Horse Farm, is it legitimate?
My 10yo son attended a Horse Camp over spring break. I do not really know all that much about horses, but we went on a horse ride and my son loved it so I signed him up for class.
The owner mentioned that my 2yo and I could not ride double because of their insurance.
At the end of the week I invited family and friends to watch his Horse Show. My family was enraged! My mom and aunt grew up in 4H barrel racing and participating in Horse shows, first, my mom said that there was no way the suspension bridge they had would be covered by any insurance, it was supported over a river with only plastic construction support stuff ( looks like plastic orange chicken wire) and attached to 2 not so big trees. My mom said that my son, who was wearing tennis shoes, should only be allowed to wear a boot with a heal while riding, his helmet did not fit and was falling off as he rode and to my embarrassment, my mom said the horses were terribly malnutritiioned for horses used for a business, she saw water blisters on their backs and she said they were filthy. She said she could hardly stand there. I felt so bad for my son who spent a week learning something he really enjoyed the wrong way and I spent almost $400 for the week and I am not even sure if these people have insurance or the right to be running a horse camp.
I do not know what to do. 1) I want to turn them in. 2) I would like to know how I can find out if they have insurance and what requirements washington state has for Horse farms and if they should have anything else for Camps. I did not sign an insurance waiver, I did sign a release of responsibility I think on the enrollment form, but nothing that was directly brought to my attention about safety.3) Does anyone know what steps I can take to find these things out and possibly turn these people in before someone gets hurt…a person or a horse. I know to call the BBB but I also want to find out if they have current insurance, if not, they should not be running that kind of business and someone needs to turn them in, if they are insured, the insurance co. needs to be notified to go out and check what they are insuring.
I have looked up their business license through the IRS website and it is current, but so far that is all I have been able to find.
Please Help!
Thank you!
I have been googling state laws and can not find anything more than a business license. I need to get more information from someone who knows how to run a business with horses. They have camps, trail rides, teach lessons, teach CIT, teach lessons, bday parties, and they lease the horses too. Again, I know NOTHING about horses except I rode as a kid, but never had my own. I do not even know what a water blister is, my mom also said the tarp that they have fixing roofs, harbors mosquitoes that can kill horses? While we were there, 2 horses bit my 2yo and they didnt even bat an eye, I kind of figured I should have kept his hands away even though he was being nice, I thought I should have made sure he was holding his hand right, now I understand that they are angry and probably hungry. I feel so bad and a bit ignorant. They have no business having these animals, it is sick they are making money off of neglected horses and endangering people at the same time. It has to be stopped.
I have been googling state laws and can not find anything more than a business license. I need to get more information from someone who knows how to run a business with horses. They have camps, trail rides, teach lessons, teach CIT, teach lessons, bday parties, and they lease the horses too. Again, I know NOTHING about horses except I rode as a kid, but never had my own. I do not even know what a water blister is, my mom also said the tarp that they have fixing roofs, harbors mosquitoes that can kill horses? While we were there, 2 horses bit my 2yo and they didnt even bat an eye, I kind of figured I should have kept his hands away even though he was being nice, I thought I should have made sure he was holding his hand right, now I understand that they are angry and probably hungry. I feel so bad and a bit ignorant. They have no business having these animals, it is sick they are making money off of neglected horses and endangering people at the same time. It has to be stopped.
Tags: Construction Support, Embarrassment, Helmet, Horse Farm, Suspension Bridge
Well, since you don’t know a lot about horses, it’s not your fault for thinking they were an OK business. Your best bet would be to call the police and humane society and tell them about it, they will take over from there. i own horses myself and mine have never gotten rain rot, and I think its caused by having inadequate shelter or non at all. The horses are already hurting, and all it takes is for one to decide he isn’t going to put up with the bad treatment anymore, and seriously hurt a child. They need to be put out of business and the horses need to be taken away.
Ask the owners for their insurance, call the company and ask any questions you have and if they don’t want to discuss it tell them your child was possibly put into danger.
Call your local Humane Society, or the sherriffs office and report the malnourised horses.
Report them to the BBB.
