The agent that I work for offers this to all of our customers every other year. None of the other agents I know does this though. It is a great customer service thing and our customers love it.

so my daughter works at a pizza parlor (is that what they're still called?!) and is having problems with two of the girls there. My daughter is very sensitive but she is NOT a crier and last night she got in the car and cried. She has been working there for a lil more than a month. For the last 2-3 weeks she has been saying that two of the girls are being very, very rude to her. One of them is a 17 year old pot smoking, drinking, sleeping with her on his way to jail boyfriend who works there almost full time. This girl was basically mocking my daughter because daughter doesn't go to "Friday" night parties and has never gotten high or drunk. The other girl is a year younger (15) and rides horses as does my daughter. My daughter is a better rider (they are in the same lesson) and has a wall of ribbons to prove it so it's not just me being an obnoxious mother. I feel like these two trash cans are trying to make it so horrible for my daughter that she will just quit but she will not do that. She has a horse to pay for and she WANTS to work. I on the other hand don't want her to go back there. She wants me to call her boss, which I am totally fine with but.....I don't want to sound like an overprotective bore of a mother who thinks her kid can and does no wrong. She's not perfect believe me but I am very, very proud of the person she is and she DOES NOT deserve this abuse. Her boss is a young guy who drinks alot himself but he, from what I understand, is a business man when he needs to be (he owns the pizza parlor), SO....what can I say to him...by the way, his brother owns another pizza parlor in town and I was thinking of asking him to transfer her over to the other shop. What would say or do? Thanks so much!.....EDITED TO ADD.....I don't want to call her boss as I think it would be better coming from her but I want her to know that I will if she can't do it. I just told her this and she is fine with it. She said "we'll see how things go". I also keep telling her to just do her job, do it well and leave when she's done. So much easier said than done, at least for me.

I work for the company where you are in good hands and we don't do that. We do go and look at the outsides of peoples houses but not the inside. I would call.

Are you sure you don't have a problem with Christianity? The reason I ask is because of your "closer to Jesus""thing". Just wondering as I'm thinking you might but not really even know it. Anyway, my daughter who is now 16 was in your son's situation at his age. All of her friends dumped her she (and I) was devasted. I felt so badly for her mostly because I would think back to how many friends I had at that age and my heart was broken for her. Fast forward 3 year and I have an independant, public schooled 16 year old who is a leader, who doesn't have and doesn't want tons of friends. She is friendly, popular, not overly outgoing but she's not a wall flower either. She is perfectly content and happy with her aquantainces (spelled wrong I know). She doesn't have a best friend or a good friend and she is fine with that. She and I spend ALOT of time together and I am so grateful to the Lord (yes, I'm a Christian) for that. I'm telling you this to let you know that even if they don't have friends as young teens, they can grow up to be perfectly happy. I didn't know it then but I know it now and I want to encourage you that friends aren't like they were back when. Your son will be just fine.

Okay, really, why didn't you say something to her? The poor thing probably didn't know her fanny was showing and she would probably have been so embarrassed if she did. Even if she was wearing the tight pants to "attract" boys, I really doubt she wanted her rear end hanging out for all to see. I totally would have taken her aside and said something, to not have said anything would have been wrong. Please guys, when you see something that isn't quite right, SAY SOMETHING! Wouldn't you want someone telling you your fly was open or your fanny was on display for all to see? I sure would!

"I have some connections to some of the "behind the scenes" people and have met some relatives, etc"....this is what I consider gossip. I often wonder about people who say they know this or that about a person but never come out and say what it is. I have to believe that those people just like to fuel the fire.....as in this case. If you know something....say it, if you don't want to say it then don't bring it up, my gosh, get over yourself. That kind of stuff makes a person as obnoxious as Kate. Not to burn anyone on this board but I've read some posts on here from parents who have less than perfect kids....wouldn't that be calling the kettle black? Why oh why do you guys care so much about this family?

