Monday, February 21, 2011

Even I Was Speechless!

This just might be my LONGEST post EVER!! It was a BAD deal LOL!!

So I'm back...again...Rodeo season...Busy time! We just finished off finals tonight at the Winter circuit DD runs in and boy I am EXHAUSTED!! But even in my exhaustion I just have to share this with you all. As most of you know it is not typical to find me speechless or quiet about something that is bothering me and boy let me tell ya...I am speechless! Let me start from the beginning, last Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon the Hubby calls and says our friend Cowboy S is taking his kiddo's over to a local indoor arena to practice for finals and thought we should come too. So Sis and I get the trailer hooked up and the horse loaded ready to bolt when Daddy gets home, we were running about an hour behind our friend but we had the arena for the evening so no big deal! We get to the arena and there is a lady there who is *coaching* Cowboy S's daughter on poles. I thought this to be a bit strange because lil T doesn't need any coaching, she's pretty well trained in all of her events but I just figured that Cowboy S decided to bring in another voice...So this lady (we'll call her TW) has a teenage daughter with her and I soon realize that I have seen this girl at the rodeo over the Winter. She stands out to me because she absolutely does not look like a horse person *I know I'm labeling* but she just looks like this super quiet and timid girl but having seen her rodeo I know she is not timid at all. So withing a few minutes TW starts talking to the Hubby and I while DD is doing her warm ups with Krissy. I'm not even sure how all this came about but within 5 minutes of talking to TW she starts saying she doesn't like DD's saddle. She needs to ride in this other saddle that she has in her trailer and she then basically tells DD to follow her out to her trailer so she can switch saddles?! So off we go and I was thinking to myself *well maybe she is wanting to sell this saddle and I am needing to get DD a new saddle because if she grows another inch her legs will be to long as she's already on the last hole! So TW pulls out this saddle and it's a pretty nice Billy Cook barrel saddle that has a deeper seat then DD's does. Then TW says "hey just take the saddle and have DD run the finals with it, I think she'll do better in this saddle", so we go back in and DD goes to trot the pole pattern and TW starts telling her exactly what she is going to do when she goes...Like she's never run the pattern in her life...?

So I just kind of let her talk to DD and thought well maybe she can help her in some areas that we've been having some troubles with. TW comes back over to me and proceeds to tell me that her daughter (we'll call her JP) has run a 19 second poles at the rodeo we've been running in and I'm thinking in my mind I don't ever remember her running this 19 seconds but whatever. She then goes on to tell DD that she IS NOT to be loping her horse when she is warming up, she's to ONLY do that at home when she is practicing so the Hubby pipes in and says "this is HOME practice for her" but again whatever...Then we get into talking about all the WRONG things DD is doing...And according to TW pretty much everything she does in wrong...She is NOT to kick her horse when she's running home, she's NOT to use her reins when weaving the poles; legs only hands still...My thought is she needs to be lifting inside hand slightly to her pocket...But no that's wrong! OH and we'll be taking her spurs away soon!! Oh and our saddle pad, all wrong! We need to go to this certain store and buy this certain saddle pad that they sell...HMMM...Well that is exactly the pad she had on her horse FROM that store LOL! So when we say that she says "OH well get a thicker one then"! "And um why are we running her in the bit we are"?! And on and on!

We then decided to put the barrels out and immediately TW starts bossing DD around about what she's to be doing during the barrels and how to do this and that! OMG lady! DD has a very short tolerance for people who are overbearing, dominating, bossy, loud...But JP (the daughter) went out to the barrels with her and DD didn't mind that so much so they worked for a few minutes and then they start talking about how they want to help DD and "train" her. Mind you she doesn't really give you the option to say no she just pretty much tells you what you are doing?! I was so baffled! But even I was speechless! SO the Hubby said well we'd be back to the arena Thursday night and they said "oh they would love to come back and work with her". We left shortly after that and asked DD what she thought of the lady and she basically said she did kind of like the daughter JP but wasn't so sure about the mom.

