Not so good morning

My mom was gone last night so I left the horses outside all night long. Mom usuallt does not approve but what she doesn't know won't kill her!!!!!!!!

I will explain the story before I start the story....

I have a boarder horse - a 1 1/2 year old Paint filly. She is a nice horse but with lack of consistant work she lacks in the brain department and has bad manners. She pins her ears, tries to kick, tries to push people around (other than me since her buttercup has met the pitch fork with me). Her owner who is I'm guessing, 21/22 years old and pregnant with her second child. 4 months along if I might add. When she does come work with the filly it seems like it goes no where. As soon as she goes to buck she quits working her or stops her.It is SO frustrating to watch someone who does not have the knowledge own a baby... AHHH. This horse has been nothing but a nightmare since last fall. She has broken a wooden fence, broke the auto waterer right off the wall of the stall, kicks the stall walls, poops 6 times in its stall at night, pees like no other, has RAN THROUGH 5 electric fences and has chewed the ground pole where we have the electric fence grounded...

This morning I had enough. My mom has gone away to help my grandmother move from a house to an apartment. I was left here last night and my boyfriend stayed with me. I hayed the horses around 11 pm and they were all fine and happy. They were confused and didn't understand why they were still outside but happy none the less. It rained last night but I wasn't too concerned since they have their lean to to stand under.

I heard this banging and knocking at the door and someone saying "hello???" and continuing to knock on the glass door downstairs. Chris got up and I looked outside and it was a Loomers Sewage Truck... how very odd. He said he seen a brown horse 'walking' down the road loose. AH ZIPPY! That jerk! Panic over ran my body and I lept up and ripped on a pair of jeans and trucked it outside. Chris was already out there... Of course the sewage guy deals with too much poop because Pasha is not brown she is black and white and she was not walking down the road but trashed the front of my barn...

Because the horses probably had no hay they were pushing up against the white gate (a little too hard) into the barn and broke it and Pasha stormed through the aisle and out the garage door and into the drive way where she continued to knock over my bran, flax and Callie's feed bins. Everything was everywhere. All feed that was dipped out gone and the feed containers empty. Let me just say she did not get breakfast this morning.

Me and my mom were going to tell the boardee that she would have to find a new place for her filly. Not just because she is destructive to our home but also because since I've been sick, it is hard to look after 3 horses and this girl rarely comes out to help. We gave her a deal of $180/month for board and that was for her to come help us out. She is getting pretty much the full meal deal for that price. We get up, grain and hay horse, clean her stall, water it and do it all and she barely comes out to lift a fork. We were going to up her board but then I got sick and it never happened.

Me and my mom haven't had the heart to tell this girl that she needs a new place for her horse.... BUT this morning drew the line. I was angry enough that I did finally tell her she needs to relocate. I cannot have an unsafe/untrained horse at my house with my mom with M.S. and me still recovering it is way too much. I figured once the fall comes and I end up taking Callie/Zip out to be boarded we will take on another boarder. By then I'll be better enough.

yOU HAVE TO THINK OF YOURSELF FIRST...............If you feel its way too much work and stress........get her out.....you need to keep your strength for your own self and horses...............hope she didnt destroy too much.

that was quite a morning..There seems to never be a dull moment moment at your barn..:)
just watch the mare closely because if she ate all that stuff, she could get really sick....I heard of horses eating themselfs to death..

Ohhh dear !!! yup i would get rid of her !!!!! hope you did not wear yourself out clearing up !!!!

If one of my horses did all those things I would be pissed. If someone else's horse did that, I'd be LIVID Sounds like the filly is way to much of a liability issue. I'd be afraid she would break out and your horses would get loose on the road, and possibly get hurt or hurt someone.

And you're correct, for $180/month she needs to be helping out. I paid that back in 1996 and I had to feed and muck for my horse plus 3 of the BO's....everyday. I think you are doing the right thing and asking her to leave. You've put up with much more than most people would have.

oh ya.. she's a fire ball that's for sure.. very pretty filly.. however she is not your responsiblity to make her mind.. owner should be there everyday working with her.. that's what babies need.. Too much for you girl .. good to ask her to move on..

Thanks guys, I really didn't know if I was doing the right thing. I felt terrible and it was taking me a long time to finally say it is time to move on. BUT after this morning I didn't feel so bad.

It is a huge liability and we aren't that experienced with boarding and we never got her to sign anything for insurance purposed. The next boarder we have will be signing a form stating responsibilities and insurance etc. And of course the board will be more. We aren't making any money like we are supposed to and they seem to be eatting a lot of hay lately. Piggies.

She is a nice filly Wissy and she should be worked with everyday. She is a horse that needs that consistant work and can't be left to stand.

Never a dull moment Bay-Lee And JJ I am starting to think about myself, i have learned the hard way to do so because i ended up sick and in the hospital :(

I knowwwwwwwww it's dissapointing....unfortunatly having boarders like everything else has it's downsides...I also have a colt here that I'm raising since birth because it's owner is unable too ..at the moment she works 7 days a weeks but off for the winter and I knew this from the start...I refuse to let the colt go wild or misbehave so I work with him, groom him and take care of whatever his needs are for $100 and even trim his feet..I know I know it's not our responsibility to do this..obviously I don't do it for the money but for the horse..I have another that I don't even have to look at because it's owner takes such good care of him but if there not worked who suffers in the end ..the "horse" AND "us" barn owners when the horse becomes distructive and in your case dangerous to be around ..their first few years of life sooooo affects their entire future..like the horses we learn lessons along the way and I'm sure you'll think about it before getting another boarder ..I know I sure will..

Quote :

.I have another that I don't even have to look at because it's owner takes such good care of him

aahhhh, and that would be me..:)..well it helps to have the bestest barn owner in the world..


