Rollestone

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waterlily

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Hi,
Wondering whether anyone knows what has happened to Rollestone, I went to look at the website and it isn't there any more? I was interested in a couple of their youngsters. Are they still there and the website is just broken or have I missed something?
Thanks
 
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The farm was sold I think, Sarah had to sell quite a lot of her horses unfortunately.

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No that's not what happened... the farm is still up and running, livery and stud as before and with a new yard manager recently. I don't know why the website is down though!
 
We were talking about that on SweetFA recently as we couldn't see the website - keep us posted Laura if you can
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Some prices were reduced as there were a large number of youngsters were building up and a lot sold, but I wouldnt particularly call it a clearout
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We were talking about that on SweetFA recently as we couldn't see the website - keep us posted Laura if you can
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Hi S_V... not much to tell really, that is related to the business or the horses and everything is running as usual! I think there are slightly less mares in foal for this year and whether or not the camera will be up I dont know. I really have no idea about the website!
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waterlily said:
Hi,
Wondering whether anyone knows what has happened to Rollestone, I went to look at the website and it isn't there any more? I was interested in a couple of their youngsters. Are they still there and the website is just broken or have I missed something?
Thanks
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Hiah - The girls and I left the farm a year after Chris and I split up. He is still trying to get it up and running though although as he doesn't like horses he doesn't put quite the heart and soul into the place as I did ! I used to do the website in my own time as I enjoyed the feedback and interaction from other horse lovers - which obviously I don't do now and he is currently working on a simple website I beleive, as he doesn't have the time or inclination to do such an indepth site! The basics will be there though. But that's why the website is down! He's trying to sort the foal cam out I think - which I hope he does as he missed the last 2 births l sat year as I wasn't there and neither were the foal cam watchers as the foal cams were down!
 
BallyshanHorses said:
Did they not have a fairly large clearout sale of horses during the year or am I thinking of something else?


www.ballyshanhorses.webs.com
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Hi - yes He sold a lot of the babies at very reasonable prices before winter to reduce stock. He is as yet undecided whether to keep the breeding going or not. For now he is, as he needs breeding mares to help with planning permission - but he doesn't like horses, and hates foal watch so not a great business combination! Luckily I have kept in touch with the babies' new owners and get to see what they are doing with them which is lovely! I'm a proud grandma of them all! lol
 
I've had the pleasure to work with a number of farms, and I can't tell you how many were owned by people who did not like horses. All of these people have been successful in identifying a niche in the market and creating a business--liking or loving horses had very little to do with their success. Furthermore, it can actually be advantageous to disconnect oneself from the product they are trying to sell and focus strictly on the business side.

I would be cautious of writing anything that could be construed as slanderous about another business, as it could be considered libel.

That said, I suppose hell has no wrath like a woman scorned.
 
LOL--

Firstly, spoken word is "slander", I said "libel"--And yes, posting in a public forum about the operation of another farm in a manner which is unfavouring can be construed as libel. I just said she should be cautious, because she is treading a thin line.

I don't know these two people, but Miss Independance states she broke up with the owner of the other farm and then writes about bad business practices of her ex! Perhaps she isn't scorned, but her posts seem to indicate otherwise...
 
OptimisticBlue said:
LOL--

Firstly, spoken word is "slander", I said "libel"--And yes, posting in a public forum about the operation of another farm in a manner which is unfavouring can be construed as libel. I just said she should be cautious, because she is treading a thin line.

I don't know these two people, but Miss Independance states she broke up with the owner of the other farm and then writes about bad business practices of her ex! Perhaps she isn't scorned, but her posts seem to indicate otherwise...
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I just have to wonder why you care so much.
 
I would assume you do know of the parties involved here as this post has been dragged up from a month ago...

You did mention 'slanderous' youself "I would be cautious of writing anything that could be construed as slanderous about another business, as it could be considered libel"

Rollestone was well loved by many across internet forums and I believe Miss Independence was only giving an answer as to why the website has disappeared and why there is currently little or no sign of the once very popular Rollestone anymore.

I'm sure owners of equine business can make it work extremely well providing of course they have knowledgeable employees and perhaps this is the road Rollestone has gone down unfortunately there is little information from Rollestone themselves so one can only go on the fact that the knowledgeable and passionate person is no longer involved.
 
I would question the motivation of someone who has no affiliation with the yard posting answers to someone's posts.

