May Be Unprofessional, But Just Had To Post!

[outriding01]

So ever since I got the job as Equestrian Director with the Girl Scout I've been trying to get horses signed up for the summer. All our horses are on loan and we need at least 20. So far I've gotten a good number of responses. I have ads posted on all the craigslists in the area. They basically tell about the camp and my experience and ask for BEGINNER SAFE horses. I specify that they need to have absolutely no dangerous vices and be safe both being handled and ridden, with lots of experience with children. I haven't gotten any crazy emails yet, I assumed because my ad was so specific and clear about what I needed. One lady emailed about a mare who is cold backed and needs lounging (which we would have no time for) and one about a 4 year old mare who can be nippy. I sent polite emails thanking them for their response but explaining that they didn't sound like the best fit for our program. Then I get this.....

"Our Granddaughter was "given" a ten month old colt, quarter horse last 08 Jan.. Grandpa couldn't say no. Granddaughter lives in Deland and we are in Ocala. When we picked up "Jagermeifter" we call him Yeager, he loaded, could be handled, had thrush, but was a gentle animal. We put him out with our retired Paso Finos, mare and gelding and our donkey and all was good . About August he started showing signs of interest in our mare so he was gelded. We have had the thrush beaten, we've worked with him bagging him, he ties, cross ties, leads, and he's very gentle, doesn't bite, the blacksmith comes and trims all the animals about every 3-4 months, our son did get on his back and with halter and lead line walked around the yard with him.
Grandpa and Grandma are too old to work with this animal, Granddaughter is here only every 4th weekend, horses are not on the list of high priority when she does come. Please call Grandpa Roy at _____________ if you think Yeager might be a horse that could work for you."

What do I do with that? I really just want to email them and tell them no one should be walking around on a horse that isn't even 2. And the farrier only comes every 3 to 4 months? I know I'll just send them a polite email explaining he's not what we're looking for but.... I just couldn't keep this one to myself.

[WashingtonBay]

I did remove the phone number.

Uh - yeah - tell them whatever you think they will hear. They're a disaster.

[outriding01]

Now if only I could spell....

Oops, didn't even realize the # was in there. Thanks WB!

[TheRedHayflinger]

i SO feel your pain.

I was the equestrian director at a Boy Scout camp for a few years...

the first three years I was there, we used a place that the previous Eq. Director had found. Hated them...they'd send unbroke 2 year olds, pony stallions, studdy looking and acting geldings, buckers, biters, lame horses, horses that reared. I personally broke out the 2 y/o paint gelding and the 3 y/o pony stallion. The paint was a lapdog type horse by some luck...and the pony stallion wasn't half bad either, even though I was the only one that could ride him and we had to make a separate paddock for him (the camp would not back up my decision to send him back as I could ride him myself... oi! So I just kept the kids away from him)
my last year there, I had to go hunting for horses as that place dropped off the face of the earth. At the last minute I found a facility in PA (i'm in OH) that leased out horses to riding camps...AND she cut us a deal as she was well aquainted with the BSA program!!! We got 6 geldings--15-30 years old, sound, with tack for 10 weeks for $1200. We used to get 10 from the other place for that price, but my wrangler and I each brought 2 of our own horses to have out there...so we still had 10!

[WashingtonBay]

Now if only I could spell....

(I fix that too ;))

You're welcome :)

[Miracle Whip]

Having the farrier out every 3 - 4 months is not a horrible thing. I ride on gravel a lot, and only have the farrier out 2 or 3 times a year.

But if no one is working with them or rasping their hooves, then that is another story. Heck, be glad they even have the farrier out. I'd reply and ask if they worm the horses just for giggles, and maybe inquire about where they are located.

It could be a scam mail too. People seem to enjoy pulling our chain and it is APRIL FOOLS DAY.

[outriding01]

True MW, but I figured the horses were pasture pets since they said the Paso Finos were retired.... and these don't sound like the type of old folks who are going to get up and go out on a 5 hour trail ride any time soon, lol. Plus I googled the email and the name matched with a realator in Ocala, so if she's spending her time playing April Fools pranks she must not be worried about any money issues like the rest of us. I should have asked about worming, lol. I just politely mentioned we were looking for broke horses and as horses really shouldn't be ridden until 3 years old, that Yeager probably wasn't the best fit for our program....

[lisakaye]

My Brutus would be a great horse for your program but I live in NY and have no way toget him back and forth. I wish I could help..

[John Boy]

Have you tried other horse type camps that may have extra horses for leasing ?

