nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429 
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Post by nhg on Apr 1, 2015 17:46:43 GMT
Some of you might have seen this a while back on mine or Heather's FB. She sent her young mare to a reining trainer for the month of December for some reining training. The mare's been ridden for a year and H just wanted a bit more training, basics of a sliding stop and spins, and wanted her to be ridden by a man. Within a couple of days of her coming back she had ringworm. It was the corners of her mouth, around her eyes, and in her girth area. She also didn't seem to have learned anything new. H called the trainer and told him about the ringworm and his response was just "okay, I'll check it out". No apology, no nothing.
So H couldn't ride her for almost two months it was so bad. I want to post something about this guy. He's got a FB page and he's listed under Alberta Horse Trainers. What would you guys do? This has cost her a lot of money in medicines, the cost of gas, her mare is now even further behind than she was in training, etc. I'm totally PO'd and have just been waiting to get home to my computer so I could deal with this. |
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Post by horselover4life on Apr 1, 2015 21:16:51 GMT
I would be very careful how you word and phrase your comments on a public site such as Facebook.
I think if you did it more as a .......
"Our horse returned from a refresher training with ringworm. We notified the trainer and never heard back another word. Sadly we encountered many vet bills to get our horse healthy. During this time of her being ill we also were unable to ride her.
Now days, weeks have gone by and when we did finally get astride it seems like she either learned nothing or forgot everything that was worked on...
Such a frustrating and expensive situation....
Just letting others know for what ever the reason my horse went their healthy and came home not....be careful with your horse, take measures to ensure what happened to us not happen to you.
I think Apollo works at a law firm and possibly sees things like this cross her path...
Caution is needed you not defame his character or business unless you can really back it up if he went after you.
Unfortunately, it may all be true but there might not be much you can do about any of it... 
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2015 22:09:37 GMT
A very unfortunate situation for sure. Not good that your daughter sent her horse out and had to incur additional expenses as a result.
As far as legal solutions go there really isn't that much that can be done. If the ringworm was already present when she picked her up maybe, but then again it gets hard to prove and even more expensive without exact documentation (photos, vet records, treatment diaries ect.)Sometimes having a lawyer send a demand letter is enough to garner some form of compensation, but generally it just shuts the other side down especially if they feel that they aren't in the wrong.
As far as facebook reviews go it can definitely be a touchy area. I would make a point of not stating names or any other identifiable factors. Anything that cannot be proven (true or otherwise) I would try to frame in a neutral light. Be honest, especially about the things you can prove, but stay neutral about the rest.
Example:
Did the horse go out for training with Trainer X - Yes
Did the horse develop ringworm shortly after returning from training with said trainer - Yes
After a long treatment for the ringworm does it appear the horse has regressed to pre-training levels - Yes
Can we draw a direct cause/effect correlation between the ringworm and the trainer - No, and as a result we cannot say for sure that the horse was not ridden or trained as paid for. Sometimes horses will regress after sitting for a period of time. I do think it is more likely that the trainer just didn't do as he was meant to, but you have to let people draw their own conclusions on that.
Tough situation to be in. The internet is tough as well because once it is out there who knows who will take a screen shot. Once you hit send it is impossible to take back. Hope it all works out for your daughter
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Apr 1, 2015 22:23:22 GMT
Don't need to say more than has been said about being careful to distinguish facts from conclusions from opinions. Otherwise here is my two cents; if the trainer doesn't give a hoot about the training level of the horses he sends back to their owners there really isn't anything that can be done. I could say something about the quality of folks who call themselves horse trainers but you know all of that. I could say something about due diligence in checking them out and asking questions before hand but that doesn't help. I had a similar experience with a trainer minus the ringworm but worse behavior after than before even though I was promised a very definite program and none of it was followed. Whatcha gonna do? Nothing. I am very sorry that H and her horse went through all of that. If you guys fell prey then I can only imagine others have had it much worse. Guess it's more common than not to get basically screwed over in the horse business. I'm willing to get your daughter is thinking she could have done a dang sight better job with her horse in the same amount of time as that "trainer" did MINUS the ringworm! Lessons are expensive. Sorry, Northern  |
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Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Lipizzan on Apr 2, 2015 8:41:25 GMT
Sorry to hear that. I can't help much, but I agree with others just be careful.
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Post by lorddaxter on Apr 2, 2015 13:16:40 GMT
Id just do word of mouth, remember the trouble I got into over Isis, that was going to get messy, luckily I managed to get the forum to delete all references even though I wasnt the one that named the trainer, for sure they would have sued me!
Its very frustrating and I know you want everyone to know, one of the vets here still recommends the trainer that screwed Isis up, Ive told them 3 times how awful he was but nope, they must have something going on with him so I dont use that vet unless I reallt have to either.
At least with word of mouth nothing is written down to be used against you:)
Every time you go in the feed or tack store or vets just tell the story, after a while it will get through, everyone round here knows my story!
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nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
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Post by nhg on Apr 2, 2015 17:33:18 GMT
She was ridden a couple of times before the ringworm manifested itself so H knows she's not improved as far as training, it's the ringworm and her being blown off like that that has me choked. I tried to tell her that a month of training during Christmas isn't the greatest idea but the guy's wife had said he was busy in December and would deduct the cost of training accordingly, which he didn't.
