Don’t let the Petty Betty’s drag you down.
We (horse people) unfortunately fell in love with an expensive hobby that has a lot of opinionated members. Those opinionated Betty’s love to jump in and share their opinion as often as they can. This week I’ve seen a handful of “friends” deciding to sell it all and wash their hands of pursuing their passion solely based on the amount of cattiness, bullshit, and drama that weighs down the excitement that is owning/showing/breeding horses.
If you send someone an unsolicited DM telling them airing their dirty laundry is juvenile, yet you’re on someone else’s Facebook post that same week telling them to “blast the other party” because “people need to know who not to do business with,” YOU ARE THE PROBLEM WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY. And honestly the industry. Y’all can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you think you’re so big and bad that you can DM people with unsolicited advice but continue on talking about their drama on someone else’s post’s comments, you’re not as classy as you pretend to be.
I saw an anon post recently that asked “How do you sell a horse that is just a jack wagon?” The consensus in the comments? Advertise it as such. Here’s the catch, when the haters catch wind of that “honest post” it comes back to bite you in the ass. Ask me how I know. One person’s honest post becomes the hater’s fuel.
It’s not just barrel racers, though they DO have the biggest mouths. It’s horse traders, saddle makers, breeders/stallion owners, and even ropers who all have to have a say, share their opinion, and be relevant in any and all social media drama.
My advice is this:
When you see in the “Suggested Groups For You” includes the group “1-800-geld-that-shit” don’t join. My trainer and I were on the phone not that long ago and she said “When you wake up and the first thing you see when you open Facebook is negativity [like that], you’re not setting your day, or yourself, up for success.” Remember this with all social media platforms, if it’s full of bitchy Betty’s dragging your mood down: delete, unfriend, leave group, unlike page, block, and put yourself first.
When the Betty’s want to talk, let them. Eventually someone will make an ass out of themselves and you’ll realize the stallion owner you’ve never met or done business with but we’re quick to recommend their stallion on ISO posts, isn’t someone you’ll continue recommending to the public.
When all they can say is “s/he’s jealous",” “s/he doesn’t feed her horses,” “s/he can’t ride,” etc. etc. Narcissists and unhappy Betty’s project their own defects onto others. It’s literally not you, it’s them. “What they hate in you is what’s missing in them.”
No publicity is bad publicity. If you’re going to say it on social media, you better be ready to say it with your whole chest and back it up in person.
If you lose friends, followers, etc. They were never going to do business with you OR support you in the first place, they just wanted to be IN your business so they could talk behind your back. Nosy Betty’s.
Live and post honestly. You hate that jack wagon of a filly? Don’t lie about it. The breeder might take it personally, but that’s not your problem. You didn’t breed it, it didn’t/won’t work for you/your program, cull and move on. And, spoiler alert, an honest post WILL pull far more interest than a flashy ad full of half truths (most horse people love a problem horse, everyone thinks they’re capable of fixing a problem horse these days). You’re just giving the people what they want.
Stay true to you. If doing so pisses off the Petty Betty’s, you’re doing something right.
