in the morning. I suspect a lot of the issues that were addressed during her first chiro appt are starting to reappear, especially in the hind end, so hopefully with a second treatment she will be feeling great again.

Along with horse drama, I also found out that my car is completely toast so next week I guess I get to go car shopping...delightful. I really hate car shopping, especially when it's not my idea! Silly car. So this has been a long and very stressful week for me.

Barn Drama

In the middle of the week, I got to the barn to find a whiteboard instructing people to reserve the indoor for any upcoming riding/lessons/truck-ins. There was no explanation as to why all of a sudden we had to do this. I've never boarded at a barn that made boarders reserve the indoor...I figure we're all mature adults who can ride fairly well, and as long as our horses aren't complete nut jobs, we can share the ring. At one point late in the week last week, we had four young TB's ranging from 15.3hh all the way to 17.3hh in the ring at the same time, and no one died! So why did we now have to schedule our time?

Anyway, because of the lack of an explanation, all of us were kind of freaking out over it, and I was supremely annoyed. I went home and ranted to poor Kenny about privileges being taken away and micro-management of things that were going along perfectly fine by themselves.

On Sunday, I had to do stalls and while I was there, someone who knew more about what the sign was for clarified it for me. The reason they put it up was that there are going to be people trucking in from outside with their horses to rent the indoor, but just because they were renting it does not mean that the boarders at the farm can't use it at the same time. Furthermore, the board is really for scheduled lessons, so that everyone's aware of when someone else might be in the ring with them, should they want to come and school their horse.

A lot of the horses at the barn are either retired, laid up with injuries, or their owners don't ride very often. I've arrived at the barn and found it dark and deserted more often than finding someone else there, especially someone who is going to ride. I enjoy riding with other people...this is why I wanted to board at a barn. The horse I rode before I bought Lucy lived with just one other mare in a backyard situation, and I got so lonely sometimes with having no one else to ride with.

There is often a lot of drama in barns. I don't think it's a hunter thing, or a dressage thing, or a western thing. It's a horse thing. So much of it is based on "he said/she said" or poor communication. Next time, before freaking out, I'll just call the source for more information and then base my reaction on what I hear from them!

I did not ride on Sunday, because it was freezing outside and snowing. It took me over four hours just to muck five stalls and do water and grain! It was nuts. After I finished with the chores, though, I did let Lucy out into the outdoor and she trotted around for a few minutes.