Bad Luck in the Family

It's been a very long time since my last post, almost a whole year!  It's been an absolutely crazy year so far.  Yada and I were taking lessons this summer with my friend Hannah and doing so great!  Finally I have Yada's canter under control and she is just fabulous on her right lead canter.  I'm so in love with this girl!  She's just perfect.  This winter we've also done a bunch of lunging and she can finally free lunge in perfect circles around me in the arena.  I can't wait for the snow to go away and lunge her in the big outdoor arena and see if she can canter just as nicely in a bigger space.  It's also weird to think that Yada will soon be seven years old in March!  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this girl.  =]

To go along with all of this good stuff, we've had a lot of bad luck in our family.  This summer, my aunt's Dachshund, Ratty, needed spinal surgery.  She came home and he was dragging his back end.  So instead of buying a no turn riding mower for her farm, she got surgery for Ratty.

After that, my aunt had a lot of issues with her leg and the doctors were talking about possible amputation if things didn't go well.  Luckily, things healed up and she still has her leg.  This is the same leg that she had surgery to remove tumors and it's the reason she can no longer ride horses.  She had to take a lot of time off work, teaching chemistry at a college, and now she's healed up.

In November, we had to put our Spanish Mastiff down due to his hips causing him too much pain.  He was on triple the pain dosage just to be comfortable enough to lay down.  A couple of weeks later, I got my mom a kitten to keep Brie, my mom's long coat German Shepherd, company so she wouldn't be home alone while everyone was at work or school.  Four weeks after, when we were getting his second round of shots, we mentioned how his eye had changed.  The iris was getting darker and he started to get spots on his cornea.  After multiple blood tests, we found out he had FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) which is untreatable, uncurable, and 100% Fatal.  According to vet research, the longest a cat has survived after diagnosis is 24 months.  The least amount of time is just weeks.  Knowing he was terminal, we opted out of neutering him and decided not to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars treating any symptoms he might have because it would not lengthen his life.  Tuesday, February 2nd, I noticed him really struggling to stand and walk.  His back end was losing control.  He was already losing sight in his left eye so he was clumsy without his depth perception, but this was different.  Wednesday morning, he started losing control of his bowels and he started having diarrhea.  That's when we decided it was time and we said goodbye to our kitten, Guinness, at 3:30pm with our vet who originally diagnosed him.  Eye issues, URIs, neurological issues, diarrhea, lack of appetite, and such are all symptoms of FIP.  It can be spread through feces and we're assuming that's how he got it.  After you have a cat who has FIP, you should wait 30 days - 6 months before bringing another cat into your house and throw away all toys, dishes, and litter box to avoid future infection.  Wash all blankets or surfaces this cat has been on.

Also, Wednesday morning we heard that my uncle (married to the same aunt with leg issues and the Dachshund) had collapsed and was headed to the hospital with the EMTs.  My cousin, thank goodness, happened to be home, heard him collapse, and had to be talked through CPR to get him breathing.  It took a while to get a pulse back with him in the ambulance.  My aunt had just left for work 15 minutes before this happened and headed straight back.  Doctors had to do a lot of tests to see if he had a heart attack or a stroke.  He had to be under a medically induced coma and needed a neck brace in case he had any injuries and he needed a breathing tube.  Friday morning, he was finally responding to voices and moving all of his arms and legs.  That rules out stroke! YAY!  We discovered he had a heart attack due to an arrhythmia in his heart.  Today, he got his breathing tube out.  We're all very happy with his progress, even though right now he is still in the ICU.  We've done a lot of phone calls and text messages to stay updated so that way my cousin and aunt can tell one person and that person tells everyone else.

However, to go along with this, a neighbor's dog came over, there was a fight over dog food bowls, and the neighbor's dog attacked and killed Ratty.  My aunt is devastated and if she sees the neighbor's dog near her property again, she can't promise that dog will make it home again.  Sounds like that dog needs to be contained on a leash, in a fence, or on a run.

Hopefully this is the end of the family's bad luck.  I'm not sure how much of this I can take but hopefully my uncle keeps improving and can make it home soon!

Just nuts...

Everything at the barn and in my life has been pretty steady and quiet. Nothing crazy happening for the most part until my mom was scheduled at work to be in a room she normally is not working in at the hospital. One of her coworkers thought it was kind of funny and snooped a bit to figure out why.