I then had the Hubby call our friend Cowboy S and find out if he'd asked her to come and he says "NO she just showed up there and started bossing lil T around" LOL!! He didn't know her from Adam! OH crap is what we were thinking! But we went back on Thursday and they were there waiting on us. JP takes DD and shows her a "proper warm up" as her mom views...No 10 minutes walking, 10 minutes trotting, and *if* in an arena with soft footing then a few minutes of loping. NOPE she has to walk her around for a couple of minutes and get right into work. (Of course before all of this we agree on stretching the horse and flexing).

Basically TW then starts barking orders at DD and she isn't liking this lady's mannerism's at ALL! I could tell that she was getting very annoyed but again thought maybe just maybe she'd have something of value to offer. But basically she just wants to stand there and tell us that she "knows everything about training people to run barrels and poles but she will NOT get on a horse"...Say what?! You know everything but you won't ride?! She stated to me something about an accident she'd had decades ago and she is forever never riding a speed horse again, she will only get on a grandpa styled horse. But back to her MASSIVE amounts of knowledge, all gained from the multiple barrel clinics she has taken her daughter to, probably "$10,000 worth of clinics"... Oh and by the way sometime in here she has mentioned that there are a lot of people who "dislike her" because she will tell them what they are doing wrong on their horses...Even the fastest runners there...UM OK...She also told me if I was friends with this one certain lady then SHE could not be my friend! If only I'd known how bad this was going to get I would have pretended to know the lady she was speaking of LOL!!! So they move onto working poles and she starts again talking like DD has never run them in her life, I can't tell you how many times we told her that DD's been rodeo'n for years! And yes still *learning* to ride this horse that we bought last April.

I could tell within a few minutes in that DD was getting frustrated but daddy and I just kept telling her to push on. Finally TW tells her to walk around the arena with her hands on her saddle and she's NOT allowed to touch the reins, she must use only her legs. Which I thought was a good lesson, DD definitely needs lighter hands so this exercise I thought could help. DD was doing fairly well with this until Krissy walked up to the gate and wouldn't respond to leg to move out so DD reached down and grabbed her reins and pulled Krissy to the side with a little more than light hands. It was more like an instinctive act to back her quickly out of the bind but she did pull a bit to hard and TW looks at me and says "do you hit her", I say "HUH"?! She says "smack her for her attitude, cause if that was my daughter I'd of yanked her off that horse by her hair and thrown her on the ground and ask her if she liked that"! Then she proceeds to tell me that she's done just that to JP when she was 4 years old the first time! I just looked at her and said "I'm not afraid to discipline my daughter when she does something wrong, she knows"! So then she turns to my Hubby and says "I expect you to pull her hair tonight and if you don't the next time I see you I'm going to kick you in the balls"!!! DD comes up then and TW says to her "Do you ride bareback"? DD says "no not with Krissy, I did with my old horse though" TW says "well your going to, that's going to be one of the things you will be doing" DD says "I do NOT and I will NOT ride her bareback"!!! Mind you this statement was made simply because DD was feeling railroaded by TW, we have talked about riding bareback and we quite frankly haven't had the time!! And yes I did tell her she must not speak like that to an adult or *else*! Finally I just told DD lets load up, and of course TW wanted us to borrow this saddle for the weekend and we MUST have the matching bridle because she CANNOT stand mismatched things. "So can one of us stop by Friday to get it"?! Hubby says sure he can do it.

After we loaded up in the truck DD starts SOBBING and I'm like "Child what is your deal"!! She then goes on to tell us that TW had told her when she was over talking to her at one point that she had to give up EVERYTHING else that she loves like dance, cheerleading, soccer, because there is NO room for anything else! Which is exactly what she told me she made her daughter do, she had to give up track because she has to ride 5 horses a day!

