Fruddy
Well-Known Member
Before I start, the incident below happened a while back, and I did post it on another forum at the time, but I have been talking to another friend tonight who had a very similar thing happen to her today, when viewing a horse to loan, so I just thought I'd stick up the earlier experience and ask the question - why are people so bloody rude??? Has anyone else experienced this when, very genuinely, viewing a horse to loan?????
*****
I went with a friend of mine this evening, who was replying to an advert for a full loan. One of the stipulations of the loan was that the horse was to be kept on it's present yard, even though it is a full loan. My friend was quite happy with this, as it is a yard near her home with good facilities.
We got there at about 6pm, met the owner and horse. Both seemed very friendly. The horse's owner, (we'll call her Miss A) was very keen for my friend to loan the horse even before she had seen her ride. My friend had given Miss A a lot of background information before she came, her riding and horse care experience etc and what she wanted to do with her horse. Miss A showed us around the yard, which had very good facilities. There were people about but we weren't introduced to anyone, just shown where the tackroom/toilets etc. were.
The horse was tacked up and taken into the outdoor paddock. It was very windy but floodlit. Miss A rode first and obviously had difficulty in controlling the horse, whether it was unsettled by the windy weather or just in high spirits/playing up, we weren't sure, but it bolted twice and she had real trouble in controlling it. My friend is a very experienced rider, she has had her own horse for seven years. Miss A asked her if she would like to get on, which my friend did. Almost immediately, it seemed like every livery on the yard downed tools and came to the gates to watch. I really felt for my friend, as she had never been on the horse before, it was awful weather and the horse had been difficult to control for it's owner. To add to that, she had about eight pairs of strangers eyes watching her every move. She walked the horse around on both reins and then asked for trot on the left rein. She got two massive bucks in response but stayed on and eventually got a half decent trot. On the right rein, the horse spooked at something in the corner and took off at a flat out gallop on a diagonal across the school. My friend lost her stirrup and came flying off near the gate. She was fine though, and caught the horse. I suggested at this point that it might be an idea to maybe come back tomorrow, or when the weather was a little better, at which someone who I'd never met before said that if she was a "decent rider she could manage." I kept my mouth shut, because I was only there for my friend as an observer and in support.
My friend got back on the horse, at which point it bucked, reared, bucked and then spun and reared at the same time and had her on the ground again.
My friend then said that she was still interested, but could she come back tomorrow, it was dark, windy and outdoors, there were trees blowing and the horse was clearly not happy. Miss A (reluctantly, I though) said that she would have a "think about it" as there were other people intersted and that someone was due to come in the morning. My friend pointed out that she hadn't really had a chance to ride the horse properly given the inclement weather conditions and would appreciate a better day to try her out. As soon as she said this, one of the other liveries made a remark about "completely useless and inexperienced novices coming out to try a horse which they couldn't handle and wasting everyone's time." I intervened then and told her that my friend was not a novice, she had her own horse for a long time and was an experienced rider. This woman then told me to "wind my neck in", that I was "as useless as my friend" and we should both "go back to the riding school for a few more lessons!!"
To cut a long story short, I told Miss A that if this was the attitude of the liveries on her yard, it could well be a long time before she found anyone mad enough to loan her horse, given that any potential person had to keep it on the existing yard.
We left, feeling absolutely outraged to be treated in such a manner. I actually feel like making a complaint to the yard owner, I came home boiling but having thought about it, if the yard owner allows people of that kind to stable there, then he or she may well be as bad as them!
Needless to say, my friend is no longer interested in the loan.
*****
I went with a friend of mine this evening, who was replying to an advert for a full loan. One of the stipulations of the loan was that the horse was to be kept on it's present yard, even though it is a full loan. My friend was quite happy with this, as it is a yard near her home with good facilities.
We got there at about 6pm, met the owner and horse. Both seemed very friendly. The horse's owner, (we'll call her Miss A) was very keen for my friend to loan the horse even before she had seen her ride. My friend had given Miss A a lot of background information before she came, her riding and horse care experience etc and what she wanted to do with her horse. Miss A showed us around the yard, which had very good facilities. There were people about but we weren't introduced to anyone, just shown where the tackroom/toilets etc. were.
The horse was tacked up and taken into the outdoor paddock. It was very windy but floodlit. Miss A rode first and obviously had difficulty in controlling the horse, whether it was unsettled by the windy weather or just in high spirits/playing up, we weren't sure, but it bolted twice and she had real trouble in controlling it. My friend is a very experienced rider, she has had her own horse for seven years. Miss A asked her if she would like to get on, which my friend did. Almost immediately, it seemed like every livery on the yard downed tools and came to the gates to watch. I really felt for my friend, as she had never been on the horse before, it was awful weather and the horse had been difficult to control for it's owner. To add to that, she had about eight pairs of strangers eyes watching her every move. She walked the horse around on both reins and then asked for trot on the left rein. She got two massive bucks in response but stayed on and eventually got a half decent trot. On the right rein, the horse spooked at something in the corner and took off at a flat out gallop on a diagonal across the school. My friend lost her stirrup and came flying off near the gate. She was fine though, and caught the horse. I suggested at this point that it might be an idea to maybe come back tomorrow, or when the weather was a little better, at which someone who I'd never met before said that if she was a "decent rider she could manage." I kept my mouth shut, because I was only there for my friend as an observer and in support.
My friend got back on the horse, at which point it bucked, reared, bucked and then spun and reared at the same time and had her on the ground again.
My friend then said that she was still interested, but could she come back tomorrow, it was dark, windy and outdoors, there were trees blowing and the horse was clearly not happy. Miss A (reluctantly, I though) said that she would have a "think about it" as there were other people intersted and that someone was due to come in the morning. My friend pointed out that she hadn't really had a chance to ride the horse properly given the inclement weather conditions and would appreciate a better day to try her out. As soon as she said this, one of the other liveries made a remark about "completely useless and inexperienced novices coming out to try a horse which they couldn't handle and wasting everyone's time." I intervened then and told her that my friend was not a novice, she had her own horse for a long time and was an experienced rider. This woman then told me to "wind my neck in", that I was "as useless as my friend" and we should both "go back to the riding school for a few more lessons!!"
To cut a long story short, I told Miss A that if this was the attitude of the liveries on her yard, it could well be a long time before she found anyone mad enough to loan her horse, given that any potential person had to keep it on the existing yard.
We left, feeling absolutely outraged to be treated in such a manner. I actually feel like making a complaint to the yard owner, I came home boiling but having thought about it, if the yard owner allows people of that kind to stable there, then he or she may well be as bad as them!
Needless to say, my friend is no longer interested in the loan.
