Don't you just hate barn politics/soap operas?

My lesson barn has a strict rule... any people found gossiping are given a warning. If it continues, they are immediately kicked out for 4-6 months, after that period of time, they are allowed back in, although none have ever come back. A few lesson kids have been kicked out, as far as I know no boarders have ever been kicked out, however a few leave because of the ridiculous boarding charge ($750 per month)

At my personal barn, no problems :3 Just me.

At my trainer's barn, just me and her, no problems :) I am her only student.

When we go to shows, since NASMA (North American Saddle Mule Ossc.) is a small organization, where everybody knows everybody, all heck breaks loose.

And it's always this one person ...

There always is that one person isn't there? I'm pretty sure that if the one person at my barn left there wouldn't be any issues, but I've got my fingers crossed because the BO is really mad at her right now and supposedly she's going to tell her enough is enough. I hope so and I hope that ends most of the drama because I'm having trouble finding a different barn that's close enough.

Wow, I must have lucked out. I love my barn. I think they have about 6 other boarders (I think), but only two of them come out on a regular basis. One is an older lady who has a lot of years of horse experience. She likes to ride out in the field so we rarely cross paths unless we're tacking up or getting ready to leave. The other is a younger girl I think she's in jr high or high school. I didn't see much of her during the fall and winter but now that school's out I've seen her around in the evenings a few times but her parent's usually pick her up shortly after I get there. All in all I've usually got the barn to myself. Which is nice, but I do kind of wish we had more of a community. It'd be nice to have someone to ride with every now and then.

But on the other hand I know how bad the drama can be. We had plenty to go around while I was on the equestrian team in college. LOL I could tell you some pretty entertaining stories about some of the things that where done/said. It got so bad our coach had to sit us down and tell us to cut it out or he was going to start kicking people off the team. I tried my best to stay neutral and get along with everyone, so I got to hear people from both sides rant and rave about the other. Yeesh

I have a theory that any time you get a group of people together you're going to have personalities clash. It's just human nature... especially if everyone in the group is female lol

It takes more than one person to cause Drama, You can have a Drama Queen, but if you Ignore it, and don't feed the Drama , it should go away.
Walk away from the instigator. This is a hard to do . The barn owner and manager should be informed, which I have done in the past. I boarded 4 horses and one person was always in my business, told the owner to do something or I was moving. I also told that person to stay away from me, my family and my animals.

My horses are in my backyard, so there isn't much drama. My mom and I do bicker about horse stuff all the time, but nothing comparable to the barn we boarded at before. It used to be WW3 every other week there.

There are pros and cons about having them here. Nobody steals our stuff, uses our horses, takes our feed, not nearly as much drama. We save a lot on board too. But I don't have anybody to ride with because with the people in my neighborhood, I would either be babysitting or riding with people who beat or starve their horses(which would probably end up creating drama). I also don't have a 200ft x 150ft sand arena, or miles of trails, or a trainer to help me/my horse.

All in all, I do like boarding with other people because of the different opinions and techniques that everyone brings to the table. No, not all of them are good or "the right way" but I have learned so much from being around others. Also, riding by yourself is fine but I miss being able to ride with others who were competent enough to handle themselves/their horses so I don't have to babysit someone the whole ride.

As an "older" boarder in a barn of younger riders, I'm left out of any drama going on. I hear about it from one of the girls I like to chat with, but I don't really witness it. As long as my horse and my belongings are left alone, I could care less what drama is happening around me.

Fortunately, I am the only lesson person at my barn. My RI is also a trainer, and most of his clients have him come to them. Eventually I will be leasing a horse at his barn, so no, no drama. I am waaaayyy past the age, where that would be bearable! ;)

I said yes, but my barn is at home. LOL!
Drama here is when the chickens get out, or when the kid didn't clean her room and wants to ride, or there is an argument with DH on just how we are going to run some fence...
I wish I could leave my horses in someone else's care for a while, I'd like to go on a vacation!

Luckily the people I keep my horses with are my second family.. They feel that any drama that starts out there... The person starting it is OUT until they can behave themselves... Soo we don't have drama, we are just a bunch of horse lovers<3