Epona Stars - The New Religion!

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MrsB

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Hi Guys!

I've done it - I've started Epona Stars on Face book - it's looking a bit bare, so please feel free to add to it, suggest people in your area who can help others wherever they need it! Post pictures, advice or anything lovely, fluffy and horse related!

Yay! Let's get this show on the road! :D:D
 
I can't find it - can you post a link please MrsB? I have been following you and Boris - hugs to you and carrots and kisses to him xx
 
MrsB if I understood the cult that is Facebook I would surely do so but as I don't I will have to give pointers from the here or as it now must be know the great mystical HHO font of all knowledge and mystical power.
 
MrsB said:
Hi Guys!

I've done it - I've started Epona Stars on Face book - it's looking a bit bare, so please feel free to add to it, suggest people in your area who can help others wherever they need it! Post pictures, advice or anything lovely, fluffy and horse related!

Yay! Let's get this show on the road! :D:D
Click to expand...

What is Epona stars???:confused:
 
Fii said:
What is Epona stars???:confused:
Click to expand...

Well. I appear to have started a new religion tonight it's named after Epona the Celtic goddess of horses and it now has its own Facebook page ( FB confuses me ) that MrsB started .
We are outlining a few rules ( look back on the the thread where MrsB tells the awful tale of her purchase of Boris titled I think I have been had.) please feel free to add any you think .
my favourite is that it's our religious tradition to wear smelly breeches and body warmers so we must be able to do so at all times .
 
Woo-hoo!

Got quite a few likes now, feel free to post whatever you like on Epona Stars, stories, news, pics, things you'd like to sell, horror stories, lovely stories etc.

It'd also be nice to share/swap info too, if you'd like to sell/loan a horse maybe etc.

Best thing of all is it's free ;)
 
I recently visited the Facebook page you have running Epona.
I was a little saddened and confused, because whilst It seems the intention of the page is to protect and serve, I was disappointed to find that there was an awful lot of derogatory bitching amongst members and admin seemed to take sides. I would like to see a group like this be balanced and careful with it's approach to remain unbiassed and on neutral ground. A factual place where reports and media will be interested to go with future growth and development.
Look at the FB page for
'Responsible Equine Breeding Programs'
Think bigger guys as the concept is a keeper
 
I'm sorry you feel saddened by Epona. I can assure you that was NEVER the intention. Having posted a perfectly legal and permittable question in the eyes of the law (we have these things checked by the police, given what else is also on the page), a few people responded with their experiences. What then happened was a few people (dealers) took it upon themselves to take things to a whole new level, and then accused Epona of a witch hunt which was wholly untrue.

As has been said on many posts and notes, if a dealer is honest and open, then their conscience is clear. We also stated that:

"People contact Epona Stars with their stories if they feel they have been unfairly treated. We get dealers/traders and buyers alike* contacting us with their stories. However, if you are a dealer/trader and have ignored your clients messages etc. then you may well find that they come to us and we will post up questions asking if anyone else has had bought from the same place before. We and others are fully entitled to ask such questions, it is not slander or libel to ask if anyone else has had has experiences with a company. Just as people will post positive comments, you may also receive negative comments also." *Yes, we have dealers also contacting us saying when they have problematic clients, so it goes both ways!!!

The person (who shall remain nameless) then went on a tirade (using the same name but a different profile as I had removed them from the site, so being deceptive), promoting their own business, posting multiple times about how rubbish we were and how fabulous they were making themselves look very silly and childish. Lets not forget that people had contacted Epona with issues about this person in the first place and we merely posted the question of "Has anyone had any experience when buying from this/these person/people?". Nothing slanderous or libellous about that as we have had this checked by the Police who are dealing with another case with regard to some other dealers.

And when accused of being 'hateful and spiteful' (which is, we could say slanderous and libellous to us, but they chose to ignore that) we replied with

"We are not hateful people, we are not running a vendetta, all we do is offer a forum for people who have had negative experiences of bad horse dealers to share them. We offer them support in how to deal with the situation and to publicise the problem so anyone looking to purchase a horse knows who to avoid. Any dealer who is straight forward and honest has nothing to fear from this page. Epona Stars now has many fans of the page, involves itself in horse rescue and contributes to Horse Charities so no we are not hateful people at all merely caring ones not only for the horses but also for the owners who genuinely care for them. I think you have made yourself look a bit silly for posting that there is a vendettta against all dealers....there is not as long as they are straight and honest ones"

This said person then took it upon themselves to report me, very unfairly to FB because of what their customers said about them (not Epona personally). I did some research into this person and found that they had a criminal record for handling stolen goods and when I approached them about it, they got quite aggressive and said it was all lies (despite being found guilty in a court of law).

