How do you deal with barn gossip? I tend to ignore it, but in some situations it can get way out of hand and leave people avoiding the barn rather then enjoying their time with their horse. Do you get the barn owner involved? I once was at a barn that had multiple trainers in the facility and the gossip got so out of hand that the barn owner had us all have a meeting. I've never seen an example of more poorly behaved adults then I did at this meeting, a lot of screaming went on and everybody left with a new found gossip story. The situation was allowed to get way out of hand, this was over a year in the brewing pot. I think the barn owner should of stepped in long before it came to that point.
If you are a barn owner, how do you handle these situations?
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Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway. - John Wayne
“Integrity” ‘An uncompromising adherence to a code of moral, artistic, or other values: utter sincerity, honesty, & candor: avoidance of deception, expediency, artificiality, or shallowness of any kind’
“Respect” ‘To show consideration for, to avoid intruding upon, to notice with special attention, to regard to consider, to view, treat or consider with some degree of courtesy’
“Trust” ‘Confidence; a reliance or setting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship, or other sound principle of another person or thing’
If one cannot cowboy up to these then they are not welcome, pure and simple as that.
I agree that the barn owner shoudl have stepped up in that case. I know a lady who, after starting her dream of a boarding barn, found herself crying everyday from the harsh attitudes of the boarders. People should know better, but they often don't. Authority should be exercised and people shoudl be told to hold their tongues on barn property. More likely then not, they are going to talk, but there is a time and a place.
Post barn rules and list reprecutions if they aren't obeyed. If there is a problem the barn owner/manager should step in and end it. The barn is a fun place to be as well as a place of business. If you want to cause trouble go else where.
Well said, guys. I think the barn owner needs to develop thick skin for dealing with situations like these. And there is something to be said for selective boarding...
I totally agree with you guys that posting barn rules and pointing to them can be helpful. But in this case, I think the barn owner was in a difficult situation. The barn was housing over a 100 horses and sometimes steady money is better than empty stalls.
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Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway. - John Wayne
I used to ride at a barn where other boarders and some of the staff would sit in the lounge and criticize every rider who went by. It was the culture of the barn and it all started at the top.
I then moved to a new barn where it was made clear that there was zero tolerance for that sort of thing, and we were all on the same team. What a breath of fresh air - everyone rooting for everyone else!
Gossip only exists if there are ears around to give it life. I walk away. I am there to spend time with my horses. If more people would just turn a deaf ear....
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A horse doesn't care how much you know until he knows how much you care.
I walk, too, trying not to giggle too directly. If the gossip involves me, I figure someone else is safe for a while : ) I am a fairly private person to begin with and pretty well self-contained. I don't engage in other people's affairs willingly, nor do I go out of my way to inspire gossip.
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"....there is no normal life, Wyatt, there's just life..."