Many people come to this site, myself included, to try and find suitable livery yards to care for their horses. I'm not here to get dragged in to a quarrel amongst rival farms.

Apologies if I stepped on anyone's toes.
 
Im afraid it was the unneccessary 'scorned woman' comment that arouses suspicion. Miss Independance only stated that she left after herself and Chris split up yet you have assumed that she is a scorned woman unless of course you have inside information...
 
Nope, I don't. Maybe I've just been burned enough to know what a scorned woman sounds like! Haha!

Sorry if I was being presumptuous! I think I hit a nerve!
 
OptimisticBlue said:
I've had the pleasure to work with a number of farms, and I can't tell you how many were owned by people who did not like horses. All of these people have been successful in identifying a niche in the market and creating a business--liking or loving horses had very little to do with their success. Furthermore, it can actually be advantageous to disconnect oneself from the product they are trying to sell and focus strictly on the business side.

I would be cautious of writing anything that could be construed as slanderous about another business, as it could be considered libel.

That said, I suppose hell has no wrath like a woman scorned.
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I have no idea who you are or why you would drag up this post supposedly at 'random' though it is months old, but I assume you are now connected to Rollestone Farm or you wouldn't be bothering to speak out in such a manner

I totally agree that you do not need to like horses to run a successful stud or livery - instead if you have the money you can employ someone else to do that for you. Delegation, pay someone else to handle the yard work, shovel the sh*t and deal with the liveries... And this is exactly what Chris has done which is ideal for him as it frees him up to do what he does enjoy, the building work

The question being asked was about the lack of foal cams and web site - I was merely pointing out that I did these as a hobby in my free time - as he doesn't have the interest in horses that I did he is obviously not spending the same time I did on these things. I posted on the forums regularly as I enjoyed it - he doesn't so why would he do it!

I don't really understand the need for the woman scorned comment... hardly relevant as I said absolutely nothing scathing or untrue, or in fact negative about the place or Chris so hardly the thoughts of a scorned woman!
 
OptimisticBlue said:
LOL--

Firstly, spoken word is "slander", I said "libel"--And yes, posting in a public forum about the operation of another farm in a manner which is unfavouring can be construed as libel. I just said she should be cautious, because she is treading a thin line.

I don't know these two people, but Miss Independance states she broke up with the owner of the other farm and then writes about bad business practices of her ex! Perhaps she isn't scorned, but her posts seem to indicate otherwise...
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I'm not sure which parts of my posts you understood as being "bad business practises"
 
OptimisticBlue said:
I would question the motivation of someone who has no affiliation with the yard posting answers to someone's posts.

Many people come to this site, myself included, to try and find suitable livery yards to care for their horses. I'm not here to get dragged in to a quarrel amongst rival farms.

Apologies if I stepped on anyone's toes.
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What a strange comment - "No affiliation with the yard" .... How odd.
There was me thinking that I was the one who showed the Ardens the farm, after I went to view it with a friend of mine who decided it wasn't for her,
that I was the one who suggested we started breeding,
that I was the one who researched bloodlines and imported several breeding stock over from Europe over the years,
that designed the yard and layout with Chris of the yard,
that battled the council for years to get the school in, that filled the yard with fantastic liveries (most of whom left when I did) and who were wonderfully supportive, helping out at shows, gradings and during my pregnancies
that saw something in Ghost when he was an ugly, gangly weanling when everyone else thought he was a joke,
that built up the breeding program and sold foals to showing and competitive homes as well as well loved family homes,, and that is still in touch with nearly all of their owners now
that built up Rollestone as a nationally recognised name, (we were stopped at Badminton Horse Trials by several people recognising our stud jumpers!)
that had the idea for the foal cams that got Chris and I in H&H and the local press,
that put videos on youtube that were the top viewed animal videos, and that were seen by hundreds of thousands of people,
that built up a website which was so popular it had tens of thousands of individual hits a month foaling , and that caused many weeks of fun and mayhem during long nights of foal watch here on HHO and other forums too,
and all this whilst bringing up our two young children... so yes I would say that your assumption that I am a 'rival farm' and have 'no affiliation' with Rollestone couldn't be more wrong, or of the mares that they are out

Even now I get emailed by people wanting to know about the horses that are for sale as the person he has fielding emails/facebook messages doesn’t reply to them, or if she does, doesn't understand their breeding or colouring, and because even the new website that is starting to evolve makes no mention of any of the foals or horses that are for sale

I show my filly who is 2nd generation Rollestone bred, (and at every show I get asked about her breeding by people who don't know me, and for people who do know of me and the farm, they are always very impressed by the culmination of my breeding program. So sadly for those at Rollestone who would love to be able to say I have nothing to do with place or it's success, I will always be synonymous with the place.

