Monday, September 7, 2009

I'm taking care of another horse.

There's this mare named Reba and she never gets any attention. The reason is because she's owned by a non-horse person and she only keeps her for sentimental reasons. You see, Reba used to belong to her owner's daughter, but the daughter died. So now she's just living there and the worst part is, Cynthia somehow got permission to ride her whenever she wants.

This has been going on for a long time. Cynthia rides the poor twenty-something horse into the ground and then tosses her back in her stall or paddock without so much as a pat on the neck. That's how she treats all the horses she rides. So the other day, Stank Bitch had a bunch of kids riding Reba. Then she tossed her in her stall when they were done, sweaty saddle mark and all. Didn't bother to rub her down or anything. That's what you do with toys, right? Just beat them up and toss them back on the shelf.

So I took her and hosed her down, then conditioned her mane and tail and Show Sheened her. She was in desperate need of some pampering. And I did it right in front of Cynthia and everyone else at the barn. AM I GETTING MY POINT ACROSS? Does anyone ever see Cynthia even groom the horse? Hell no. Wendy came over and commented on how skinny she is (she's about 75 pounds underweight). And Cynthia suddenly starts saying that she watches her weight so closely and she gains all the weight back when her teeth are floated and she's so concerned about the horse. Bullshit. Reba's been a skeleton for a long time. She could pack on the weight if she was fed enough, AND if Cynthia kept her ass off of her. FYI, the photo was taken several years ago before Cynthia came. She doesn't look like that anymore.

So she KNOWS the horse is skinny but she continues to ride her the way she does? She has a horse that she can ride for free whenever she wants and she completely neglects her. It's no wonder she looks like shit. And Reba's not the only one. There are several horses out there that look pathetic. Reba also isn't the first horse in Cynthia's care that was underweight. Her original pony, Sarah, was way too skinny. Cynthia claimed they were doing everything in their power to help her gain weight. She said they just couldn't get her to eat. That's because they fed her cattle hay that resembled straw. No fucking wonder she didn't eat.

However, you know that they "sold" Sarah and got Jack instead. Sarah's new owner has this brand new barn and she's treated like a queen. She gained all the weight back within a couple months of getting proper nutrition. I'm happy for Sarah, but Jack is the next victim. That pony isn't gonna last long. I see early onset arthritis in his future. Both Cynthia and her husband ride him. They practically need roller skates so their feet don't drag on the ground. That poor pony is an absolute SAINT. Lord have mercy on him.

Her husband said something the other day that pissed me off. He's not a horse person, and he values horses even less than his dipshit wife. He said he wants a mustang because they're so low maintenance and rarely ever need farrier work. Which means God forbid if they ever DID get a mustang, he or she would be severely neglected. It scares the shit out of me when I hear people say ignorant things like that. The BO actually agreed with him, not surprising. But still. I bit my tongue because they wouldn't have listened to me anyway. No one ever does.

But back to the fact that several horses there look terrible. The BO just doesn't see it. She thinks there's nothing wrong with any of them. Her barn is going to get one hell of a bad reputation. Visitors come through that barn and wonder what the hell's going on and why the BO isn't addressing the issues. It's because she's blind and she doesn't have the balls to confront anybody and straighten them out. The woman can't run a stable. Period.

Our horses make her barn look good. And by "our" I mean mine, Wendy and Eddie's, and Lorena's. If we left, the only ones that would be left are the scraggly, malnourished ones. And the only people would be the clueless ones. If we left, her barn would fall apart. There would be no clean, healthy horses and knowledgeable people to make the place look good. I think if one of us left, all of us would follow, too.

There is one place that's about half an hour away, and I think it's $275 a month for full board. That includes a stall, daily turnout, hay, grain, shavings, stall cleaning and farrier. And it's owned by one of my parents' friends. He supposedly keeps everything immaculate and he actually feeds his horses. But it's thirty minutes away. That adds up to a lot of gas money and I might not see my horses as often as I do now. They're ten minutes away right now, and the idea of them being so far away is a bit unsettling. I'm probably just being paranoid again.

Nevertheless, I really really really want to move. If we go there, I won't have to worry about my guys not being taken care of. Plus we wouldn't have to supply our own grain and shaving and hay anymore. So I don't think it would be that much more expensive. And we wouldn't have to put up with the morons. The owner doesn't sound like the kind of person that would tolerate morons.

Lorena, Cristy, and maybe Wendy and Eddie would come with us. So our current BO would lose over half her boarders. Maybe that would be a wake up call.

I want to get out of there so bad I can't tell you. It's just a matter of talking my parents into it. They still want to try to make things work out there. I've given up and I consider that place a lost cause. But whatever. If things miraculously get better, I've been wrong before. That would be great if Cynthia and Mike left. But that's probably not going to happen because the BO loves them. Hence being a lost cause.

1 comment:

  1. This Cynthia needs a few good bitch slaps, these stories of her make me want to do it myself. Oh he wants a mustang because they rarely need hoofcare? wtf? seriously. Thats by far the dumbest excuse to get a horse, let alone, a mustang. Oh i do hope you leave, you'll be much happier away from these people.

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