Epona Stars has remained professional throughout this entire circus that this person has created, and this person also remained professional until yesterday afternoon. It saddens me that that some dealers feel it dishonest to sell horses that are not suitable for sale, people are ending up in hospital as a result and you are not able to alert others to this. I myself had a very nasty fall from my horse (who was mis-sold to me by a dealer) and fortunately, I had a soft landing in the school. Had this of being out on the road, I would definately have been hospitalised and possibly nursing a broken neck as I fell on my shoulder and head.

ES Admin did not take sides during the original debate on Monday evening and things happened very quickly, but action had to be taken against the said person yesterday because they were abusing our page to promote themselves, as outlined above. The people who said they were affected by this other person were getting increasingly frustrated and we had to step in and remove it before anything was said that might later be regretted. We let everyone have their say and we are guided by our followers and fans (of which there are nearly 700) and if we get a large amount of messages saying that they have been affected by someone in particular, then we will ask the question and as stated above, there is nothing wrong with asking if anyone has had any experiences, good or bad.

And as for your comment "I would like to see a group like this be balanced and careful with it's approach to remain unbiassed and on neutral ground" yes us too obviously - we just alert our followers and fans if a name constantly crops up and I can assure you that Epona Stars acts within the law at all times, something I wish that some people would attempt to understand and abide by.

Thanks for your message.
 
corton said:
I recently visited the Facebook page you have running Epona.
I was a little saddened and confused, because whilst It seems the intention of the page is to protect and serve, I was disappointed to find that there was an awful lot of derogatory bitching amongst members and admin seemed to take sides. I would like to see a group like this be balanced and careful with it's approach to remain unbiassed and on neutral ground. A factual place where reports and media will be interested to go with future growth and development.
Look at the FB page for
'Responsible Equine Breeding Programs'
Think bigger guys as the concept is a keeper
Click to expand...

If you don't like what goes on on ES don't go there .
While I don't often visit the page I did follow the the story of MrsB and poor Boris from the start.
The ES does start to help buyers have Power to tell their story's to others bad dealers need to fear its a place where you can tell your story good dealers have little to fear, but yes while I accept not all buyers accept their shortcomings in the buying progress what happened to MrsB was probally legally a fraud .
I hope the dealer and vet involved end up in court it's what they deserve it would be a small piece of justice for MrsB (the whole experiance must have cost a fortune) and Boris badly damaged and powerless and just so lucky poor MrsB bought him.
We need to develop a buying check list for the less experianced to help people though the progress .
Not all dealers are dishonest but some are totally unscrupulous and not every sale even if the dealer is completly staight will be without problems that's just horses and the people who buy them ,so many variables.
 
Thanks for your support Goldenstar :) I have just noticed that Epona was accused of sending a threatening message to the person in question - this is complete nonsense. In messages between Epona and this person, we asked the person concerned if a newspaper article related to them, we received the following comment and our reply is also listed:

"Yes this is me a d if you look it is 4 yr ago. I handled stolen goods I never stole anything. It's old news why are you bringing this up. Do I no you. I find this whole thing spitfull there is no need for it

Yesterday
Epona Stars

It's not spiteful, I googled your name. I'm sorry, but I don't feel it's appropriate for our page. Thanks."

I did not wish to go down this route, but as we are being unjustly brought into disrepute, I feel it is necessary to bring this to light. This is not a threatening message in the slightest, it is concise and professional throughout.

We will be compling a "Buyers Guide to Horses" which will also be very helpful to the dealers/traders in making buyers aware of what they should/should not be doing when looking to purchase, thus saving the dealers/traders time and money by avoiding people who are just looking for a free ride. However, as in such a trade you will always have those who are looking for exactly that, part and prarcel of the job :rolleyes:

Again, I would like to clarify Epona's position, we have been professional throughout this whole situation and will remain so.

Thanks for everyone's continued support, it is much appreciated. :)
 
The person you are talking about was charged for handling stolen goods, and she thinks that makes it ok that she didn't steal them !!! Her name has been bounded around as a person to never deal with . I haven't and hope and pray I never come across a horse that's been delt with by her. I'm not even local to her and have heard some horror stories including one where she stole someone's horse in broad daylight.

You would only have to put her initials and area and I would guess most regular HHO users would know of her.

You doing a good job ES keep at it :D
 
I'm glad that theres someone took the initiative to name and shame bad dealers. I posted on here just asking for pm's about someone as they had a potential horse i wanted to view and got an infraction! Its a shame that all the bad dealers can hide behind the fact they can't get talked about on forums, if we all could then maybe it would save so many people from getting stung (or worse, injured!)
 
HHO do get a bit gung-ho with the infractions/banning and are quite militant, probably because of the dealers advertising, however hide behind the excuse that you can't post any names etc and the legalities of it :rolleyes:

I have had the News Editor of HHO contact me about the work of Epona and spoke to her at length about what we do, she said she would love to know more and to keep her informed!!! :eek: Well stop banning me then!!!

And there are plenty of people who have been injured (me for one) and hospitalised as a result of buying a horse that wasn't as advertised...
 
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