First let me say that I don't appreciate or like who Kate and Jon have become but in reading all of the posts so far, I have to say that most of you are being very rude. Yes, the kids have issues as do their parents, but why rip the woman apart, especially when I doubt any of you know her or her situation personally. She and her husband made a choice, a long time ago that has turned out to be a horribly bad choice, but it's done. Obviously the kids are affected by it, but these kids are no different from the very kids in our own neighborhoods. Let's move on to something more important and let this family work out their problems. Hopefully this will be the end of this show...which by the way has become incredibly boring....and let's remember that this very thing could happen in our own homes. I'm sure that all of us have much better things to do than to sit here and bash someone they don't know. I know I do.

Poor thing. I hope he's feeling better today. Will pray for your boy. Have you heard anything from the vet today? I know the Lord cares for animals. He has answered many of our prayers for our horse.

I would say something like this in the ad: Fly’n Hoof’s Mocha is a 4 year old registered QH mare. 14 hh. Could possibly obtain her pony card (check with local pony clubs). W/T/C. Has her flying lead changes consistently. Green over fences but is schooling 2’ and is doing well. Has been shown successfully over cross rails. Stands for farrier, loads, stands for vet. Up to date on all vaccinations. Easy keeper. Doesn’t wear shoes (don’t mention anything if she does wear shoes). Turns out well with other horses. Currently being used in a lesson program. Nice pony but needs more training to work up to her potential. Sadly, current owner has outgrown her. Don't mention that she is trained in jumpers because I don't think she has been....jumpers is where the horse goes around the ring as fast as it can over jumps that get raised higher and higher after every clean round. Jumpers can jump over 5'. This horse is not a jumper and most likely won't ever be. I think your ad said that she's been shown in hunters, but has she? I know you said shown over cross rails, that's not hunters. Hunters is where the horses jump courses and have to look a certain way. Not sure I would say that unless she has been in hunter classes at shows. Again, "I" wouldn't pay $5000 for this horse but I'm not sure what the market is in your area. Around here, she would probably bring around $1000 and that's because she's a QH. Maybe with alot more training she could bring something closer to what you're asking but I don't think she's a $5000 horse. What made you decide on that price? I'm wondering if your trainer is actually a trainer or just a riding instructor. The reason I ask is because she doesn't really seem to be giving you good advice....not sure if the horse will get bigger....said she's a medium on the bombproof scale...(never heard of a medium before). Maybe you could call some of the bigger hunter barns in your area and ask them if one of their trainers could come out and take a look at your mare and give you some suggestions. I know you love this horse and want the best for her, but I feel like you're shooting yourself in the foot with that big price tag on a green "hunter/jumper". I would also take the jumping pictures off the ad like you mentioned. Try adding a video if that's possible, of the horse going over crossrails and cavaletti's and doing lead changes....show people what she can do.

I will say that I haven't read all of the posts so forgive me if I'm repeating anything. Please don't get mad at me for what I'm going to say because I don't mean to sound rude...just honest. We are currently selling a horse and looking for another so I am in the same boat as you sort of! This is just my opinion though so take it for what it's worth. I've been doing this for about 30 years. Congratulations on your daughter and her equine for all of the work they have done together by the way. As for the jumping pictures, I don't like any of them. The horse's knees aren't even and she doesn't look balanced going over the jump. If I'm going to pay $5000 for a horse, it has to jump better than that, way better than that. It needs to be doing 2'6" consistently and well. The things that you've written about Mocha aren't enough. You say she knows her leads but what does that mean? Does she have her auto lead changes or does she do simple lead changes? Can she be ridden English and Western? You say that she's won many championships but what are they? She is adorable but she is very, very small (does she have her pony card?) Can you list her as a pony? You might get more hits if you list her that way. You say she's a 5 on the bombproof scale which says to me that if I was looking at a horse this size, it would be for a smaller child and I would want the horse to be closer to a 1 or a 2. She's probably still green which isn't good in this instance being so small (for a smaller rider who is most likely going to be inexperienced). She is going to grow some more which is good. Can you put a video on the ad showing her lead changes and going over more jumps? What is this horse best at? You should figure that out and market THAT ability....the jumping isn't going to sell her because she needs to be better at it (I am SO sorry to say that as it sounds mean and I so do NOT want to sound rude). $5000 is alot of money to spend on a horse these days, at least around here (NYS). One good thing is that she's a QH and well trained Quarter Horses are worth their weight in gold, but she's not at that point yet. So all of that to say...for me....your horse is over priced and not trained well enough yet and your ad doesn't give me enough information to want to pursue it. You have SO much competition, so your ad HAS to stand out among all of the others. You can list her on Dreamhorse.com too. Bigeq.com is another one. I wish you the best and I hope Mocha ends up in a wonderful home. By the way, she is really cute!

