[HalfPass]

Hey everyone,
Yesterday afternoon I got a bit peeved.
The BM was out for the day and her 20 yr old some was taking care of things...well if you really want to call it that!

So when I arrived yesterday morning My horses blanket was still on. The horse next to her had the blanket taken off. If your thin you can squezz inbetween a post and a wall and get over to my horses side with out having to walk around the barn.
So basically he was too lazy to walk around to the opposite side.

I ended up taking her blanket off and leaving it off for the day. I was out there until dusk.

I had a later lesson in the afternoon so It was just after evening feed time.
So he comes over to the arena rail and says to me...."I am cutting Candi's feed by 2 flakes per day" I said no your not. She needs to have hay in front of her all day.
Side note- his mom (The Barn Manager) and I just raised it to 3 flks grass in the am and 3 in the pm. She has only been on that for something like 3-4 days.
On another side note. The rule is that when the feed becomes like bedding they will reduce the intake.

Okay so before my lesson I had picked up the left over stuff and put it in her feed bin. It was not even a 1/2 flake, and was all fluffed out of course.

Anyway....he got really ****y that I said no about reducing the feed. Thank goodness my trainer was there to witness and hear everything

So ...after I am done with my lesson I untack etc. I go to the other barn to check my mare. To my surprise He cut her feed and she barley had even a flakes worth of Grass hay in there.
Not to mention he threw her grain bucket into her feed bin because...once again he didn't want to walk around the barn to put it in her rubber feeder.
I have a large peev about buckets in paddock/stall etc unless they are hung properly and even then I am not really fod of the idea. Thus i have a rubber thingy that is pretty flat and shallow for that purpose.

I was LIVID. to say the least.
I went and got 2 flakes of grass hay and put it in her feed bin.

Jerk off !!!

Sorry for the rant but I have two horses at this facility. I have been there for a year.
The barn managers son is not incharge!

It would have been different if the BM or the assistant BM came and said "Christine....we noticed your mare isn't eating quite everything, shall we try cutting her 1/2 flake"?

It is not like this kid is there looking at who eats what on a 2 times a day basis....
Ummmhe filled in one day and did a 1/2 *** job.

I plan on talking with the assistant BM today and also letting the BM know as soon as I see her. She lives on the property but was away yesterday.

Okay that is my rant!
Any thoughts....

HP

 

[qtrhrsecrazy]

I would have been ****ed too. Hope your BM takes care of the situation. Stuff like this is why I HATE to board. Unfortunately I have to right now and I keep a close eye on things

 

[HalfPass]

She is a really nice gal and I am fairly certain she wont be very happy with her kid!
I am going out early this morning to see what her feed is like. And to see if her blanket is off.
I think that she does the early feed on Sun but not certain. The Assistant bm wont be there until 9 am.
I will feel out the situation then and talk to my trainer again about it.

 

[MIEventer]

I feel your pain! As we've discussed on FB.

I say go directly to the BM and talk to her directly and tell her exactly what you are thinking and stand up for your horses rights. You are paying them for a service, and that service has to be met.

 

[HalfPass]

More BS...
Apparently...The Son, has really done things in for himself. He also lied to his mom about something with another boarder.
And...when I spoke with the Assistant BM She let me know he marked down many things as done and she has found they were never done. She told me not to even bring it up to the BM to just talk with the owner.
The other boarder told me he lied and actually accused her of some things that I know where not even true. I was there all day.
SO I will be deriving(sp) a letter or email letting the owner know I was not pleased wit the way I was approached and then I will also make a list of facts. I am really glad thatmy trainer was right there when he did approach me.

Hopefully the BM wont be upset with me but it is a risk I feel I need to take.

Both her and her son where riding today and I treated them as I normally would treat them.
Now if he is working and representing the facility I prefer he leaves my horses alone.
Unfortunately their horses are out with my Tiny who is in pasture. Now the BM is a great lady but there are some family issues I will stay out of.

We are talking only about his actions or lack there of...while working and respresenting the facility as an employee...

Now the other boarder has told me she too will be letting the owner know what transpired.
The owner is currently out of town at a horse show and will not return until later on next week.

We shall see how it all goes....
and so the drama continues...

