Look how fanceh!
So I guess I'm going to be moving to a new barn in the next few weeks. A few reasons:
a.) They are paving our dirt road. I really don't want my horse breathing those fumes. Also, our farm maintenance (another reason) has recently gotten pretty shoddy. I don't want her to break an ill-maintained gate and get hit by a car.
b.) Our new barn owner is a complete a**hole. He drinks our drinks from the fridge, orders ALL of the boarders around like lackeys, and invests as little time and money into the barn as is possible. He builds big bonfires and burns tires. It's ridiculous.
c.) Arena maintenance. Said new owner refuses to put anything into our arena. Like fixing the harrow so it can be dragged. My horse nearly faceplanted today, and her stifle slipped. Not riding in the main arena ever. again. The footing is horrible, and it floods every time it rains.
d.) Pasture conditions. Our drainage is terrible. Fencing is safe, grass is high-quality, but when it rains, we have several inches of standing water.
e.) Ridiculous new rules. I can honestly understand having certain rules for safety, but not being allowed to take our horses in grassy areas because he wants to have a nice lawn? Really? Maybe we wouldn't have to ride in the grass if our arena wasn't constantly flooding. It's not like our barn is super nice, either. We are a back-home eventing barn. We're kind of the redneck joke barn at all the nice shows. Our riders are great (well, our competitive ones), but none of us are rich.
f.) And one more new owner thing. He has no sense. None whatsoever. He has left the pasture gates open six or seven times since he took over, and all the horses have gone all over the property. And then it's up to the boarders to make a mad dash for the gate to keep them out of the street, grab leadropes and longe whips, and start trying to corral them to safety while he sits around playing with his backhoe.
So I might be a little prejudiced against the barn owner. But it's a matter of safety. Paige is moving as well, and Katie may too since her father and the owner had a huge fall out the other day.
I am going to miss Millennium. I have all but lived there for six years. It's where I grew up- I know every knot in the pasture fencing, every bump in the driveway. But when it comes to safety, I don't have a choice. I'm going to miss the social aspect so much. As annoying as the perpetual drama is, it keeps things interesting. And everyone has known everyone since we were little. God, Wendy (Sarah's mom) taught me to ride. She still seems to think of me as the chubby little girl with the paint pony. And I babysat Maddie when she was little (I'm six years older than her.) I remember when Claire *wasn't* six feet tall, lol.
But whatever, you know? Sometimes you just have to move forward. And it's not like Twin Gaits is that far away (actually, it's five miles down the dirt road, but set back.) It will be a better move all around, financially (it's a better value and tendon injuries cost a LOT of moolah), it's safer, it's more professional. All the riders are dressage re-riders, with one hell-for-leather eventer. There's even a professional dressage trainer campaigning a PMU horse at fourth level. It's awesome.
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