I don't know how much per pound but a square bale was $3.00 for second cutting when I was buying it.

What were your horse's symptoms? Faith Manor, I think it might be hard to find a vet who would put a horse down for the symptoms you are talking about. I know around here it would be. We are in a similar situation with horse. She is starting to go lame and can't progress at the level my daughter is, but I can't even think about euthanizing her. She still has alot of good walk/trot in her so our situation is a bit different from the OP. We are going to do our best and pray alot about finding her a good home.

I don't want to minimize her episodes but I am thinking panic attacks too. Why? Because my 16 year old daughter used to have them. She still says that she didn't sleep on a particular night, even though I KNOW she did. She went through a very hard time when she was 12 too. We had been going to a particular church since the day she was born and had made friends....one of whom was her very, very best friend. Well, I took my two girls and left that church...when she was 12 and EVERYONE that we had come to know and love dumped us. My girls had NO friends left because we had made that church and the people our lives. They (we) were devastated. This is when she started having the panic attacks. Visits to the ER were becoming more and more, doctors couldn't find anything wrong but she would have some of the same symptoms that your daughter is having. It is SO scary and I know that many many people think panic attacks are for the weak but that's not true. I'm not saying that your daughter's symptoms are definately panic attacks but I think they might be. If so, that's a good thing because most likely when her life gets more "normal" again, they will go away.

Thank you so much for writing this. I've been a member for a little while and I used to homeschool. My youngest and only one in school now goes to public school at her choice. There are some great things about public school and there are so awful things about it. Same (for my family) went for homeschooling. I have made several friends on this board and do only keep in touch with them through this board but having said that, there have been several times when I've feared posting because of the responses I knew I'd get. I will admit that I have come on here at times blazing mad and my posts stating my anger were obvious. But I keep coming back and what I've learned is who I need to ignore and who I want to get to know or to keep the friendships going. Thanks for starting this thread though!

well, I won't be going to my doctor appointment tomorrow because I don't have any health insurance. I didn't know that though. Even though I am scared that I don't have any, I'm thankful to the Lord that I made the appointment or else I wouldn't have known. I happen to have a state funded health insurance and I make $130 a month too much at my job. My boss, thank the Lord is going to work with me to lower my wages so that I can hopefully get the insurance back but that's no guarantee and it could take awhile. Please, please be praying for me as I really need it. I also want you guys to know that when you post prayer requests I do pray, I just don't post that I do! Thanks!

So I will apologize up front for sounding yucky but I don't know any other way to say it! Last week one time when I went number 2....there was bright red blood on the toilet paper and the side of my umm....poo. It went away after that...until today when I went number ONE today and when I wiped "back there" there was a spot on the toilet paper of bright red blood about the size if a half dollar. It wasn't giggly like a clot, just bright red. Now I just assumed that one of my hemorroids popped but when I went online to look up burst hemorroids...they all said that hemorroids hurt really badly. Mine don't hurt at all and when these episodes happened it didn't hurt. If I had happened to have my period at the times, I wouldn't even have known that I had bled back there. I called my doctor and I am going in on Friday but now I'm afraid that I have colon cancer or something because my hemorroids don't hurt. Oh and one more thing, after the spot of blood this afternoon, I did go number two again a little while later and again there was some blood, not alot and along the side of the stool....so now I'm obsessing about it and when I "pat" up there, there are little pin sized dots of blood on the toilet paper. Has anyone ever had anything like this? Again, I'm sorry for being yucky but I wanted to say everything....and mom2twinboys....I was going to tell you about this when I talk to you tomorrow!