Then Friday afternoon Hubby calls me after he leaves their house and says "oh boy, I walked into a war path"! When he got there JP was zooming off on her horse and calls her mom and "F...ing B"! Then TW and her husband are screaming at one another! My honey was FREAKED out! He said "I think they might all be crazy"!! Well lo and behold the bridle doesn't even fit Krissy *giggles* so DD was going unmatching LOL!! And TW informed the Hubby they'd be out Sunday to watch DD...

Saturday morning DD rode in their saddle for poles and decided she just did not feel comfortable in it and wanted hers back on so her and her cousin go switch saddles and all is right with the world! While we were at the rodeo on Saturday I asked a couple of friends if they knew who this lady was and they were like "she is CRAZY! Get rid of her as fast as possible"!! I find out from this one friend she is banned from one arena for some trouble she caused then another friend tells me of another arena she is banned from! HOLY COW!!! I did get some giggles cause my sweet friend who is here in bloggyland with us AND our kiddo's rodeo together tells her daughter "who is wanting to work with DD" and her daughter looks at me ever so slowly and says "NO! She will ruin your child, she does NOT know what she's doing"!! She said "tell DD to stick close to me if they show up cause they hate me"! So I'm beyond freaking out now because I know they are coming on Sunday and I really DO NOT want to see this lady! I literally could not fall asleep Saturday night cause I was worried about what I'd say to her!

Sunday afternoon she comes walking up and the Hubby see's her so he high tails it outta there! JERK! LOL!! But within 30 seconds of him being gone P's sweet daughter comes buzzing up and plops down next to me with this sweet grin on her face HAHA LOL!! (the Hubby ran to her and told her t rescue me)! It was so hard not to burst out laughing! So TW starts asking how DD did Saturday and I told her no time in poles (broken pattern, DD blames the saddle of course) and got her personal best time in barrels of 15.6! I told her that DD's pole run was better today but DD is not using her saddle and she's like "WHAT?! WHY?! She needs to be in that saddle"!! I just said well she's a creature of habit and she didn't feel comfortable in it. So then somehow we get on the topic of DD's horse not being a "trained barrel horse" that she has been used all around and P's sweet daughter was explaining that Krissy is broke as broke but is still green on the patterns so that makes it a bit more difficult for DD and then TW just goes off! She starts spouting about a "good rider doesn't need a patterned horse! They need to learn how to ride and that horse will do whatever you tell it to"!! Little miss sweetness just smiles at her and says "well I disagree with you because I want my horse to know he has a job and I know my job" So then JP (TW's daughter) pipes in and says "what's your fastest pole time"?! Little miss sweetness says "20 seconds yesterday"!! JP says "EGHH mine is a 19"! Okay just to clarify she did NOT have a clean 19 second run, I have found 1 time that she could have had a 19 but knocked down a pole because her recorded time was 24 seconds! So I call BS on that LOL!! So then the topic of polo wraps vs boots come up and Little miss sweetness says "she would prefer to use wraps because her horse tears boots up to fast and they are to expensive to go through them so fast", of course TW says "OMG NO WAY!!! If you use wraps your just asking for your horse to get an injury"! She would not take into account that Little miss sweetness knows how to put them on properly! The Hubby finally sits down and TW gets up and moves over by him and proceeds to tell him all about how WRONG Little sweet miss was about these wraps etc! And the Hubby said "I don't know why your telling me, I don't care either way"! So finally Little miss sweetness just had enough and had to walk away!

TW then looks at me and says "just so you know SHE is absolutely WRONG"! I was peeved! So I said right back at her "actually I don't have a problem with wraps and I don't think they are dangerous if put on right, Fallon uses them on her horses and I highly regard her opinion so I'll stick with them on this"!! So she says "well she wouldn't if she had REAL horses like $100,000 horses!" I spouted back "UM for your information she DOES have $100,000 horses"! Then I got up to go help DD get ready for her barrels and I really needed a breather! Then after the run she starts telling us that when the Hubby came by on Friday they were fighting because JP did something and they were in the trailer washing something so she had a wet towel and cornered JP because she was stuck and couldn't get out then proceeded to whip her with this rag and (in a really proud voice she says) "She had HUGE welts everywhere!! That's what MY kid gets if she's snotty"!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Again I am at a loss for words! This poor child! DD came walking up right after that and TW says something to her about her run and literally DD acted like she wasn't even there! WHOA!! Daddy quickly informed her to pay attention when someone is talking to her LOL!!

