A horse owner recently took to Reddit to find out if she was in the wrong after banning her mother from letting her friends' grandchildren ride her horse. In response, people have wholeheartedly defended the woman's plight, supporting her actions.
The viral Reddit post, which has garnered over 8,800 upvotes and a thousand comments, was posted to the subreddit "Am I The A**hole" on February 9 by u/Maggieslens. The post is titled, "AITA refusing to allow some kids a pony ride? ...All hell breaks loose."
According to a survey from the University of Maine, the average yearly cost of owning a horse equates to $3,876 for every horse. The median cost amount is $2,419 a year per horse. Costs of ownership of a horse can include boarding, feed, health care, farrier, bedding, equipment, insurance and taxes, according to the university.
The original poster (OP) revealed that they have owned a horse for more than 20 years, and they rescued her from a knackery—a place used in slaughtering animals for animal food—when she was just 4 months old. She keeps the horse in a large field along with other horses. However, this particular horse is "the absolute apple of my eye," the poster said.
Although the Redditor doesn't care if people greet the horse from the fence as they live in the suburbs, what she hates is how her mother continues to offer her friends' grandkids "pony rides," revealing neither her nor her horse are "kid uh...people."
The OP continued: "I'm sick of showing up at the property to be met with a gaggle of kids expecting a pony ride. I've laid down the law and told mum no more. She exploded at me, but I've stayed firm. I spoke to the property owner because I worry mum will just show up and try to give the kids a pony ride without my supervision. He agreed it's a liability and has marked her as not allowed on the property without me there."
But things didn't end there. Yesterday the property owner called the OP to tell her that her mother was there with 12 kids. The OP declared she was "going off her rocker" as he wouldn't let her on the property. When the OP spoke to her mom on the phone, she told her to "bugger off and never try this rubbish again."
"Since then, I've had to block her and most of my family because omg the flying monkeys and screaming about how I'm over-privileged, selfish, and a child-hating monster...," the Redditor explained. "I don't think I was wrong, but it's starting to really get to me. Was I the AH?"
People were overwhelmingly on the side of the OP, and many believe her mother was the one in the wrong in the situation. One comment, which received over 9,000 upvotes, said the OP isn't the a**hole in the situation, and they didn't hold back.
"Your mother is completely off her rocker and entitled," they added. "Your horse = your rules. It's really that simple. She's just [pissed] that 'you made her look bad to her friends.' For the record, you didn't make her look bad. She did this to herself."
Some people had harsh words about the situation. "NTA what kind of idiot takes random children on pony rides on a pony that [doesn't] like kids?" someone asked.
Yet another Redditor was on the side of the OP, mentioning the horse is hers, "and if s**t hits the fan with a kid, you and her will be facing the consequences, not your mother."
Suggestions came rolling in for the OP about what to do. "NTA," someone wrote. "Let your mum buy her own horse if she desperately wants to have kids ride it."
The potential dangers of the situation were also discussed. "NTA," a user said. "If your horse doesn't do well with children, then it's incredibly dangerous to force him/her. That's a good way to get kids killed/seriously injured!"
One Redditor brought up boundaries in their point on the subject, mentioning they could see if the OP's mom was doing the rides for family. "Sorry your mom is so bad with boundaries you had to get security notified," they added.
Some people were shocked about the mother's actions. "Wow!" a Redditor expressed. "The level of entitled me. Hey, you should tell people to just show up at your mom's house because she will give them a ride anywhere they want to go for free."
Newsweek reached out to u/Maggieslens for comment.