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My daughter who is 16 is starting to be bullied in school. Why? Neither she nor I have any idea. When I tell you that she is bright, self confident, honest, pretty, not into the popular crowd, cares about her school work more than having alot of friends, courteous, mannerly, able to hold intelligent conversations with people of all ages, mature, kind, caring, responsible, friendly, has integrity....I am not lying. And I believe that all of those reasons are the reasons she is being bullied. I believe that kids who have no hope, who have no parental invovlement in their lives are sickeningly jealous of those that do and they feel they have to bully these kids. It makes me literally sick to my stomach. The teachers and the principal are aware of our situation and my daughter texts me several times a day keeping me updated on how things are going. For those of you who are wondering why I don't homeschool her again, she doesn't want to be homeschooled anymore. She actually loves school (probably another reason why she's being bullied) and she, SHE wants to make this work....if I had my way, I would pull her out and move to an island in the middle of Louisiana (I know they don't have islands there, at least I don't think they do) and just let her ride horses all day long, but that's me, that's not her. She doesn't want to run from these scum bags even though she scared of them. I am very proud of her and I KNOW that with God's help, she will get though this just fine. I know she will.

no I have a different name on there and I hope you don't mind but I'd like to remain annonymous. thanks!

Ma23peas....she doesn't have navicular thank goodness, she was tested for that this summer when she started doing this. We are going to pull her shoes at the next farrier visit. Her feet are terrible according to the farrier as most ex-race horses are so we are totally up on what is going on with her feet. I can't help but think it has something to do with the farrier but I also can't help but think that this is now a learned behavior. I do believe this horse is smart enough to really think alot of things. I just don't know. Also, to whoever mentioned putting this on the horse boards...I've already done that and believe it or not, no one on COTH had any answers either!

We usually just do ring work, inside and out and I agree that switching it up is a good idea but since there aren't really any trails around our barn, we are in a total hunter/jumper area that would be hard. I have my daughter doing alot of transitions to keep the horse always thinking. I'm wondering if she's not a bit depressed now though. Since we moved barns at the beginning of October, she only goes out about 2 hours a day where the one better thing about our old barn was that she was out at least 8 hours a day. I know she can adjust but it's going to take a while. She LOVES, loves, loves being outside and it breaks my heart that she can't do it now, but the one good thing is that at the old barn they were out in freezing cold and blasting hot weather with no shelter. At least now that it's getting colder (NYS) she won't have to be out in freezing temps and she BETTER be thankful for that! Since I think she's depressed I'm thinking of taking her off the Smartpak calming supplements to see if that brings any change in her.

Simka...he didn't do a full blood work up at that visit but she had one done last year or something and she was fine. She is on Cosequin and a smartpak calming pellet but has been for awhile. I never think of "learned behavior" because I never think they are smart enough which is silly becasue this horse is smart as a whip. She has become very girthy in the last couple of months maybe right around when all of this started but she has never gone down when we've tightened her girth so not sure if that has anything to do with this or not.

Removing the wolf teeth is generally very easy and you have nothing to worry about. As for finding a new home. I don't want to bring you down anymore than you already are but that can be a very hard thing to do. We thought we had found the perfect home for our wonderful horse last year. The woman was great...at our barn, when she came to visit and ride the horse before she took her. After the horse got to this woman's cousin's barn, everything changed. She never kept her promise to keep us updated daily....she was doing a one month trial and said that she would give my then 15 year old daughter, who owned the horse, daily updates and pictures....she NEVER did any of that. We finally had to drive an hour to go check on the horse who seemed okay but something WQR, so we called her and told her we were coming to get our beautiful girl. When we got her home she was horrible...after only 9 days. She had a sore back (bad saddle fit) she didn't have her leads anymore, she was sour and she was very upset with us. We had let her down and she knew it and it took about 2 months to gain her trust back. It was HORRIBLE. This horse is my love and while she isn't what we need right now....she can't go any further in her jumping and my daughter can....I will never, ever get rid of her unless it is to someone I know personally and where I can go and visit her every single day if I have to. I know there are trustworthy people out there but with this economy alot of people are trying to get rid of horses and so my advice to you and to myself is to just pray and ask the Lord that if this is what He wants you to do, then to open the door for these beautiful animals to find the best homes for them.