Has a boarder, I would never put the BO, their horses or mine in danger by not working and caring for my horse..




DesignedByDiesel, you have to do whats best for you, thats it...Im sure there is another boarder out their that would be more compatible with you..I was blessed when I found my current barn, I did not know the owner, we had seen each other once before, and I could not have found a better place for Bay-lee, so,I'm sure your boarder is out there somewhere..

I do have someone else in line but we aren't going to be boarding until this fall when I take one horse to a facility with an indoor arena. That won't be until November so I have a few more months to recover.

I plan on returning to work this September and even so, the two horses instead of three is going to help big time. Finding out about the Crohns Disease and still trying to gain back the energy I used to have is hard with 3 horses. I have complete trust in my two and none in this one!

I don't blame you for giving this person the boot, you've put up with a lot more than I would with the boarder. As others have said, you need to put yourself first, if this mare is not worth her salt to have around and is becoming dangerous, destructive and stressing you and your family out, then the solution to send her and her owner packing should not be given a second thought. I also hope the mare doesn't colic or something with all the grain she ate, it can happen so easily.

Pasha made it through the day no problem. She sprawled out in the sun first thing after we organized everything but i kept an eye on her. Her owner was out today while I was gone out for lunch.

The boarder texted me and wants to move Pasha NEXT WEEK during Lawrencetown Exhibition... While I have one horse gone... I simply told her that the board was paid up till the end of the month and I never told her she had to move the horse right away. I think she is doing this on purpose...

c'ya.. I'd be saying.. take your other horse to stay at the saddle club while your gone.. or someone else you know and trust..
sooner she's out of there the better.. ok.. don't stress it's not good for you right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is hard to deal with horses that are not work often. One thing I have learn is before boarding check with your insurance company. My insurance company will not let me board any horses. They also will not let us take out a separate rider. No boarding horses period! My horses are insurance if they get out or hurt someone but I can not board others. Unfortunately becouse of are wood furnce all the other insurance companys charge three times what we are paying. So until we put in a new furnce we are out of luck. I think you are wise for giving her notice. Having a horse in your barn should be a joy and something to look forward to.

It sure sounds like the filly upsets the harmony in your stable......I think you have grounds to ask her to move. Given the difficult time with your health, you don't need the added stress or extra work. You have to think about what is going to be best for you.

I pay an extra $12/month per boarder for insurance, just in case. My personal horses are covered on my farm policy but we need to pay extra for boarders. Plus, boarders are required to carry their own insurance. I would never let a horse stay here without adequate insurance, you just never know when something will happen.

I think you'll find it much easier with two horses. We recently cut back to 4 and it makes things a lot less stressful. Of all the horses I've boarded the owners barely ever came out to see the horse, so it seems to be the norm. This takes away from time I can spend with my own horses because I feel bad for the boarded horse for not getting any 1 on 1 attention and feel obligated to give it love. I can understand why your boarder would stop working with the filly when she becomes dangerous if she's 4 months pregnant though.

Wow, Pasha is a real brat it seems! I feel really bad over that, but I guess you can't blame the horse though if they aren't taught any better and it certainly isn't your place to do that. We have boarding contracts that we make our boarders sign and they MUST carry their own liability insurance and provide us with a copy of it.
We also have farm liability insurance to cover us just in case but it can be quite expensive!

Just saw this; that sucks, DbyD. It is SO hard to tell people things that you know they will be upset about, but it sometimes has to be done, for the greater longterm good.


Feel free to ask the Saddle Club to borrow Rudy for the week; he knows your place well, and is not a bad boy at all.

Time for her to move on. I won't tolerate any boarders that are badly behaved because we have kids on the property, and their safety is my #1 issue. With your recent health issues I think it'd be a good move for you not to take on ANY boarders until you get your strength back. Starting work again in Sept is going to be really hard on the old (or young) bod, so maybe it'd be a good move not to keep any critters at home. Board them both out if you can until you know that you're strong enough to keep up with the workload. We have horses for ENJOYMENT, and if it's causing you stress then it isn't worth it.

The boarding deal that you are giving this person is an absolute STEAL! Board around here runs from $350 (plus GST) up to $600. I wouldn't even be able to keep a friggin' pony for $180/month. UGH!

Wanda - Pasha sure has become quite the handful. I know I can't really blame it all on her because she isn't being properly worked with. I'm not really sure it was the best choice of ______ to even purchase such a challenge when she has a child that isn't even 3 yet let alone look after herself and the one pony she does have. She's just run through enough fences that I have just had enough. I hate that it has to go this way but she is going out to Skip's now where board is $100/month and she has to go out and feed, turn out etc on her own. I don't know who she'll manage that considering she NEVER comes here it seems and I'm way closer than Aylesford!

Tammy - I can handle the two horses being home. Maybe I tolerate it because they are my own, My mommy helps me too. She usually does one stall and i do the two mares. It is funny what one more can add, it may seem like a small but but I guess after being so sick it does seem like 10 times more work with one extra horse. My two are just so calm and easy going compared to that little brat. I don't want to have to 'watch my back' every time i go into my pasture! I want to watch my back for those sweet love kisses callie gives me or those giant nose buts i get from Zip NOT being plastered into the ground like what happened last winter when I got trampled from behind.... Becca did tell me board around here is way cheaper than what it is in Nfld! you guys have retarded prices.

I have learned my lesson. I will have my next boarder have insurance, UTD on vaccines/worming etc. I know it does seem strict but my horses go in and out of my barn all the time to high traffic horse areas like show grounds and other barns. I cannot have sick ponies! Nor a lawsuite at that. There will be a waiver signed that is FOR SURE.

On a good note, I did find out through someone else not even the boarder she plans on moving her at the end of Exhibition which isn't so bad because Callie will be back home.