As the tale goes, a certain woman named Jill Schnedler came into EMMC for some procedure. I do not know what it was for and I really could not care less. Jill Schnedler asked a bunch of the staff if my mom was working and where. When she found out she was, she requested my mom be somewhere far away and busy because apparently my mom is a stalker! WHAT?!  Of all the things, my mom is not a stalker and of all the people to stalk, Jill would not be the one to go for. In fact, if Jill disappeared off the face of the planet we might celebrate!

It has been since July 4th, 2012 that we have seen or been around Jill. We really want nothing to do with her. I cannot stand the woman for all the trouble and lies she has been causing and spreading.

Jill Schnedler at Coldbrook Equestrian Center is just getting crazier and crazier. Just let it go, lady! We have tried but you keep butting your way into our lives over and over and will not give it a rest.

Water Test

Another thing I seem to always forget to mention: Someone really should go out to Coldbrook Equestrian Center and ask for a water test. New horses that go to Jill Schnedler's barn refuse to drink her water. I can't quite blame them! I wouldn't drink water that smelled like rotten eggs either. Jill Schnedler doesn't drink it either, she drinks bottled water but the animals can drink her water. That's not an issue at all. Fun fact: She told me rabbits could die drinking her water because of the iron content. Too much iron in a rabbit's diet can kill them. Imagine what that's doing to the horses and dogs and any other animals she has on her overcrowded property.

Slander

It seems as though Jill Schnedler really can't help herself but to spread lies in order to try to convince people to stay at her barn and financially support her.

This brings us to the latest update on Jill Schnedler's slander against me.

Sandy, my barn owner's girlfriend, worked at Blue Seal for over a year. She just quit in order to manage my barn full time and to stay at home. A Russian woman was going in to Blue Seal and asking if she could sell pumpkins there to support a local "horse rescue". When asked where the rescue was, Sandy was told it was Jill Schnedler's barn. Well, the owner of Blue Seal already doesn't like Jill because Jill came in for hay, filled her truck to see how many bales she could fit before paying, and then just drove off without paying for any of the bales. Obviously, the answer was no to selling the pumpkins.

Another woman was coming in to Blue Seal to buy a few bags of grain or some bales of hay here and there for Jill Schnedler. She was taking some riding lessons with Jill and she felt like she could help out with her "rescue" by giving Jill some grain and hay whenever she could. After a few months, her money started running a bit short and Sandy warned her that Jill would bleed her dry, just as Jill Schnedler tried to do to me and my mother. She accepted the warning but was sure it would never happen to her. After a while, this woman, whom I do not know other than through this account from Sandy, stopped taking lessons and stopped buying grain and hay for Jill because she just couldn't afford it anymore. She had bills to pay, like a responsible adult. Jill messaged her once or twice on Facebook about different things the "rescue" (Manes Danes & Everything Maine) needed but this woman figured if she ignored Jill then Jill would just go away. After two months without going to Coldbrook Equestrian Center or speaking to Jill Schnedler at all, Jill Schnedler texts this woman out of the blue and asks if she can buy some grain and hay for her "rescue". She says that she can't afford to keep buying this stuff for her. In response, Jill sends her this long text ranting and raving about ME! WHAT?! This woman was reading this text to Sandy at Blue Seal one day and says "Jill is texting me about this person... Kiley? Kill? I have no idea who this is." Sandy reads this and says "OH! That's Kille. She's at my barn now. She lies about Kille all of the time! She left because Jill Schnedler was trying to rip her off."

Not only does Jill spread her lies about me (still), because every responsible woman in her 40s who is trying to run a business should be bad mouthing and slandering previous boarders, but she is still trying to suck people in to her business. She has this woman who was trying to sell pumpkins conned into possibly moving her horses to Coldbrook Equestrian Center. This woman has also set up a webpage for Jill. ( http://www.coldbrookequestrian.com/services.html )

The most unbelievable thing is that Jill thinks she can charge $400 for board at her barn that is currently leaking whenever it rains, needs a new roof, and the indoor arena is falling over. Slowly, but surely, it will fall over because the foundation is rotting away. She would be lucky if anyone wanted to pay $200 to stay in that heap of trash! Oh, but it gets better. There is a $50 discount for "prompt payment". So pay ahead and you only have to pay $350. When I was there 2 years ago, I was paying $350 for board... unless you ask Jill Schnedler. I didn't pay board for 7 months according to her. Even though I was there only from the last day of February through July 3rd. I have no idea how 7 months got squeezed into that amount of time!

