Horse Talk

[ShrekDawg]

Awww wow that's awesome! I hope it works out! I think that pretty much covers it lol

So is she going to take Indie if she likes him or do the training at your place first?

 

[abigalerose]

She lives a ways away, so if she likes Indie on Saturday she's loading them all up and taking them to her barn, and she'll put a month on June and Reno, and then I'll come pick them up at the end of the month.
I really hope it works out!

 

[res]

Guess what! I think I found good homes for both geldings

I think I already said that Reno goes to his new home next month, and now there's a trainer who wants Indie, she's going to come Saturday and look at him, and if she likes him she's going to trade some training for him. She's going to do a month of reining training with June and a month of just the basics (desensitizing, walk trot, etc.) with Reno.
She has a liability form, and she gave me references, when she comes I'm also going to ask to see her drivers license so I can make sure for safety reasons that I do have her real name and address. Is there anything else I can do to ensure my horses safety? I just don't want them to come up "missing" lol

I wouldn't put too much faith in the DL address.... People can and do move often, even with horses. We have quite the scandal going here in MD, with a "rescue" that goes farm to farm, renting the entire farm or 10+ stalls, and then leaves within a few months without paying a penny of board. The lady has quite the "following" on Facebook where the people she has screwed have shared her address(es) and locations, etc.

Instead, I would check heavily into her vet and farrier references. Any GOOD horseperson is going to have a good relationship with a vet, even if they "give their own vaccines". If you have enough horses on your property, or have had horses long enough, you WILL need a vet's services beyond vaccines.

If the vet says they have only known her a few months, be suspicious. Same with the farrier. I would want to personally see her horses feet, all of them, if she says she doesn't use a farrier, that she does her own feet. Major red flag there. Not saying that some owners CAN'T do their own horses feet, but it is few and far between that can do multiple horses properly and on a set schedule.

 

[abigalerose]

​I wouldn't put too much faith in the DL address.... People can and do move often, even with horses. We have quite the scandal going here in MD, with a "rescue" that goes farm to farm, renting the entire farm or 10+ stalls, and then leaves within a few months without paying a penny of board. The lady has quite the "following" on Facebook where the people she has screwed have shared her address(es) and locations, etc.

Instead, I would check heavily into her vet and farrier references. Any GOOD horseperson is going to have a good relationship with a vet, even if they "give their own vaccines". If you have enough horses on your property, or have had horses long enough, you WILL need a vet's services beyond vaccines.

If the vet says they have only known her a few months, be suspicious. Same with the farrier. I would want to personally see her horses feet, all of them, if she says she doesn't use a farrier, that she does her own feet. Major red flag there. Not saying that some owners CAN'T do their own horses feet, but it is few and far between that can do multiple horses properly and on a set schedule.

Thanks!
I'll get numbers for both, when I call to check the references, what do I ask? (I've never checked references for anything before)

 

[res]

Thanks!
I'll get numbers for both, when I call to check the references, what do I ask? (I've never checked references for anything before)

I would simply explain you are sending your horse to her for training, and ask if they would give a recommendation. Sometimes you have to give the vet (or clinic staff) the opportunity to "talk" vs. asking questions. Some clinics are hesitant to give out info. IME, if we had a GOOD client at the clinic that we would freely recommend, we would voluntarily say how awesome they were. If it was a so-so client, we would only give basic history, such as "we see her horses once a year for dentals" or "we saw her last 6 mths ago to suture a laceration". We NEVER EVER bad mouthed a client, unless they were "call animal control" level of bad. So you have to kinda weed thru what the vet tells you.

Farriers seem to be able to be more free with their opinions. Just different ways a business is run.

You can also check with any local equine Facebook groups. That seems to be the current MO for getting recommendations. We have 4 local equine groups on Facebook, and NO ONE is short on giving opinions when someone asks. It is actually one of my favorite things about social media - one time it is NICE to have a large audience.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Ohhh that makes sense

She lives a ways away, so if she likes Indie on Saturday she's loading them all up and taking them to her barn, and she'll put a month on June and Reno, and then I'll come pick them up at the end of the month.
I really hope it works out!

 

[KaylorFarms]

 

[abigalerose]

Idk if this is your horse, or one you want to buy, but either way, I like it.

 

[KaylorFarms]

I used to take horse riding lessons and this was my favorite horse!

 

[abigalerose]

Got some reviews from the references I got! I still have to call her vet tomorrow to check the final reference, but the rest were really good, they mostly talked about how good of a person she is and not much about her training skills, but that's okay because I've seen videos of horses that she's training. And even if she isn't the BEST trainer, she can do a heck of a lot better than me and I'm getting two horses trained for Indie, who's only worth 400-500.
I'm so excited and I really hope it goes smoothly Saturday. I think everyone will be getting a really good deal if it does, I'll have reining training on June, the trainer will have Indie who's adorable and sweet, and the other lady will be getting Reno with better training than I could do on him myself.
Also, I'm really really sad lol, I'm going to miss them, especially Indie.