LittleRibbie
Well-Known Member
I spent Friday doing extra cleaning in the barn....removed all shaving, replaced all, organized tack and feed room, raked 2 large pastures, bleaching H20 buckets and just generally having a great awesome day out in the barn listening to some old Joan Baez and Carpenters music. The horses were loose in the yard enjoying the good grass....they were not clean....just muddy from the last nights rain but I planned on bringing them in later in the day to get them cleaned up. I heard my dogs really barking and carrying on down at my gate and walked down to see what the ruckus was all about. There was a Collier County Sheriff car and an animal control truck...um....They asked if the dogs belonged to me....well yeah, they were on my side of the fence and I was calling them by name to try to hush them up. I still had not opened the gate ... the sheriff had already taken out his gun ( didnt point it and it may have only been a bb type thing ) Im assuming it was for the dogs, 4 big loud German Shepherds.I asked if there was something I could help them with and the control officer said she has had reports of some very underweight and unhealthy conditions of horses and dogs on this property. Excuse me?? Well you can see my dogs and do you honestly think they look unhealthy or underweight?? Now Im shaking, fuming and a complete raving lunatic. No you are not setting foot on this property..do you have a warrant ( I have no idea if they even needed a warrant...I was just peeved off ) Who called you, What did they say exactly, One of my horses IS a Rescue,I do not mistreat any of my animals...by now Im in tears. My neighbors,all 2 of them are awesome and my road is a private road so unless you are coming to my house or the 2 neighbors no one would even come down it to see my animals...uncontrolable tears and getting my dogs even more upset. Thank heavens my husband drove up just when I was starting to loose it. Hes really calm and cool and just said let them come in...no big deal...what do you care...we have nothing to hide. Well to me it was the priciple....some idiot reporting ME. Any way after hubby got me calmed down I let them in but I made them walk to the barn....I didnt want them driving over my wild dogs... who have now decided hey they must be friends ...we will not eat them...yet. When we got close enough to the barn my husband whispered " the barn looks awesome have you been cleaning all day?" Well I must admit the barn did look nice and tidy. The only thing I would say looked bad is that I had not emptied the 4x4 and it was filled w/poop and had more flys than I would have liked covering it. Fly masks for all horses were hung on hooks,fly sheets for all draped over the fence ( I dont let them wear the sheets when they are loose as there are too many trees to catch on ..IMO its dangerouse w/velcrow straps ),soaking beet pulp along with enough coat shampoos,conditioners ointments and the like to fill a huge shelf at Tractor supply...all for the mistreated horses I assume!! They were both pretty quiet and didnt say much good or bad....I guess I would have liked them to at least say "Your little barn certainlly looks nice"....all they said was We need to see your horses. I called to them as I had no idea where they were I just figured they were on the other side of the house eatting....sometimes they come right away and sometimes I need to bang the food dish...this time no food dish was necessary...I was so proud...they all came trotting from across the yard like perfect little horses. I think the officers were a bit surprised...no skinny horses here....muddy yes but not skinny and not mistreated. Finally the animal control officer said....I love it when its a false alarm..your horses look great and looking around have one of the nicest little barns I have seen in a long time...usually we go on these mini horse calls and the horses are just thown out in the yard because kids have lost interest... they should all come live with you!! Now Im happy again but it did ruin my nice day I was having. I did tell the sheriff if he ever wanted to bring his kids by for a carriage/cart ride to give me a call...I hope he does because they were both very nice in the end. They were just doing their job.
Still have no idea who called but I did have a visitor a couple weeks ago that came by ( right thru the closed gate ) about 8 pm and just starting to get dark wanting to know if I had any horses for sale. I told him no but he wanted to just look any way...told him no it was too late and horses were in for the night. My husband was not home and this guy was sort of creepy anyway. He came back w/kids a couple of days later...right thru the same gate that says no tresspassing and asked if I had any for sale...once again NO and then asked if the kids could just pet the horses. This may sound mean but my dogs are not used to small children so unless my husband is here keeping an eye on them w/me I dont feel comfortable letting children run around with my dogs loose...especially people I dont know!! Once again I told him no. I have to believe this was the person who called. I do have a sign hubby had made for me last yr. that just has my farm name on it and the house #...it does say miniature horses but doesnt mention sales/breeding or any thing like that...from the road, thats private, that is the only indication that there are horses here. On the other side of the property is a golf course and we did have a slight problem w/people feeding the horses but signs have stopped that and I dont think any of the golfers would have called. I have met most of the people that do walk over to see the horses on occasion and they all are very nice.
Anyway sorry about the long post and thanks for letting me vent. Heck...Im just an old red neck living a quite life w/my animals...never even a speeding ticket in my life and never been arrested for anything and to have 2 police vehicles parked at my gate....what a way to ruin a nice Friday!! Heidi
Still have no idea who called but I did have a visitor a couple weeks ago that came by ( right thru the closed gate ) about 8 pm and just starting to get dark wanting to know if I had any horses for sale. I told him no but he wanted to just look any way...told him no it was too late and horses were in for the night. My husband was not home and this guy was sort of creepy anyway. He came back w/kids a couple of days later...right thru the same gate that says no tresspassing and asked if I had any for sale...once again NO and then asked if the kids could just pet the horses. This may sound mean but my dogs are not used to small children so unless my husband is here keeping an eye on them w/me I dont feel comfortable letting children run around with my dogs loose...especially people I dont know!! Once again I told him no. I have to believe this was the person who called. I do have a sign hubby had made for me last yr. that just has my farm name on it and the house #...it does say miniature horses but doesnt mention sales/breeding or any thing like that...from the road, thats private, that is the only indication that there are horses here. On the other side of the property is a golf course and we did have a slight problem w/people feeding the horses but signs have stopped that and I dont think any of the golfers would have called. I have met most of the people that do walk over to see the horses on occasion and they all are very nice.
Anyway sorry about the long post and thanks for letting me vent. Heck...Im just an old red neck living a quite life w/my animals...never even a speeding ticket in my life and never been arrested for anything and to have 2 police vehicles parked at my gate....what a way to ruin a nice Friday!! Heidi