Complaint Review: Fox Creek Stables

When the main bedding runs out, she uses free bedding that Don gets and it doesnt soak up anything and is basically fluffy filler. The aisle is pocked cement. The area for hosing a horse off has a small post that a taller horse could impale himself on, let alone a young horse. 

The arena is large, but gets VERY dusty. They rarely drag it but it stays somewhat level. There is usually a dip in the footing on the rail, all of the way around. Since none of the boarders are really active, its usually empty. They dont water it, either. If you want it done, you have to do it yourself. Also, when the bedding gets packed down, they dump everything from the stalls into the arena. That means that you are riding and working in piles of crap until they decide to drag it.

When it comes to feeding, they use an 11% feed. Any time you ask for an adjustment in your feed, be prepared to argue. When I asked for a little more hay due to the horses dropping weight, she told me she would put more outside, where you cant guarantee that your horse is getting it. They will feed outside feeds, but you have to provide it. If you want them to feed your feed rather than their own, she only deducts $15 a month. That doesnt cover anywhere near what feed costs for a month.

Horses are fed their morning hay in the pastures. The pastures are basically glorified dry lots. They are not large. Any time that it rains or the ground gets wet, the horses are standing in mud nearly to their knees when by the gate. They throw the hay out in the muddiest part of the pasture as they are too lazy to walk it out, therefore your horses are standing in deep mud to eat their hay. Out in the pastures, the gutters from the arena are hanging off and full of moss; if they fell, they could injure a horse pretty badly. There is also no shelter other than the windbreak of the arena, but with no overhang.

The owner of the property has no regard whatsoever for the condition that the buildings are in. They repainted the barns, but there are shingles flying off into the pastures, gutters hanging off into the pastures, severe drainage problems and a driveway that could swallow a tire.

There are four water tubs in each pasture, but they are empty more often than not. They plain out REFUSE to put water outside during freezing temps. They let horses stand out there without access to water all day. I put out a 100gal tank with a deicer in my horses pasture and they refused to fill it. I was told that if I wanted my horse to have water, I had to fill it myself. That cost $180 in supplies just to give my horse water during freezing temperatures. I also ended up having to fill it every other day due to the four other horses drinking their fair share of water. The other pasture was not getting ANYTHING because I could not afford another tank/deicer.

To see videos pertaining to the issue, please visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4VUPRPuzI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lymvze4BRjI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUGt8hnRiDw

The water problem is not isolated to the winter, however. More often than not, I would show up to empty buckets that were dry as a bone. I had to fill them myself or leave a note and perhaps it might get done in the next couple of days.

 There is a guy who lives on the property and is supposedly the caretaker/ maintenance guy. He thinks that his way is the only way and will yell at you for the slightest thing. When I watered the arena so that I wasnt choking on dust, he yelled at me. When I put in the deicer so that my horse could have water, he yelled at me. His horse is secluded by himself and does not have any manners. He also basically is rude to any visitors to the barn that he doesnt know. Oh, and when he HELPED ME to put in a new tie ring on his barn for bathing, he then turned around to complain that my horse would pull his whole barn down by being tied there. While its nice to have a watchdog, it would be nice if he didnt bite.

As for how the barn manager treats the horses, they are basically in a machinated routine and disciplined when necessary. However, she did not care that some of the horses had toes that were curling up due to not seeing a farrier for a LONG time. My guess is that the majority of them do not get wormed either.

At one point, the barn manager was in the hospital for an emergency. Not her fault, but there was no one who knew what to do at the barn. That meant me getting up extra early to help another boarder feed, turnout and clean stalls before school for nearly a week. I was not compensated for this whatsoever.

My contract was terminated when I made issue of the horses not getting water and/or receiving compensation for having to provide the service myself. Her horses were also getting the benefits of the water I put out for my horse, so the water went down pretty quickly.

The main point of issue here is with the stall deposit. In the contract, it states:

15. SECURITY DEPOSIT: Concurrent with the execution of this Agreement, owner will deposit the sum of $100 as a security deposit. This security deposit will be refunded in full (less any remaining balance due Stables) no later than (15) days after the last day of the month in which board is terminated. 

I put my deposit down and paid for everything. I had no bill remaining and if anything, she owed me for not providing a service that I was paying for (providing water). I got a check for $50, only half of the deposit amount. She claims that it was due to the 'early termination' of my contract. In no single place within the contract does it speak to the manner in which the contract must be terminated to receive the full deposit back. She is still refusing to provide the rest of my deposit.

She is a thief, plain and simple.