Sorry but don't with hold food from my horse when 1.) your not in a position to make that decision, and 2.) you are not a regular employee
hp

 

[Jessabel]

What a bum. I say whack him across the noggin with a two-by-four.
Hope everything gets straightened out.

 

[Tasia]

Been there done that. When it involves my horses well being that is when it crosses a thin line. I will put up a fight when it comes to that point.

 

[HalfPass]

Here is the letter I wrote to the BO.

On Saturday March 6, I had some undesirable experiences at the barn while (S)was working.
I arrived in the morning at approximately 9:15 am. When I entered the little barn I noticed that Lula had her blanket taken off but Candi still had her blanket on. At this time I had no idea that Michael was working instead of Sally. I took Candi’s blanket off.
Later on in the afternoon about 4:15 pm I was taking a lesson with Lindsey. (S) approached me during my lesson and point blank told me he was cutting Candi’s feed by two flakes. She is currently being fed 3 flakes am and pm. I asked him why and his reply was that she had some left when he went to feed her. Before my lesson I had picked up the small amount of hay and put it in her feed bin. It was approximately ½ flake or less.
I explained that I had put the feed in the bin and that it really wasn’t much. He stated he was cutting the feed in a matter of fact way. At that point Lindsey and I both said not to cut the feed that Candi is underweight and needs to have it.
This is the most perplexing thing of all. After my lesson I went into the little barn to put away my hard hat. I checked Candi’s feed. He had not given her the 3 flakes of hay. To my surprise he had already cut out the two flakes. I know he only gave her maybe a flake of hay. On top of that her grain bucket was tossed into the tire feed bin. When others do the grain they usually just dump the grain into the small rubber feeder in Candi’s paddock. A loose bucket with a handle in a pen is something I don’t care much for due to the risk of a foot etc becoming caught.
I don’t think this was handled properly or professionally. I don’t know what you can or cannot do about this but I thought it best that you understand what happened on Sat. March 6th.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

What do you all think?? I think it states the facts pretty clearly without implicating any other crap other than what happened. I substituted an (S) instead of his name.
Thanks for reading.
HP

 

[White Foot]

I can understand where you're coming from. Especially if your horse is underweight, it will need the extra feed. I'll probably get the boot for saying this but...

I think you're overreacting a little. I don't think the bucket thing is a big deal. In my 19 years of being around horses (no 19 years isn't a long time!) I've never seen a horse get injured by a bucket. Maybe you should step back and step into his shoes or look at it in the big picture. He's young and will make mistakes. How warm was it that day? How heavy was the blanket? If the weather was cold or mild maybe the horse should of kept it on if he/she is underweight. And take into consideration this IS the owners son, so I know with my family an attack on one is an attack on us all.

I work at a stable and though I'm not the owner or the manager I see and hear enough to know that if the horse owner complains too much they won't take you seriously the next time you cry wolf and will probably make fun of you behind your back. And it isn't just the barn I work at, everyone is guilty. It's stressful to run a barn when everyone is complaining about everything, you know?


That's just my two cents, feel free to call me out.

 

[HalfPass]

I totally hear what your saying.
It is hard to explain the set up in the little barn, but he basically he threw the bucket in her bin because he did not want to walk around to the other side.
He has been in trouble for lying and not doing his job in the past. And...he does not work there on a regular basis due him not doing his job.

I have never complained about one thing at this place.

About the blanket.....same thing....horses get unblanketed in the morning and are blanketed and unblanketed according to a chart provided by the owner. He clearly again...did not want to walk around to the other side to unblanket the horse.

The regular employee's would never leave a bucket in the pen when not hung up. And, they would never not feed or blanket/unblanket etc.

This guy works there every once in a blue moon. He really did not do his job that day but charted that he had. He didn't turn out horses either that were on the list, but marked them off and those people were charged for the turn ots.

I think your a bit on the biased side because you work at a barn. But the thing to understand is no one ever cmplains at this barn and things are always handled proffesionally etc.

And....no I will not give this kid a break. He was working and represent the facility and he had no authority to make feed changes. He was being flat out LAZY to not want to walk around to the other side and unblanket, and later dump the grain in the tub.

I am not overreacting in my opinion. I think he didn't do his job!