Luckily for Chris he has managed to distance himself from a lot of the negative comments that circulate about the yard now - as he has taken on a managerial role, and leaves the skivvy work to the groom and other helpers, and he just oversees the stud work, which he has an interest in and which he does very well, with a successful pregnancy rate

I wish him every success - and look forward to watching the place carry on where I left off – fingers crossed the blip caused by mine and Stef (our fab groom)'s leaving, and the strangles outbreak last year will hopefully be long forgotten and the place will be able to build up on the solid foundations I put down for many years to come.
 
OptimisticBlue said:
LOL--

Firstly, spoken word is "slander", I said "libel"--And yes, posting in a public forum about the operation of another farm in a manner which is unfavouring can be construed as libel. I just said she should be cautious, because she is treading a thin line.

I don't know these two people, but Miss Independance states she broke up with the owner of the other farm and then writes about bad business practices of her ex! Perhaps she isn't scorned, but her posts seem to indicate otherwise...
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So a new member comes out of nowhere to cast aspersions (and display their ignorance of the laws of defamation).

I DO know Miss Independance - I bought a mare from her before she married Chris, I watched her sterling efforts in building up a successful stud from scratch, and I felt her pain when it all fell apart and she had to part with much loved horses and make a new life with her children!! Your comments are out of line, inaccurate and highly offensive to those of us who DO know rather more about an unhappy situation than you do!!

Miss Independance has maintained her dignity throughout and has never done ANYTHING to harm the reputation of the stud - or its owner (who is, after all, the father of her children!) Perhaps you should butt out and go and boil your head!!
 
As the manager here at Rollestone Farm I would just like to say that new website is being developed, and as it has only just been started it is not packed with information as yet. I believe there are still problems with the domain / server folks, which is why it had to be started again. It has been prematurely accessible via facebook as Chris enthusiastically started to write it and when my time allows I will continue to amend and improve it!
This comes after the daily care of 60+ horses which is priority to me and secondly my very patient partner who doesn't want me to sit on the computer every night! So my apologies for the lack of information I am new to the whole forum thing too.

As far as the previous posts go, I will not get involved as much as i disagree with some of your comments, it must be said tho that on here it is a one sided view.
No one can take away what you and Chris both built up, but I'll just ask please stop the contributions to forums and facebook regarding the business.
Thanks Izzy







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Sparclay it is not your place to ask anything at all from Miss Independance, Seeing as she was a key player in building the place from scratch and it would not be what it is without her, nor has she said anything to tarnish the reputation of place.
 
For my two pence worth I came to Rollestone as a livery at the end of last year, so I missed all the legacy stuff. My horses have had top class care and I think it is a great yard with individual attention given to the horses despite being busy. Mine are on stud livery so I'm not there all the time but I am given frequent updates on how they are doing and I'm also actively encouraging them/helping with the new website.
 
I personally think sparclay more would be achieved from keeping stum, nothing misindependance has said would put me off rollestone were it to be to buy a youngster ( and they certainly have qulity horses ) or investigate as a potential livery there, or send a mare to stud.

Your reply on the other hand would provide that hesitation it leaves me cold.
 
sparclay said:
As far as the previous posts go, I will not get involved as much as i disagree with some of your comments, it must be said tho that on here it is a one sided view.
No one can take away what you and Chris both built up, but I'll just ask please stop the contributions to forums and facebook regarding the business.
Thanks Izzy
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Cheeky cow! Who on EARTH are you to try laying down the law about what ANYONE contributes to forums or facebook regarding Rollestone - as long as it is not defamatory. And the only person who has had a defamatory remark aimed at her on this thread is Miss Independance!!

So I'd respectfully suggest that you desist from creating a poor impression of Rollestone management with posts like that - and instead devote some time and effort to proof-reading the new website and correcting the grammatical and spelling errors it contains - they DO make the site look amateurish! :rolleyes:
 
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