I have considered sending Jill a cease and desist through a lawyer but Jill Schnedler, Manes Danes & Everything Maine 4H, Manes Danes & Everything Maine Equine Animal Rescue, and Coldbrook Equestrian Center are not worth my time, effort, or money.

I'm waiting for the day this Russian woman is bled dry by Jill... and her horses are starved. I feel bad for her, her teenage daughter, and her two horses already!

In other news

So a couple of days ago I took Yada and a girl from the barn rode Stitch on a short trail ride. I was happy to see that Stitch did very well! He even overcame his fear of bicycles. Those big scary things with two wheels that could jump out and bite you at any moment! We would have gone farther but both horses started acting like jerks because of the bugs and wouldn't go too far from the barn so we eventually had to turn back because it was useless to force them further. Next time, we'll go with some other horses as well to boost their confidence and have a good time.

I also hear that someone, unknown to me, drove by Coldbrook Equestrian Center on a 70 degree day and saw a horse with a rain sheet on (though Jill never puts rain sheets on her horses, let alone when it's that hot out) and you could still see the bones of the horse's back and hips. That's disgusting that this happened and she's calling herself a rescue since this is the very horse I went to New Hampshire with Jill to get two years ago! She wasn't that skinny then and we thought she was thin when we got her. 

Word travels quickly, Jill Schnedler and people are watching. I wish the State or Town would step up and do something but only time will tell, I suppose. Karma's a bitch and she's waiting, I'm sure. I'll just sit back and wait it out.

Scammed her way out?

It appears as if Jill Schnedler has scammed her way out of foreclosure on her property... for now. How long can she really keep this up? She hasn't paid on her mortgage since May 2012! Keep that in mind if you ever want to go to Coldbrook Equestrian Center, or Manes Danes & Everything Maine, or Manes and Danes Equine Rescue. She's only a "rescue" to receive state funding to feed her animals, I'm sure, because she doesn't have the money herself.

In other news, a woman called the Animal Control Officer on my barn owner. She claimed the cows and horses were ALL skinny. Well, being a responsible owner and knowing the horses aren't skinny at my barn, I called the Town Office and filed a complaint against the ACO. The State came by the farm and even said some of the horses were FAT! Imagine that. Apparently we aren't the first to complain about this ACO and "the State is going to deal with [her] on their end". Good. She obviously has no knowledge of large animals.

I also started working at Acadia Woods Kennel in Bar Harbor as the office manager. Yay! I have been bathing dogs and helping the groomer there on Fridays since mid-January and the former office manager submitted his notice and the owner needed someone to fill the position so I was offered the job! The job comes with a free apartment above the kennel so I no longer have to drive to work, I get two days off a week, I work only 10 hours over the weekend total, and I can kennel my dog here for free. All pluses, especially the kenneling because my dog has separation anxiety and doesn't fair well in the apartment alone, hence why he's never lived in apartments with me. We tried for one month and that was disastrous.

Another great perk about this job: I get to have Chase regularly groomed! I don't have to travel anywhere and the groomer here (who is fantastic) doesn't have to feel rushed when grooming an 83-lb Rough Coat Collie. Nothing is worse than when someone brings in a dog with tons of hair and wonders why he/she won't be done until 5pm. Sorry, but it takes HOURS to completely dry a dog with that much hair... and collies dry quickly in comparison to dogs like Newfoundlands and German Shepherds because their hair doesn't hold the water in. Poodles also dry quickly but they also require a lot of brushing and clipping. Luckily, Collies don't require clipping and I hate groomers who clip Collies unless it is 100% necessary or specifically requested by the owner. Chase has left 4 groomers over the years due to their decision to clip him after we clearly stated "Do not clip him anywhere unless there is a mat you cannot remove."

Gosh being a groomer is tough! I try to help out when I can, even when it's my day off and I have nowhere better to be.