my horse has us baffled. She is a 12 year old TB who has been off the track for 9 years. We've owned her for 5 years and she is quite spoiled. She has been doing something though that I have never heard of or seen a horse do and I don't know whether to be concerned or just annoyed. Around springtime this year, she was getting her shoes on...she has had shoes for about a year and a half, maybe more. This particular time though, she was AWFUL....rearing, striking out, walking away....she wanted to be outside where all of the other horses were. It took about 2 hours to get two shoes on and her back feet trimmed. The day (or two) after this, my daughter went out to ride her and when she went to pick up her front feet to pick them, the horse started to go down. I think she may have gone down on her front knees I can't remember. Well it FREAKED me out and I quickly called the BO over and asked him what it could be. He thought she could be colicking, which she has never done. (she wasn't colicking). This all happened while she was on the concrete on cross ties. We took her outside on the grass and tried to pick her feet up again and I can't remember if she went down again. She did this a couple of other times so I called the vet. He did a complete exam and she was FINE. She didn't even attempt to go down. Okay fast forward to the other day.....new barn.....the farrier was out last Wednesday and what I am going to tell you about now happened last Friday...two days after the farrier. I now "paste" her before the farrier comes with a calming supplement from SmartPak. This stuff works like magic by the way. So, she was standing on the cross ties again....remember new barn....(oh the Wednesday farrier visit) was PERFECT, she was a gem (love the calming paste) but when my daughter went to back her up....on the cross ties (probably to move her over or something)that Friday, she started to go down again. My daughter quickly gave her a smack on her stomach...and she stood up. My daughter seems to think that she was falling asleep and not paying attention. I'm not sure. She is perfectly fine when she's being ridden. At this new barn the BO is starting some Clinton Anderson ground work with her and the weekend before this last time it happened he was in the indoor with her. She was having a hard time backing up (because she's not really good at it in the first place, we don't practice it alot with her) and so I'm wondering if she's relating all of this "bad" stuff....bad farrier experience that one time and the back backing experience this last time....I don't know if she's smart enough to "play" us even though she is VERY spoiled or if she is truly afraid of something. I just worry so much about her that one day she's just going to tip over and die. Have any of you ever heard of such a thing? When we were at the old barn where she started this behavior, she did it several times but it seemed like she would really only do it more when she was standing on concrete. When she was in her stall she would start to go down on occasion but never when she was standing on the grass.

feel free to rein me in if you think I need it! My girls and I helped a friend out today with a Fall Harvest Festival that she puts on as a fundraiser for her equine therapy program, which is run totally by volunteers. There was a silent auction at the festival. There were at least 3 things that I was bidding on and I noticed that another woman was also bidding on the same things as I was bidding on. Anyway, the announcement came on that there were 15 minutes left in the auction. I went over by the table with all of the gift certificates to look at my bids and I noticed that that woman had outbid me on each one and that she and her friend were standing right by the table. Anyway....all of a sudden....I see that woman run up and announce that the auction was over. The SAME woman who had outbid me. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't care that I was outbid....but I don't think it's fair that this woman was running the auction and bidding on things. She chose when it was going to end and she made sure that she was the high bidder on all of her/my items. I am so angry but I am not going to say anything to my friend who hosted the fall festival because it wasn't her fault. I have no respect for this woman or her daughters....now I can understand why her daughters are so rude but boy am I mad right now!!!