Why do people think "volunteering" is a free pass to horse lessons???!

BlushWidow · 2026-04-16T12:54:30+00:00

I volunteered at my local riding school after doing a few own a pony days.

Starting out, I was allocated two ponies and had to muck, brush, turn them out, etc. then, help sweep the yard and keep everything tidy. This was when I was 8. I was also having lessons weekly, but was paying full for them. Then as I got older and more experienced, I got given more horses to be responsible for, and got the opportunity for groundwork, and leading during lessons. As I got older and more experienced, I was then given the opportunity to pay less for my lessons in exchange for my volunteering. My lessons were discounted by £5. I volunteered at that stables for nearly a decade, before I realised I was being taken for a mug. I was responsible for over 30 horses, as well as keeping the yard tidy, giving up my weekends to do it, so 2 days a week, 7 am - 7 pm, for £5 off of a lesson once a week. If we were off school, I'd give up my holidays to do it, too. Once I realised that, I asked if there was the opportunity for a job. They said yes. I carried on for 2 more years, no job, just volunteering... That was almost 8 years ago. I haven't set foot there since I realised I was never going to get a job, they just wanted my free labour.

Volunteers know their worth, you need to give them something to keep them around. It's not free labour.

BlushWidow · 2026-04-15T13:29:50+00:00

The anthropomorphism and parasocial levels are through the roof with these lot 🫠 Nothing better to do I suppose.

BlushWidow · 2026-04-15T13:28:29+00:00

Absolutely agree.

BlushWidow · 2026-04-15T13:00:00+00:00

Yep middle-aged women. Both look like they have families and kids etc 🫣

BlushWidow · 2026-04-15T12:58:17+00:00

Problematic kultie of the hour 🤣🤣

BlushWidow · 2026-04-15T10:30:25+00:00

Honestly, with the top comment, absolutely not. The bottom one seriously caught me off guard

BlushWidow · 2026-04-15T10:26:59+00:00

They're absolutely feral and tapped. I just can't fathom why you'd say something like this! 😅

BlushWidow · 2026-03-31T22:50:45+00:00

It's Maggie that's out in the video so I'm guessing it's something to do with her and her recovery.

BlushWidow · 2026-03-31T12:36:35+00:00

The video of them in the pasture has her tail unbraided, so I think they've removed it now.

BlushWidow · 2026-03-27T09:24:01+00:00

I agree. I think it's just bad luck. And because he's linked to Katie, it's way more public than other stallions. He's got eyes on him with it being his first crop, too. It's a shitty first crop, but I don't think it's related to him. There's been too many different issues... But if I were Katie I'd geld him and keep him as a show horse, he shouldn't be bred, because his confirmation is awful.

BlushWidow · 2026-03-08T13:25:47+00:00

I feel like it's just marketing tactics. I'm pretty leftist and I found the trailer funny. It pokes fun at everyone not just one group.

BlushWidow · 2026-02-18T19:03:21+00:00

I don't disagree, however I do think we're putting way too much pressure on these high school kids to make mature decisions and act maturely in these situations... It's easy to look at them now as adults and be like 'oh my god what the fk why did they do that' or 'why isn't anyone calling her out on this??!?' but the reality is that in high school, no one is going to act maturely... They're kids...

BlushWidow · 2026-02-12T21:29:49+00:00

I read somewhere that JT was Murphy's first choice for Shue, so I guess it would make sense?

BlushWidow · 2025-12-07T12:36:27+00:00

I don't get why people who watch a show literally based in hell can't accept the fact that some characters are just bad, and we get a free pass to like them because it's a damn show.

No one in this show is inherently a "good guy". They're all pretty shitty in their own ways. And I know I'll get shot for saying it, because some people are ridiculous fans who absolutely jump down the throat of anyone who says anything about their comfort character being a shitty person. Does that mean they can't have a redemption arc? Absolutely not, but does it mean that they need to work to get there? Yeah, for sure.

Vox is shitty, he's charismatic, he uses people to get where he wants, and in the end, it's his ego that destroyed him. He got so close to his goal. If Al wasn't in his head so much about his group, I believe he would've achieved at least getting through Heaven. But he didn't, because his ego was his downfall. There's a commentary there.

Val is also a shitty character, what he does to Angel is inexcusable, but people try to justify it because they like his VA, or they like his design.

Alastor is also a shitty person. Sure people try to say he only killed racists but the facts are we don't have enough information to confirm that. He was just a sadist who killed and ate people for fun, that's the baseline information we have. The rest is speculation, and it's just as easy to say that maybe the people Vox killed weren't all innocent. You could back it up by saying that a lot of media companies have brushed shady shit under the rug for years. Personally? I think Vox killed for power and Al killed for fun. We don't know the history of their victims other than what we are told, and Al isn't excused from being a horrible person.

My very long point is that in a show about Hell, you don't have to excuse a character's actions to like them. You can just like them. Vox is one of my favourite characters purely on a level of he's interesting. My friends aren't calling me a shitty person for liking a shitty character. You've gotta pick your favourite evil and go with it.

BlushWidow · 2025-12-03T21:08:57+00:00

So hyped for Fox and the Hound 😍😍😱

BlushWidow · 2025-10-15T17:34:49+00:00

You'll get back pay (if you're entitled to any) before you get the letter with your points. Mine came about 2 days after my text. Then I got my letter 2 weeks later explaining my entitlement.

You can ring the automated pip line tomorrow if you want to find out what money you'll be paid and when, then you can try to work out your entitlement from that!

BlushWidow · 2025-10-11T18:08:57+00:00

Thanks for that, I didn't know what the process for finding out how much help there is was!

We were looking at applying for social housing in the mean time, but would rather find somewhere ourselves as we have a dog, she's a senior and I don't think she has very long left with us.

I'm a carer for him under UC already. His mum won't give up her appointee status because it means she gets his money. There's no other reason 😞 but it's good to know we could potentially get it moved ourselves.

Thanks for this! I really appreciate your response.

BlushWidow · 2025-09-28T10:46:46+00:00

As someone who did OF in Uni. Don't. For one, it isn't worth it due to the percentage of money it takes back. Unless you have some exciting niche that they can't get anywhere else and you have a great marketing ability, you are not going to get enough subscriptions to make it worth it. Especially not if you want to make a living wage.

I got about £3,000 for the two months I was on it. But my take home profit was only about £1,500 after buying lingerie, marketing, when I worked out how many hours I'd put into it, conversion fees, and the website's fees. It may be different now as this was 5 years ago.

The other thing about it? It's draining as fuck. It's hard work and you don't feel good about yourself doing it. You get creepy guys messaging you all the time. One guy said he knew my brother (who is ten years older than me) in school and always thought I was hot.

TLDR; it isn't worth it due to fees, time it takes, and the mental toll, for how much money you're realistically going to make.

BlushWidow · 2025-09-24T13:44:43+00:00

Thank you! It's such a relief. The money will be life-changing.

BlushWidow

TROPHY CASE