I have seen some nasty things happen with bucket in my life around horses. This barn never is to leave a bucket in a pen in this fashion anway! The grain bucket is either hung up or it is dumped into a container provided by the owner.

He is NOT the owners son. He is the on site managers son. Yes I understand every mother will protect their son. etc etc.
hp

 

[Alwaysbehind]

If your problem is with the kid then re-write your complaint letter to make that clear. No reason to go into a long story about things, simply state that Kid worked on Saturday and there were problems that you believe need to be addressed. The problems include:
Kid did not give Candi her full hay ration.
Kid did not remove Candi's blanket in the AM.
Kid put a bucket with a handle on the floor of Candi's stall and did not use her provided rubber feed tub.

Be sure to add something about this being out of the ordinary because the care there is normally wonderful.

 

[shesinthebarn]

If I were you, I would speak to the manager about it. I gree with WF that maybe you are overreacting a TINY bit. The feed thing is certainly worth investigating, but the blanket thing? I would think about letting that go and dealing with the bigger issue. If This guy only works once in a blue moon, is it worth the manager (whom you say you like) potentially getting into trouble with the owner? Maybe follow a sort of chain of command and speak with the manager who will deal with her son. If it happens again, maybe think about going to the owner.
Things happen at a barn, and your regular manager was on a day off for whtever reason - heck, maybe she just needed a well-deserved rest. If she catches heck for something her fill-in did, she may feel like she can NEVER take time for herself without things falling apart. JMO, speaking as a farm manager who CAN"T take a day off...
I DO hope things can be worked out amicably for you, and everyone else involved.

 

[White Foot]

Understandable..But this isn't his job, he probably was only doing it as a favor. Maybe you should talk to him before assuming that he was just lazy?

Maybe I am biased, but I know first hand how hard it is to work at a barn. I don't know how many horses you have but at mine we have 20+ and I have to pick all the stalls, give new bedding, feed & water them, turn them all out, sweep the lonngg hallway, and work with a few horses. Sometimes it's hard to pay attention to every little detail. I bet it was especially hard for him because he doesn't work there everyday and he doesn't know the horses and he doesn't know what the owners want.

I was once yelled at by a boarder because her horse was on stall rest and I picked out the horses stall, while picking I tied the horse up in the stall because she was always so nervous and was always swinging her back end towards me. Anyway, long story short I untied the horse and I left to go work on the other stalls, but guess what? I left the horse's halter on. I got an *** chewing and all I wanted to say to her was, "lady you have NO idea. You should wake your a!s up at 5:30 until 3:30 everyday. Then once you do that you should come back and yell at me. Step into my shoes." But of course I couldn't because the boarder is always right so I batted my eye lashes and told her, "I'm so sorry it will never happen again." It never did happen again, because I learned. Sometimes that's all it takes, is to just get yelled at.

I always try to get all the stalls and things done before any of the owners get out of work and come, lord knows one of them will come and something won't be right or perfect enough. But when you're trying to get all the things done for the BO sometimes you don't have time to take and stare at every chart on the stall door. I know the first couple weeks it was so hard, now I have every horse down and I know what they need/don't need. But for a guy who doesn't work there regularly it's not going to be perfect.

 

[HalfPass]

I do hear what your all saying. I think I am just going to voice my thoughts to the owner when she returns from her horse show. This is a very very large barn. There are several employee's there. This guy has lived there on the property for 10 + years so it isn't like he does not know what th routine is.

I am not sending the letter.
I do think the blanket and bucket where lesser issues and the reason for bringing them up to begin with were to show how he basically just didn't care.

No other employee there would ever ever ever do this nor handle anything in this fashion.

I will speak to the owner my self in person. I do not want to bring it up to his mom because I feel it will casue and issue and she will feel defensive of her son which is totally understandable.

There is well over 30 horses at this facility and room for over 70.

Please do not make this sound as if i dont know anything about doing Barn jobs! At one point I had a shared business feeding and riding horses. I have also been told by the Barn Owner herself that if the need arise she would be asking me to work there.

They have a pretty good routine there and he totally just did a 1/2 a** job and not just with my animal but with other things as well.