There is just one disadvantage to living and working in Bar Harbor: I'm 45 minutes away from my horse (as long as tourist traffic doesn't make it worse). At least I only work until 5pm and I have some days off. That means I do have time to visit Yada at least a few times a week! I'm going to start planning it out better so I can see her a minimum of 4 times a week and we're going to really get into the work-out routine for her to build up more muscle, start taking some lessons with Carrie Dixon, and get her in shape! I do love living in this area so far and on weekends I'm going to start going out and enjoying the island more! Adventuring Acadia, hiking, and whatnot. It's going to be fun!

Foreclosure?

As online research has revealed, as of February 3rd, 2014, Jill Schnedler at Coldbrook Equestrian Center at 214 Coldbrook Rd, Hampden, ME has until May 3, 2014 to become current on her mortgage payments or she will be in foreclosure and evicted from the property. Jill Schnedler has not made a payment to her mortgage since May 1, 2012. I happened to be there as a boarder during this time and I remember her fighting to get the money together to make this payment and it wasn't a full payment, either. Who knows when her last FULL payment was made? Probably never...

Since learning about this foreclosure, I have also learned that Jill Schnedler is still advertising for summer camp at her barn! Instead of "riding camp", as it once was, she now has "Farm Experience" because she doesn't have the horses to have campers riding anymore. Instead, you have to pay a $100 non-refundable deposit for camp and the rest of the camp fee must be paid BEFORE camp starts. All "Farm Experience" camps are $175 per week. If you fail to cancel two weeks in advance, you are still responsible for the whole $175. You must pay the $100 non-refundable deposit or she cannot guarantee you a spot in camp. In other words, she wants everyone to jump up and just pay her the money because it cannot be returned no matter what you do. Easy money, I would say! She also has one week of "Eventing Camp" and one week of "Dressage Camp". Both of these fields, she knows little as she hasn't taught either in a number of years and cannot execute any of it herself any longer. These both cost $250 for the week. You are still responsible for the whole fee if you do not give two full week's notice!

My favorite part about this: Camps start, and go every single week, in mid-June. Her foreclosure date is May 3rd. She wants everyone to jump on the wagon and pay the $100 non-refundable deposits for easy money and then no one can get their money back and she does not have to teach camp because she will be foreclosed on and evicted from the property. Quite the scam she has going here!

Please, everyone, beware of Coldbrook Equestrian Center and its scam artist, Jill Schnedler. She will milk you for everything you have and still try to get more out of you!

On another note:

There are more rumors about me coming from Jill Schnedler! In late April 2012, I drove down to New Hampshire to get a horse who she had at her barn in previous years: Farrah. Farrah is owned by a woman in Bangor, Cindy, and Cindy requested Jill to go to New Hampshire to get her back as she was not working out where she was at the time. Cindy gave Jill some gas money to drive down and we took it from there, we met up with Jill Schnedler's old high school friend (and she bought us a fabulous lunch) and then continued home. Just miles away from Coldbrook Equestrian Center, Jill Schnedler's truck ran out of gas. We called my mom to fill a gas can and fill it up to get us back as Jill had no money for gas at this point. Not only did Jill Schnedler never pay my mom back for this gas but she dared to ask if my mom would help pay for the gas for a horse that has nothing to do with us! How absurd! Jill Schnedler also tried to get my mom to like Farrah so maybe my mom would want to lease her and make it so Jill Schnedler did not have another mouth to feed with the money she did not have. She also asked us if my mom would let her borrow my mom's new Tundra. I was not even allowed to drive it so of course, we declined. No way were we going to let her dogs destroy my mom's truck!

Now the story goes like this: Apparently my mom wanted Farrah and FORCED Jill to go to New Hampshire to get her and then we REFUSED to pay for gas and then LEFT Farrah in her care and took no responsibility.

If you ask me, I think we could ask Cindy, Farrah's owner. I'm pretty sure she will say that she asked Jill to get Farrah and I'm pretty sure I was asked to drive down with Jill Schnedler. Quite honestly, I would have rather not driven down in her unregistered, uninspected Excursion that has no driver-side mirror and only one windshield wiper in the pouring rain on that dreary, awful day. I could have thought of a million other better things to do. We never forced her to do anything. We were nothing but helpful and appreciative until we realized we were just being used and abused by her.

I really hope no one else gets sucked in like that. However, whoever is managing her Coldbrook Equestrian Center and Manes Danes & Everything Maine Facebook pages is being sucked in. Jill Schnedler cannot even afford internet or her smart phone to update them herself and has conned someone else to do that advertising for her.

Please stay away from this scammer!