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.