Saturday, September 4, 2010

Still Around!

I have had one hell of a ride lately. Yes moving to Canada is BIG, but my husband and I have had more than our share of bad luck. The kind of bad luck that makes you think "Do I have a karmic debt I did not know about?". The kind of crazy situations that make you just laugh out loud because they are so preposterous.

Remember the barn I found? With the house on the property? This barn with this house is managed by a woman who also lives on the property (in the larger main house). The owner of the property lives off the farm somewhere in Winnipeg. With me so far?

When we arrived in Winnipeg the house that we had agreed to rent was not vacant as we were told it would be. The farm manager graciously let us and our animals stay in her guest room, promising us the house would be ready in a week or two.

Meanwhile, I immediately began to help out around the farm. I noticed things were a bit off; skinny horses mostly, paddocks with no water, horses with neglected injuries. I started my usual routine of asking questions and trying to get the problems noticed by management. I quickly realized that the barn manager is burnt out on the job and does not care. The other boarders are upset and the general atmosphere is strange and uneasy. I started checking waters and throwing hay anytime I had a free moment--even though I am working full time at the University. I also started pulling a pathetically skinny Thoroughbred mare out of the muck to grain her myself.

When our house is finally vacated we are told we can not move in because they want to put in new floors and the place could use some painting. Fine. The place was trashed, though we would have taken it as is anyways because we were desperate to move in after half a month of living out of a suit case.

Finally, though, the owner showed up and I stood in line with the other boarders to voice my concerns about the horses and about our house.

The horses: I got the vet out for the injured horses, and the skinny TB mare. She had cheek ulcers from bad teeth. I got fecal tests done on all the skinny horses to see if parasites were an issue. A few horses had moderate parasite loads (including a pregnant mare!). The rest were fine. This group of skinny horses includes a pregnant mare and a two year old warmblood. It is just disgusting. Having the tests done proves my suspicion that the horses are just plain not getting enough to eat.

The house: Evidently the barn manager never even informed the owner about renting the house to us. In fact, the owner didn't even know that we existed until now. Her plan was to move back into the property in September and the little house was actually being fixed up for the barn manager, not us. So the barn manager knew this all along. We had been in contact with her about renting this since April. She continued to tell us every time we asked that everything was OK and that the house would be ready for us soon. I don't think I have ever had someone lie to my face so viciously in all my life. What purpose did all the lying even serve? I have no idea. Several of the boarders were mortified to hear this and defended me telling her about my hard work with the horses and that the owner should just kick the manager out completely. That would make sense right? Since she is starving horses? The owner said that she would think on it. She texted me later saying I could have the house. However, between her telling me no, maybe, and then yes, I decided that no matter what, I wanted out.

My husband and I just moved into a nice apartment in town and I found a barn for Bodhi to move to. My dream of living with my horse is shattered, but at least the nightmare is over.

15 comments:

  1. Holy crap! I am sorry that your dream of living next to Bodhi didn't pan out, but you are better off out of there! I hope the boarders complaints are loud and clear and something is done about the barn manager (fire her ass out of there) and those poor starving horses.

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  2. Taking advantage of the out-of-towners, eh?

    How awful, I hate it when bad things happen to good people. At least you were able to get out of there fairly quickly. I hope the owners of the other horses are stepping up and getting their horses the care they need.

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  3. So sorry you had to go through that situation...

    Your dream isn't shattered - just postponed for a little while. There's probably a very good reason that situation didn't work out, which is better for you and Bodhi in the long run.

    As my wise friend Jerry likes to say,
    "Good news, bad news, too soon to tell."

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  4. WOW!! What a crazy and sad story! Things happen for a reason, I am sure all things will work out great for you guys coming in the future. Give Bodhi a hug!

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  5. Wow, that is just nuts. Please, please don't let that cast a shadow on Canada! There are crazies everywhere but I swear we aren't all like that! I wonder if the BO was embarrased about the manager or she has some personal relationship that makes it hard to publicly say she will fire the manager. Or they are both nuts, lol. But it sounds like it hasn't always been that way or the other boarders wouldn't be so upset.

    Glad you found more appropriate accomodations for yourselves and Bodhi. I'd say some good karma has now been earned ;) Keep us posted!

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  6. Wow...well atleast you guys are moved in somewhere, and your pony is at a nice place :) That sucks that you just happened to find some shady people. My move wasn't so smooth to NM either. Everything was good but my one Jeep that all in all ended up costing me $2,300 in work. And even after all that I decided I've had enough and sold it yesterday. Oh well, what can you do. It's over and done with. I hope things start to get a little smoother for you guys!

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  7. Hang in there! I'm so glad you have decided to not take up the offer of being at that barn - sounds like the owner isn't much better than the manager.

    The day will come when you live with your horse...

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  8. Holy cannoli! That is all kinds of not right, and I'm glad that you and Bodhi got out of there. Like someone already pointed out, your dream hasn't been squashed, just delayed. I'm sure it will happen; this just obviously isn't the time.
    So sorry to hear that you're having such a rough time. But it seems like we all go through periods where everything goes wrong, and then the clouds finally break and things clear up. I've got my fingers crossed that your streak of bad luck ends soon! :-) Hang in there!

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  9. That's not bad karma, particularly if you're now in a better place to live and with a good safe barn for your boy, although I'll bet it was unpleasant at the time. Those scary places are all over - very sad to see neglected horses. Absentee owners are almost always a prescription for trouble in my experience. Hope the new places work out much better!

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  10. That's just plain crazy of the barn manager. I can't imagine what she had to gain by lying to you. That's awful. That place had such promise. I'm sorry it didn't work out, but glad you have gotten through that ordeal and have found places for you and Bodhi to call home. Keep up the dream of having Bodhi with you at home. It will happen.

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  11. Crikey!! There's not many people who could lie that much and thank goodness for that! It's a shame that you cannot be on the same place as your horse, but at least now, you have no gardening and will be able to spend more time with your own horse. Hope that situation for the other horses improves dramatically.

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  12. wow. crazy.

    glad you guys were able to find a better place for you and Bodhi and get out of there.

    I hope now that the owner is back that someone will start looking after the horses.

    Mary

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  13. Wow - what a wild situation... That barn owner is having some issues, that is for sure! Sounds like there are crazies everywhere we turn.

    I'm glad you found a decent apartment and a new barn for Bodhi!

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  14. Oh my goodness, how awful! I know it's definitely not your first choice, but maybe now that you have a real "home base", you can keep your eye out for another house and land where you can all be together.
    I've come across people like that barn manager before. I've never understood the motivation behind it other than just being a pathological liar *sigh*. Maybe it will ultimately work out to be even better than you expected (I'm an optimist :o)

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  15. Oh my goodness, girl, you have been through the ringer and back. I'm so sorry. I know exactly what you mean about the karmic debt... sometimes I wonder if I perhaps tortured a kitten or tripped an old lady in a past life??? It sounds like things are starting to get better for you though, so I'm glad to hear it. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? You're going to be super strong! Hang in there....

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