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Post by lorddaxter on Apr 2, 2015 18:40:28 GMT
She was ridden a couple of times before the ringworm manifested itself so H knows she's not improved as far as training, it's the ringworm and her being blown off like that that has me choked. I tried to tell her that a month of training during Christmas isn't the greatest idea but the guy's wife had said he was busy in December and would deduct the cost of training accordingly, which he didn't. I know, it sucks, I know of a few trainers that go on vacation, I know they are gone and they have clients horses in and I know they deducted nothing for time missed, the trainer who broke Ira was the best, she was young but had trained with people Ive heard you lot mention, she went on a training course half way through Iras training and yes she deducted a lot plus gave me a free week as she felt bad,she was also the cheapest trainer I ever used, Jessica Juha, pity she stopped doing it, shes the most honest trainer Ive ever met! Just tell everyone you meet that you were not impressed, believe me it will get around:) |
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Post by abpalis on Apr 4, 2015 1:55:40 GMT
Already found a post about me! haha. It is very frustrating. I know there's nothing I can do but word of mouth and warning. $900 to have a guy "train" my horse and getting nothing more than ringworm in return sucks. And Fox does nothing more than she did before. When I picked her up he showed me ALL THE STUFF HE TAUGHT HER! yea... all the stuff I had already taught her before I dropped her off and wanted him to improve on while I was too busy to ride and oddly enough she hasn't gotten any better at because oh shocker! he wanted another month with her. But at least the guilt of sending my horse to someone when I'm capable of training her myself has passed and I don't have to tell people someone else trained her. And on the bright side it was good for her to go somewhere for a bit.
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Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Lipizzan on Apr 4, 2015 8:11:18 GMT
Grr. Some people are just...
You payed and got nothing. He should returne your money. At least that is another lesson to be learned to chek a trainer good.
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Apr 4, 2015 15:55:51 GMT
Wow, that is really frustrating. You had way more important things to deal with, one would hope the trainer they chose is doing what was promised. Like others have said, be careful what you put in writing.
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Post by abpalis on Apr 4, 2015 16:32:16 GMT
Yea I don't plan on defaming him by any means but I certainly wont recommend him to anyone. I rode her the day I picked her up from him and was less than impressed with the time he had put into her. I asked for work on her stops and getting under herself, no improvement, especially for saying I already had her stopping on a dime at a verbal woah command. I asked for work on moving off the leg, no improvement. I asked for work on collection and if anything she was more strung out at a lope than she was when I had worked on her. So I really have no idea what he worked on. I kind of think he threw a week in and thought well I'll get her to leave her here another month and finish her up then. But I said I couldn't afford a second month and didn't see why a second month would be needed and picked her up after one month. Oh well lesson learned, do it yourself lol.
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Post by horselady on Apr 5, 2015 0:11:26 GMT
There are good and bad in the horse business and people that call themselves trainers are just wannabes. You have found out that not all people are honest. and i have a feeling that trainer was not even riding your horse, that he had someone else do it and that person got her all strung out.
the only recourse you have it to say who this person was in private messages and e-mails and make your public postings vague
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redzip
Junior Member
Posts: 1,701
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Post by redzip on Apr 7, 2015 1:41:23 GMT
I too had a terrible experience with a crappy trainer in November, and I feel your pain.
Luckily, I found a much, much better trainer and she helped restore my faith in horse trainers.
I did tell people, via PM, about the a-hole that claimed to be 'training' my horse,
who stole money from me and did not fulfill her contract, not to mention always 20 minutes LATE everyday that she rode.
But continued to charge full price for barely 15 minutes of trotting under saddle,
and 20 minutes of lunging,.., yes, seriously!!
The whole experience was ridiculous!!
But I learned a valuable lesson in that not everyone is what they 'claim' to be.
And Karma is a bitch!!
Sorry this happened, keep looking, real GOOD trainers are out there, and do right by the horses and their owners.
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Post by abpalis on Apr 7, 2015 3:28:07 GMT
Why can't people just be honest. Especially in the animal industry  Sorry to hear you got took as well redzip. Fortunately I'm fully capable of training her myself, had just wanted a trainer to get her a little further ahead during the winter when I'm too busy to ride (usually with work not with the circumstances that I ended up devoting my time to) |
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Apr 7, 2015 17:45:22 GMT
I took Ziggy to a trainer for the similar reasons; to add finishing touches and finesse that I wanted to learn. Zignuts came back worse and took three weeks to correct. All for the low low price of $550! Found a much better trainer for Peaches and another for me. They're out there but tough to find.
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Post by abpalis on Apr 8, 2015 3:59:32 GMT
Nice to pay pennies for such great training hey? A friend of mine who actually coached me as a kid is going to come out and put some rides on her while I work on her just to pick up any loose ends I might be missing in her training.
I only just started riding her again this past week after picking her up in January, she's super hyper and explosive at first now when I get her in the arena. Wasn't like that before. I like to pick up their front legs and pull them forward to pull any wrinkles out from under the cinch before I get on. When I go to do this now she acts like I'm going to scold her and blows up. Not sure if it's just a new thing she's doing or what. I just step back let her have her fit and try again. Then she lets me pick them up just fine the second time. Once I get on and get her focused she's back to normal. The other thing that tells me how little this guy rode her is how ridiculously quickly she learns stuff. A good trainer with a solid month on her would have her competition ready with how smart she is.
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Post by Shelly on Apr 21, 2015 15:06:28 GMT
that's really discouraging!!!
You where hoping to get ahead by sending her but doesn't sound like you did at all. Hopefully it wont take you too long to get her ready, Show season is just around the corner!
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