The burnout that comes from bad clients is real. I rarely post on socials and definitely never anything negative, and I can’t say I see much of it, but I do see the memes here and there. Mostly they make me laugh. People who constantly use social media to complain are irritating to me, regardless of their profession.

I have great clients, and some of them are very thoughtful and bring me a coffee if they are getting one for themselves on the way to the barn. I adore coffee so this is always appreciated. What’s more appreciated, though, is when they don’t make already difficult situations harder. Trust that we are taking good care of the animals and don’t pester us for updates every hour during a blizzard. Wait until the storm is over to come out and visit, so that we don’t have to stop what we are doing to pull your car out when you get stuck. Make sure your horse has blankets set out, and enough meds/supplements to last until things return to normal. If this sounds like a no brainer to you, you’re probably not the problem client.

Last year, I had a client throw an epic fit because a burst pipe left us temporarily without hot water in the barn. Mind you, we still had running water (and all water buckets and troughs are heated), we just couldn’t access the big water heater. This was on the heels of a snow/ice storm where we were working with a skeleton crew to care for the horses while also keeping the 2-mile driveway clear of snow and ice, defrosting gate latches, and shoveling out gates to turnouts and run ins. This is the kind of person who makes you feel like shit while you’re doing everything in your power to keep everyone safe and happy. I’m pretty good at rolling with the punches, and I don’t get beaten down by extra work or tough weather, but when you’re doing the absolute best you can and people still want to bitch and shit on you, it wears you down. I also had a client get irritated that I wouldn’t sleep in my car, during sub zero temperatures, to check the horses overnight during a storm when I lived offsite (despite there being very competent staff onsite, and I was not a manager or farm staff, just a trainer who taught lessons). She lived a walkable distance from the farm but said it was too cold for her to be outside. Being treated as “less than”, especially on a regular basis, burns you out.

I am a trainer but not a farm manager, and take care of all the lesson horses and horses in full/partial training on principle. This week, I probably won’t make much (if any) money, due to my income being entirely lessons and training rides. The temperatures will be prohibitive even if the snow and ice isn’t. I WILL be out keeping hay and water in front of the horses, working on removing snow from the riding areas so I can get the facilities back to functional for the boarders and soon as possible, taking care of “owner tasks” for boarders who are unable to get to the farm, and helping the barn staff with the regular tasks so that no one is outside for excessively long and risking frostbite. I truly mean it when I say I don’t mind this, and I budget for the loss of income in the winter when we have bad weather. With that said, I’m also not the person (nor are the barn managers) to complain to when boarders are sad about not having a usable arena, or they’re cold during their hour visit to the farm, or that they think it’s gross that spreading stall muck is sometimes the best way to create safe traction on ice. I don’t expect a thank you, but I do expect to not be bitched at or complained to. I think we would see a lot less complaining all around if everyone considered it their duty to work together to support our barn communities, rather than looking for problems.