You can google state laws and should be able to find everything you need.
Is there not an Horse Riding School Association, as we have an Australian Horse Riding Centres Association that ensures horse treatment is good before and while horse riding schools are running
. Try looking for one of these. Hope this has helped 
xx
Washington state laws and statutes equine laws…………….
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My links should provide you with an assist with some of your questions…….
First of all, Supermom, I am extremely sorry you had such an awful experience. Camps like this one are NOT all that uncommon in the horse industry, which, unlike most of the major industries in the United States, is largely unregulated. You were duped and taken in by these people, and your mom was probably right to be outraged at the condition of the horses. Also, NO LEGITIMATE organization EVER permits kids to ride horses in sneakers or athletic shoes, for safety and liability reasons. My thinking is that the people who run this so called camp are probably doing so because they are looking to make a quick buck in any way they can, and they have chosen this route because they know there are people like you out there who aren’t knowledgeable about horses and are easily duped. The thinking they have is similar in a lot of ways to that which people who run puppy and kitten mills have- they are out to make a quick buck any way they can, and they really could care LESS about the welfare of the animals, or if anyone gets hurt in the process. The only thing that matters to people like this is the pursuit of the almighty dollar. I agree with you that people like this need to be STOPPED- but doing so is far from a simple endeavour, because if you manage to stop them in one place, they will just pull up stakes, move somewhere else, and start all over there without so much as batting an eye about it.
Your best bet is to contact the local police or animal control officers in your area, and report what you have seen and experienced to them- and get your mom, who is a horsewoman herself and knows what she’s talking about, to do the same. After all, your son is HER grandson, and she has EVERY RIGHT to speak up on BOTH her own and on his behalf, not to mention on yours. The next thing I’d do is try to find out which organization, if any, has given this camp its accreditation, and contact their offices, and report the unsafe practices which you have seen to them ( e.g., your son riding in sneakers, wearing an improperly fitted helmet, the poor condition of the horses and facility, and the lack of an appropriate student/ instructor ratio) and ask that the camp be investigated. Most camps which have horses and offer riding are normally accredited by either the American Camping Association ( the ACA) or CHA, which also known as the Association for Horsemanship Safety and Education. Sometimes, a camp will have BOTH accreditations- the one I worked for in Michigan, which was a YMCA camp and Outdoor Enviornmental Education center, was an example of this. All the instructors at that camp were CHA certified, and the camp has been a member of the ACA for decades. Since you mention that this camp your son went to supposedly has a CIT program, then it has to have been accredited by someone somewhere, or legally, they couldn’t use that as part of their advertising. Both the ACA and CHA have a formal grievance process, and both have mechanisms which allow consumers like you to file formal complaints against organizations like this. Their websites are and. If you file a complaint, it will be investigated, and if your allegations are proven correct, the camp will lose its accreditation, face fines, and may even face legal penalties. You can also contact the local BBB, as you have said you are going to do, and file a complaint with them- and I’d get in touch with the local Chamber of Commerce as well, and let THEM know about your experience, because most businesses of this type depend HEAVILY on COC referrals to get customers, especially during the summer months. Word of mouth is one of the best ways in the world to shut an organization like this one down- and having the people at the COC on your side will help enormously, because the visitors who come to your area will hear about what happened from them, and take their business somewhere else as a result.
Still another thing you could try is contacting the local health department about the unsanitary conditions which you and your mom noticed out there. Your mom is right about the tarps harboring rainwater being a health hazard- they are, to people and horses alike. Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and their larvae, and mosquitoes transmit and carry a whole HOST of diseases, many of which are FATAL to both humans and horses. Sleeping sickness, Equine Infectious Anemia ( also calledswamp fever in some areas) West Nile Virus, rabies- these are just a few of the examples of diseases which mosquitoes can carry and transmit. Also, if the stalls or paddocks are really filthy and in poor condition, the health department inspectors have the authority to issue citations and require the owners to either fix the problems or pay fines. In extreme cases, places like this one can also be shut down by the health department.
Good luck- I hope this helps you out with your quest to put these people out of business, which is where they need to