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December 2023 by Chloe Christina
Fraudulent practices 1000% lies to clients and mistreats staff. They constantly hire people who don't even know how to handle horses. Your horses are not safe here. All the management does is find ways to screw over the clients secretly and boosting whatever "revenue" they can get with what remains of their business. Worked here for over 6 months and loved the animals and the job but the owner has a special way of ruining the potential for everyone involved. Just steer clear of this place.Side note: the recent good comments coming from the only management or friends of management left are bogus. Just ask about Oreo. The beloved therapy horse where one of the untrained staff members put the wrong horse in with him nearly resulting in his death. Still think this is a safe place to board? Think again. All the negative comments I've seen are entirely spot on. Believe them.I'd also like to add something for people looking to work here. It's gonna seem amazing at first Like too good to be true. You'll be told stories about people before you being "full of drama, didn't know how to work, wasn't dedicated" literally all lies. There's been so many hard working decent staff driven out by the owner herself. Things will be good until you've settled. Then the true colors will start to show. The "drama" actually starts with the management. They talk about everyone to everyone and loves pitting employees against each other for no reason. Once someone is upset about a genuinely serious thing and take it up with the owner, be prepared to be cussed out, threatened and then told you're causing the drain on the company when you've just raised a concern very politely. You'll also start to be relied on so much that if someone just doesn't feel like working that day and calls off management won't step in. They'll expect you to do 3 people's jobs. But God forbid you work any overtime. You'll then be accused of trying to "milk the company for money"
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December 2023 by Chelsea McCartha
The owner has high expectations for her barn just like a horse barn SHOULD. She gives opportunities that most barns do not and staff have the ability to gain more areas of experience. Horses are well taken care of with having a clean barn consistently. Horses are always being cared for esp that the barn has a live in barn staff for night checks. You can trust that your horse would be well taken care of with the amenities this barn offers.
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December 2023 by Dan Marhofer
This barn seems to be very organized and well kept. Horses have beautiful pastures. Instructors and staff have been very respectful and polite. My kids enjoy coming to this barn. A+ recommendation!
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December 2023 by SSG Spank
This barn is always very neat and clean. Staff encounters have always been very friendly. Horses seem to be well taken care of with beautiful pastures and clean stalls. Definitely recommend this barn for lessons and boarding.
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December 2023 by Sherlock Fuhst
Disorganized management. Barn owner does not know what she is doing half the time. Does not really care about the horses welfare, insisted on continuing lessons even when the heat index was dangerously high. Prefers equipment to be uncomfortablly tight on the horses, beyond just being snug so as not to come off. Only concerned about revenue and nothing else. Turn over rate on staffing is high, almost every week I went for lessons someone was quitting. Has multiple payment options but don't do the one for a visa because they won't charge you for two months for a service then randomly take it out when you're not prepared. Would not recommend for anyone to use their services.
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December 2023 by Two Elegant
Rivendell is a lawsuit waiting to happen. There are no amount of good employees that can make this place better when the dysfunction starts with the owner herself. If you go in thinking you’ll be the change this place needs, you will fail. Things will seem great at first, but then the owner will start to show narcissistic tendencies and true colors. You’ll receive texts and phone calls at completely inappropriate hours of the night, on vacation, etc. You will be given an impossible laundry list of tasks while the owner does nothing but try to control your whole life. If you’re thinking of boarding your horse here - DO NOT. They hire staff with zero horse experience and it’s not a matter of IF something will happen, it’s WHEN. This place has a bad reputation developed within West Michigan’s equine community for a reason - ask any vet, farrier, trainer, or other equine enthusiast in the area. They’ll all tell you the same thing - avoid Rivendell, the owner is crazy.
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December 2023 by DeWayne Tracy
The owner is very rude to the employees and to boarders. If you notice all the bad reviews have thumbs up as they are actual reviews and are not fake accounts the owner and her friends make to leave good reviews to make it look better than it actually is.
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December 2023 by Abyss
Worst place to board. Stalls are never cleaned properly, and management is known for lying about boarders care. There's a reason almost all boarders have left
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October 2023 by Robyn Engelman
This barn is disorganized, dirty, and poorly run in general. We attended a dressage show in May, and while we were there we noticed many horses in very dirty stalls and a strong ammonia smell permeating the barns. The show itself was chaotic and slow moving, and, in a breach of basic show-hosting etiquette, the barn was not closed during the show and there was a lot of truck traffic coming and going throughout the day and a pack of children driving a cart and pony around the grounds, spooking show horses tethered to trailers. They lost the show registration forms and payment I had sent in weeks earlier, requiring us to submit a second one in order to participate, including a second check to replace the one they lost, and they promised they would destroy the first one if the ever found it so I took their word and did not put a stop payment on it. Six weeks later I discovered they had apparently found it because it had been quietly cashed! Over the next month I sent several emails trying to get my money back and received minimal response, but I politely persisted and finally received a shockingly rude and condescending email from the owner herself, in which she long-windedly explained how Rivendell is not a family barn but is in fact run by a large beaurocratic corporation, and then proceeded to give me an overview of the many layers of incompetency slowing down my refund. No apology anywhere, but a snarky offer that she would give me a personal loan since my double payment (of $140) had obviously "caused me to run short of funds". Seriously? This is how you treat your paying show patrons?? Save yourself the headache and smell of this place and take your horse and your kids to one of the many very friendly, clean, organized, family-run barns in our area. There are lots to choose from in avoiding Rivendell!
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September 2023 by Brittany L
It really bothers me that these horses do not have an area to run freely without the constraint of small enclosed areas. The horses are kept in their stalls for far too long. The horses are often filthy and have feces smeared on them because their stalls aren't cleaned nearly enough and they have no other place to lay since they are kept in the stables majority of the day. They treat their horses like breeding factories which is just sad. I feel bad for any horse that is kept or boarded here and I wish people would do a little more research as there are other facilities in Lowell that have amazing open grounds and they allow their horses to run free and get plenty of outdoors time and time to graze like a horse is meant to do!The area they keep their minis is depressing as it's nothing but dirt. No grazing, no running free, and limited outdoor time for the horses. It's nothing short of an equine prison.The management is horrid and have serious control issues. They need an overhaul and animal control should honestly open up an investigation.My daughter was seeing an amazing therapist here who left because she undoubtedly was treated poorly like other employees have mentioned.Do better Rivendell!
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September 2023 by Kristalyn Costello
This place treats their workers horribly they micro manage their workers and consistently lie. This is a place that I would not recommend going to.
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May 2023 by SquidBallz23
A horrible place to work at don’t ever work here ever! Treat people not good at all :)
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January 2023 by Jennifer Poling
Nice. We went there for a horse show. Seemed very nice.
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January 2023 by Nanette Hersberger
The owner is terribly rude and an extremely poor communicator. I understand that she is hard of hearing, however she was defensive & unwilling to even listen during an attempt to problem solve an issue. She was patronizing and defensive. She talked over me without allowing me an opportunity to share my thoughts as she continued to rant. There are many other facilities in the area that have people skills, I encourage you to keep scrolling for someone who's able to respectfully problem solve with you.
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January 2022 by TheRobertyoyo
Never rode the horses, but using it just the same to better myself!!!!!