Just an idea..

(Those trail ride outfitters for tourists may have extra horses to lease as well)

[outriding01]

TRH, that sounds like a nightmare!

We don't lease any horses, we take loans. The camp doesn't pay for any of the horses, we just provide their food and care for the 2 months they're here. I guess if a camp wanted to send us their horses for free that would be fine, but most of the camps in the area that I know of run on the same kind of deal, or lease their horses.

[TheRedHayflinger]

my first year I was just a wrangler...let's see...what did we get
-pony that was barely bigger than a mini...uhh...we had Boy Scouts..not Webelos. Most of them were taller than me (i'm 5'2). Only kid small enough to ride that one was the Eq. Directors 7 y/o son who was very petite
-a known kicker (he nailed a few people in the stomach the year before). I actually liked this horse and got along with him. I rode him quite a bit
-a very underweight BLM mustang
-unbroke 2 y/o Paint gelding
-unbroke 3 y/o Pony Stallion
-a gelding that even I had a hard time getting a bit in his mouth, the scouts couldn't even try....he'd been banged on his teeth too many times
-a gelding who tossed his head a lot (I ended up with a broken nose, a bloody shirt and missing 10 minutes of my life the day after we got him and I rode him up to main camp....was just standing up there, me on his back, and he tossed his head back and nailed me)
-a known bucker
-a hothead arab/tb/paint/appy gelding that only the wranglers could ride...would do mini rears, bolt, scared of his own shadow half the time
-a studdy looking/acting gelding that sometimes bucked
-a mare in constant heat (seriously..we sent her back the next day when we found out she had been in heat for 3 weeks already at that time, plus we had the pony stallion there....didn't want to give him ANY girls to fuss after!)
-a gelding that had some weird neurological issue going on (we sent him back the next day and he died hours upon arriving back home)
-a gelding that bit just about anyone
-one sweet little bay gelding with absolutely NOTHING wrong with him...lucked out...they had purchased him and the gelding that bit listed above at an auction on their WAY TO THE CAMP to pick up "heat" mare and "neuro" gelding.

The next year we had some of the same....my known kicker that I adored had died in the off season from colic (they told me they tied him up and when the vet came out the next morning he was already dead....that just made me ill)..and they sold the barely bigger than a mini as a cart pony to some amish kids...We got a nice 25-or so year old TWH mare and her 3 y/o daughter though....the 3 y/o had 60 days professional training...more than that paint gelding the year before at least. They did take back the studdy acting gelding though because one of their ranch hands had been teaching him to buck, and no one could ride him on the trails.....so they brought us this big black QH mare. Lovely thing...had to be kept in the back of the line though as she kicked.

Then the next year we didn't get the TWH mare or her daughter..the mare broke 2 legs and was put down and the daughter was sold...they sold the pony stallion...we sent back the known bucker as, he didn't buck the previous year...but he was just as bad as teh studdy acting guy (which they tried to sneak in on us again....seriously folks? he was missing half an ear...you can't hide that..lol). They came up 2 horses short for us...so one of the guys on the property committee donated 2 of his horses for us to use...an ancient QH and a TB...both of which were bolters.

oh..and did i mention that not one of these horses, except for that older TWH mare, was older than 10? LOL

My last year we had 6 wonderful geldings that you could put anyone on, plus my two ponies and my wrangler brought two geldings. It was....so NON stressful!


I will say though, I'm proud I NEVER had a kid fall off in the 4 years I was there!!! staff fell off a LOT...but never a scout that paid to take the merit badge or go out on a trail ride :D (I really do not know how that happened! LOL)

[outriding01]

Wow, I really hope my summer doesn't turn out like that! We have a week with the horses before the kids come and I have to get on all 20 for evaluations. Any that aren't completely kid safe go home. Hopefully I'll still have enough left when the kids get there! We have 32 kids a week, split up into 2 groups of 16 that come out to the barn for 2 hours each. Onc at the barn, each group of 16 is split up into 2 groups of 8 to take turns riding for an hour and learning horse care for an hour. We have 4 weeks of western, 2 weeks of english, and one week of both. So hopefully I have enough that will do either english, western, or both.

[rocknK]

All I can say from my years a a Girl Scout Dad, Good luck, you'll need it. Frankly, the girls were cool, the parents, not so much.

[outriding01]

Haha, thank goodness I won't have to deal with parents much. They drop the kids off on Sunday and pick them up on Friday and that's it. Phew!