The Plot Thickens

 Part 1

To make this all the more pathetic, Darryl did not take orders from any of us. Amanda was his boss. He could have cared less about keeping us happy whether we were providing them a safe place to live or not. He just cared about keeping the peace with her. I would tell him what I needed of him and he basically just ignored me.

When I did talk to Darryl about what I wanted him to do, he would mumble something about needing to talk with Amanda like he must run everything by her first but that was really the end of it. I don't know if he ever actually spoke with Amanda or if it was just s ploy to rid himself of me. It probably doesn't matter much which was the case, what matters is I made clear what I needed done and those requests were ignored.

When I realized that talking to Darryl wasn't working, I tried talking directly to Amanda but that didn't accomplish anything either. Sometimes there was no acknowledgment that she even heard what I needed him to do and other times she would say she'd talk to Darryl. Either way it was a dead end just like talking directly to him had been. Nothing came of my requests but it wasn't because I didn't keep asking and reminding them of what I needed done here.

There were a very few exceptions where Darryl actually started a task but even then "started" is the keyword. Sometimes I would get a promise of help but it usually ended badly. In particular, soon after they arrived comes to mind as a task both Amanda and Darryl committed to doing....a very important one.

I was having great difficulty feeding the horses lunch because of my issues with pain. I mentioned to Amanda my reticence to add the chore to Lindsay's already long list because her brain damage makes it difficult for her to track feed changes.  With lunch I feed the extras to my hard keepers and any horses that are experiencing a growth spurt or needing a short term boost so Lindsay doesn't have to deal with the changes. Amanda volunteered Darryl for this task  but asked that I provide her with a list of who got what. This happened, of course, before I learned Darryl was not trustworthy. By this time I did get that Amanda would not be living up to her promises anytime soon but it never occurred to me that would include not feeding my horses. Everything she did say indicated the horses were important to her and she wouldn't abide their needs not being met so I believed this task would be handled.

To assure everything went as it should, in addition to fixing a list for Darryl, I  showed him how to measure and soak the beet pulp so that it was ready for lunch and for the nighttime feeding that I prepare each day. I even showed him how to measure and feed this combination of beet pulp, rolled oats, vitamins and oil. I walked him through each step so there would be no misunderstandings and he could take these chores over for me.With that done I monitored this task for several days to assure it was happening as needed and not ending up like other chores I'd needed from him. 

I must admit I was looking forward to turning this task over to Darryl. It was a huge relief not to have to force myself to my feet because doing so only makes my pain that much worse. I was already dealing with pain so intense tearing my hair out or banging my head into the wall actually seemed like a reasonable distraction so God knows I needed this help.

There really was no break from this pain increase when I checked up on Darryl each day so once I thought he had the job down and it looked to me he really was going to follow through I stopped going to the barn to assure the horses were all getting hay for lunch and any of the horses I was trying to put weight on and the hard keepers were getting the extras needed as spelled out on the list he'd been given.

Not long into this arrangement, I found myself questioning Dave about whether this noon time meal was happening as directed. With his varied work schedule he wasn't here for lunch other than a couple of times a week but he said he could see Darryl tending to it then. Still it seemed to me we were not going through the amount of beet pulp we should be so I kept pushing Dave to check its status and I monitored weight of the horses I could see from the house. I also tried to track when Dave was going to the feed company trying to ascertain if the horses were being fed what I wanted.

With Amanda doing nothing with the horses, I was turning stallions out on those days I could push through the pain enough to get that done. Since the stallions are all on my lunch list I used this to check their status and I was very frustrated by the fact I wasn't seeing the weight gain I expected on them.  I kept asking Dave to check if beet pulp was ready in the barn and for other signs that might explain this lack of progress. It just didn't make sense to me that there was no headway but the only time it appeared that lunch was being missed was when Amanda took Darryl to run errands or go to doctor's appointments etc.

About 3 months into this I was putting out Legs when Lindsay asked me if I would wash blankets for Dancer and Rhapsody. I told her I would if she would take them off and carry them to the house because the movement required to accomplish those tasks really exacerbates my pain.

Since both mares were on my lunch list, I decided to check their weight while they were naked. Both are relatively easy keepers but had lost some weight when the grass quit growing in the fall. I had just added both to the lunch list before Amanda and Darryl arrived. By this time they really should have put that weight back on but that hadn't happened. Neither had lost weight nor had they gained any. I knew when I looked at them, there was no way those mares were getting the extras on the list and I was pretty sure if that was the case, none of the others were either.

Even if I hadn't had the experience with Kellee Panowicz, this would have made me mad but I was beyond mad. I was livid.....seething rage from every pore, livid. I stormed over to Darryl cleaning stalls, swallowed hard so I could speak without fire spewing from my mouth and scorching him to the cinders he deserved. Don't ask me how I managed to sound calm because I don't know but I heard these words in what sounded like normal tones, "Darryl, have you been feeding beet pulp at lunch?"

His one word answer, "No."

When I asked him "Why not?"

Without shame or discomfort of any kind he responded, "Because it wasn't fixed."

To be continued....

Countermeasures........and Ploys......