Recently, I asked members of the BuzzFeed community who are in the horse world — whether they are veterinarians, trainers, equestrians, farriers, or anybody else — to spill secrets and stories from the world of the wealthy set's favorite hobby. People's stories did not disappoint: Here are a few of the best.
1."In my wealthy summer house community, a banker owned a stable (for his daughters to keep their horses there and train, though it was open to other boarders as well). Some horses were privately owned, and some were 'lesson horses.' One lady who’d been riding one of the the lesson horses was interested in buying him, and the trainer sold him to her."
"The stable owner didn’t like that his trainer had sold a horse; I guess she owed him a lot of money, and he thought that she should have given him the horse for free. So, he put a padlock on the horse’s stall.
The lawyers duked it out, and an agreement was finally reached. It took forever. When it was over, the lady who'd bought the horse came and took him home, but she didn’t leave before doing one last thing. She shoveled as much horse shit as she could into the barn owner's open Maserati convertible."
—Anonymous
2."I went to school with a girl who owned 10 horses — the most 'affordable' one being $100k and her most expensive one being $400k. She couldn’t even ride; she just held on and hoped she’d make it around the jumper ring."
3."There is a current equestrian influencer who likes to insinuate that their former trainers were cruel, harsh, and have done nothing but stand in the way of their career. What they can't seem to grasp is that the real problem isn't the trainers, but their father."
"The father is desperate for fame and glory in the racing industry, and treats people terribly. This influencer has been kicked out of several barns for non-payment. Local veterinarians refuse to work on their horses without pre-payment, and I know at least four horses that they've owned that have died from colic on their watch. Having the father around is animal cruelty.
The influencer is a good rider, but if they don't wake up and realize that the father is a narcissistic conman who leeches off of them, future success will never be in the cards."
—Anonymous
4."I’ve ridden and competed since age 5 in the Hunter/Jumper show scene. I can attest that there tends to be a concentration of weird people in [the horse world]. Just a little quirky and strange. Everyone talks about their horses like they are literal people (probably like obsessed dog parents talk about their dogs)."
"The funniest thing for me is how quickly they become immune to how much things cost...and I'm not exempt. $1,000 for shoes in my personal life would be wild; I’d never spend that much. New riding boots for $1,000? Well, I’d hesitate for a couple seconds and then hand my card over."
—Anonymous
5."Honestly, this is more weird than juicy, but there’s a someone at our yard who cleans her horse's teeth every night with an actual toothbrush."
—Anonymous
6."I'm not going to name any names (it's public knowledge), but there was a scandal recently when it came to light that one of the country's biggest equestrians had been coercing a teenager into an affair. This trainer had been to international championships, and even the Big Greek Games, if you know what I mean. The power dynamic was not okay. I feel so bad for the young woman who came forward."
"The details of the story are unbelievable. Luckily, he got sentenced to federal prison. The whole equestrian world was really shaken by the situation."
—Anonymous
7."I groomed for an International Eventer and, much later in life, did the accounts for a very well-known riding school. Everybody should know that EVERY HORSE IN A LIVERY YARD IS USED FOR LESSONS."
"When the owner of the yard gets to know your routine, they will have pony club kids kicking your horse around the school when they know you won't be there.
On the other side of it, if you've booked your kid a riding lesson and the pony is actually a horse, run a mile. It is a livery horse being borrowed and may well dump your kid on the floor. Bonus points if the horse is being lunged when you turn up — they are trying to exhaust it before your kid gets on!"
—Anonymous
8."I worked as a groom on a horse farm. Part of my pay included a barn apartment. The wife of the couple who owned the farm decided that her husband must be having an affair with me."
"I had enough and moved barns, and she took over as groom. Interesting.
Then, while her husband was at a show, she found him cheating. He jumped out of a second story hotel window trying to 'escape,' and broke both his ankles.
His mistress was one of their biggest clients, so they were soon in financial trouble. I heard they split and sold the farm, but cannot confirm or deny that detail."
—Anonymous
9."During a lesson, I was riding a lesson horse, and he kept hanging on the reins, which was unusual. I finally told the trainer about it, and the trainer said I needed to stop 'hauling on his face.' The horse was pulling on me! This trainer was notorious for reprimanding people during lessons to make you feel bad about yourself in front of the riders around you. But during the lesson, the horse I was riding collapsed, and I had to jump off his back."