Without knowing this guy I guess it could very well come across as tho I am not giving him a break here. But....he has already had many breaks! The fact he even was allowed to work that day is beyond me!

hp

 

[ptvintage]

I too have worked at a barn, and I have been chewed out by boarders who felt I didn't follow the correct procedure with their horses. Those times it was just my ignorance of not knowing what the boarders wanted. I would apologize and not make the same mistake again.

The kid clearly knew the routine. The fact he sought her out to tell her he wasn't giving her horse the hay, and would not listen to her shows a complete disrespect. The customer is always right, and if he felt there was a real problem with giving the horse hay, he should have had the BM confront her, he had no authority to do so. Leaving the bucket in the stall is dangerous, lazy, and shows a lack of concern or care.

The barn manager may be stressed, may be overworked, but it is her job to keep the clients happy. The OP pays what is most likely a considerable sum for the service at the barn. The BM's son should not be employed if he doesn't do a good job, regardless of his family connections.

I think you should complain. I don't know about a letter, but it should be known that the boarders are not happy with the kid taking care of their horses. If no one complains, he's likely to do it again.

 

[justsambam08]

I'm with HP.

As a boarder, if I pay you, the BO/BM, to provide care for my horse that has been written out and then signed by myself and the managing parties, and then it is not done, its my right and obligation to be fussy and point the errors out every single time an error is made. I have worked at a barn previously, for three years, doing everything from mucking to morning feed to turning in and out horses. Its not that hard to take off a blanket or dump a bucket, especially when you're being paid to do it. Regardless of whether or not this guy was working his first day ever or his 500th day at the barn, the people who hired him and why sign his paychecks should keep him to the same standard as the rest of their employees. I would send the letter. Maybe re-write it to sound a little more casual in a "just letting you know" kind of way, but I would send it. That way, there is written documentation somewhere that at least once, he made a mistake and you brought it to these peoples attention.

If, as a boarder, I wanted to have to come in and clean up after a barns employees, regular or not, I'd save myself the monthly expense and keep the horse in my backyard.

 

[HalfPass]

Thanks all
I spoke with the Barn owner a few minutes ago.
I explained about the feed thing and she told me the BM's son for sure was not in a position to make that decision. What he should have done was said nothing to me and just told the BM when she returned so that my horses intake could be observed. The owner told me that he has a problem with communication and should actually be considerate about things. She also made mention that "he has lived here almost his entire life and most certainly knows the routine and how to handle such things"
She wan't to shocked by it all. She also told me that the assistant was scheduled to work and somehow she ended up not working so ....last resort he ended up working. Thus this explains his irritaion for even having to move his lazy butt that day. Sorry but it is thr truth about him.

The owner asked me how things are usually done with Candi's feed and grain. And then commented that yes he didn't follow the "care plan" which is clearly outlined on a feed chart!
She also told me he probly wont be filling in anytime soon.
We agreed that we can monitor to see if Candi does actually eat all of her food. She also said if persay a horse does have a lot of leftovers the staff may not throw in the entire ration. But she said to just cut out 2 flakes s inappropriate. He had no right to make the decision.
We decided that it very well could be a good idea to let things just fizzle and see if someone says anything about it. She just got home yesterday and will be out to the farm tomorrow. I agreed that it may be better off to not say anything to dudes mom. But she also mentioned she is very glad that I brough it to her attention because she needs to know these things.

So there you have it. I was right on about a lot. I feel it will all come out in the wash ....
Hopefully the BM wont have an issue if it is brought to her attention for whatever reason.
I have my written account of things and the owner knows who was present when I was approached.

I do agree with you all there are those folks who can literally be a pian in the you know where when they are the boarder, but for the most part we don't have any of those at our facility....
hp

 

[Alwaysbehind]

The owner is currently out of town at a horse show and will not return until later on next week.

She just got home yesterday and will be out to the farm tomorrow.

So, the barn owner came home early?

 

[White Foot]

I'm glad it worked out.

 

[HalfPass]

All I know is the assistant told me she wouldn't be back til later this week I called her cell number and she said she was at home and had returned last night. The horses and one of the barns trainers are still at Thermal. The barn owner will be at the barn tues and wed. The going back to the the show (about 8 hours aways) to bring the horses home.
I fully expected her to be at the show when I called.

Thanks WF...we must of posted at the same time.