Now she (TW) has a whole plan for what DD is going to be doing from now on...She is NOT going to rodeo on Krissy anymore, we are to come to her house and get this other horse that DD will rodeo on, she's 21! Then her daughter says "MOM you don't even OWN that horse"! TW says "Oh it's fine I already texted his owner and they're fine with that"! Hubby seen what she was typing and she told this guy "OH I have a buyer for your horse"....Then her daughter JP looks at me and says "if she's riding this horse and I EVER see her being heavy on his mouth I will yank her off that horse"!! Really?! Well the apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess! Of course the Hubby was just trying to pacify her until she would leave by pretending that he'd come get this horse!

Finally she did and the Hubby looked and me and says she basically ran her mouth about everything you were saying everytime you'd get up! What the crap?! And you didn't put her in her place LOL!! He said she turns to him after I walked off once and says "UGHH who's this stupid Fallon Taylor that SHE is so adamant about listening to"? Hubby says "umm she's a well known pro barrel racer who lives in TX"!! TW says "UGHH OH I know who your talking about....She's nothing but a glorified horse trader"!! Seriously lady! You MUST get a LIFE!!!

And let me tell you PRAISE THE LORD I had a very strong feeling about this and I never gave her mine or the Hubby's phone numbers when we met her last week, I only got hers LOL! Now I know we will run into her soon at a barrel race but she'll be so pissed by then that she won't speak to me LOL!!




7 comments:

  1. Whether it's raising kids, playing a sport, buying a car, some people just have to feel like they are the best at something. Politeness is one thing, but as I've gotten older, I've gotten better at discharging the static cling in people like that.

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  2. I agree with LF. Sorry, there's being polite to someone and then there's letting someone you barely know get all up in your business. DD had the right idea trying to ignore this bully and personally, if anyone ever suggested they were going to yank my daughter's hair or yank her off her horse, you can bet I'd be following that up with a little premonition of my own...that they would; first be picking themselves up out of the dirt and second would be going to jail for assaulting my child.

    Can you really blame JP for her attitude? Sounds like this kid has been verbally, mentally and physically abused for years now. Is that what you want for your daughter? At someone else's hands?

    No-It's time to return this lady's stuff and tell her Thanks, but NO Thanks. You are NOT interested in her 'help'. DD has made real progress with Krissy. If you think she needs additional help with her hands and cues, find a real trainer/instructor to work with her.

    Wow-You always come back with a bang don't ya...LOL. ;-) (hugs to you guys-you are way too nice of people)

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  3. Why are you being so kind? Get rid of the saddle and see what you can do about getting that person banned from another arena.

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  4. Oh that is just nuts.

    I hate pushy people.

    And when is it EVER okay to pull your child off a horse by their hair. Or to whip them until they have welts. Oh my Lord. I seriously wish you would have said something to her - to completely get out of the entire "I'm working with you and training your daughter" thing... that is just utterly presumptuous on her part.

    And to try to push you into buying a horse? Or a saddle? Or training time with her?

    Frankly, I'm a wee bit proud of DD for sticking up for herself. I'd have a hard time taking it if someone was talking to me like that too.

    Good riddance - hope she's out of your life soon!

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  5. Good Lord! That lady needs a smack to the face!
    Sorry for the conflict :\

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  6. It's EXACTLY that kind of "Horse Person" who caused me to not pursue showing on at a higher level than youth.

    No way I would have been able to hold my peace with her. No way...

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  7. Me, I'm speechless right along with you!

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