"It came out that he had a pre-existing heart condition. The trainer had been drugging him regularly with ace, unwittingly keeping the horse alive. Keep in mind, the horse was a retired Amish horse, so that may have contributed to his poor health.
Not too long after, the horse collapsed again and died. And when I showed up for a lesson, the trainer said I killed him.
That was fun."
—Anonymous
10."A mare was seriously injured, and the barn manager refused to call a vet or the owners. The vet happened to come for another horse a few days later, and I asked him to take a look at the mare. Turns out her shoulder was broken."
"The barn manager still refused to call her owners and stated that the mare and her foal were leaving for a cross-country trip to them. The vet said this was not a good idea and urged the manager to call the owners and delay the trip. They did not.
The mare died en route, and her nursing foal was orphaned. No big deal, though, as far as the manager was concerned because the mare was insured, so owners wouldn't lose any money. I got yelled at for going to the vet without permission."
—Anonymous
11."People who ride the hunter/jumper circuit would hate me for saying it, but it really is the 'wild west' out here. High-class horse trainers are some of the most entitled people in the world, and they act like they're doing people a favor charging them thousands of dollars for their lessons. Meanwhile, they're using cocaine, drinking beer at 10 a.m. in the training ring, and messily covering up for each other's affairs. And these are the people who teach children!"
"Really not everybody is like this, but in some groups, there are definitely secrets and embezzlement and all the rest. Don't let horse people's refined outward appearances make you think all they do is ride around happily and gossip with each other. They can be nasty."
—Anonymous
12."I am not an equestrian, but I build high-end barns and stables in the 'Winter Equestrian Capital of the World.' This probably comes as no surprise, but these people blow incredible amounts of f—ing money on their horses."
"I have built multiple barns that have cost over $15 million, and they only held, like, 8 to 10 horses.
Forgive my lack of knowledge of the terminology, but the people that take care of these horses day in and out are the nicest people on the planet. They know the horses better than their owners and trainers but get paid virtually nothing. I've seen horses LIGHT UP when their favorite person walks in, and it's never the owner or the trainer, it's always the person that works for the trainer.
Most high-end barns have live-in quarters for these people. I'm talking full-blown kitchens and bathrooms and bedrooms attached to a stable. One friend I made after we built the owner's barn would read to the horses at night before bed. He had such a beautiful relationship with his horses."
13."A barn I boarded at in the northern Chicago suburbs spent a staggering amount of money rehabbing a derelict barn so that it was fancy enough for a high-end hunter/jumper trainer to use for his rich clients. Well, the barn owners and the trainer fell out."
"The relationship 'formally' ended when the barn owner chased the trainer off the property by driving a bulldozer at him. I don't know if any legal action was pursued. The barn is still in business."
—Anonymous
14."Lots of horse people are so devoted to their animals, and it's really beautiful to see how a bond can form between a horse and a human. People seriously love these creatures, and I think it's great for young people, especially. At the same time..."
"At the same time, be warned: You will definitely run into some of the most entitled people of your life. I knew one girl when I was a teenager whose family had bought her three horses...because she wasn't performing well enough in shows. She wasn't very good at riding, and didn't care as much as other people did about honing the skill. She just had her parents buy her nicer and nicer horses, which were really well-trained so all she had to do was sit on it. Really, it was the horse winning the blue ribbons."
— Anonymous
15.Finally, as a palate cleanser, a very sweet story:
"I used to let a horse rescue have space on my ranch. There would usually be 10 or so horses and wonderful volunteers to take care of them.
One horse that came to spend his final days with us is still very memorable to me. He was pretty old, and had so much trouble lying down that instead of ever lying down, he would lean against the wall of his stall like Lee Marvin's drunken cowboy scene in Cat Ballou.
The poor horse, PoohBear, was totally blind but loved to be ridden and would let me ride him out bareback all the time. He seemed to enjoy it, as if he still had something to contribute to the world. He was very docile and would go wherever my knee nudged him and would stop with a gentle tug on his mane. I loved that horse dearly for the year he was with us until he peacefully passed on."
—Hank
If you have any great (or terrible?) horse world stories (even if you don't ride or work in the industry), pleeeeease let us know in the comments — I love reading about drama. Or, if you really wanna dish but want to stay anonymous, check out the Google form!
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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July 21, 2023 at 12:46AM
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