Trugon Ranch Sleepy Sheep Ranch, Fain Ranch, David Mitchell He Charges for Services Not Rendered/Charges for Feed but does not feed your horse/He will Nickel and Dime you to death Whitewright, TX, Texas

I took my horse to David after hearing a lot of great things about his services.  And David truly knows how to train a horse.  He has confidence around horses and instills that in his riders.  But if you expect him to continue training your horse, you had better go out everyday and ask to watch him do it because once you leave, your horse will be lucky to get fed.  David will quote you a flat rate for taking care of your horse and "training" your horse but he does not do what he claims to do. 

I was intially quoted $425 a month to board and train my horse.  But my horse became emaciated during the time she was under David's care.  While she made great progress the first 2 weeks or so, she only seemed to regress from there as it came to behavior.  I don't think David has ever abused a horse or intentionally hurt a horse.  He truly is a nice guy.  But he is a savvy/corrupt business man and likes to pad his profit margin as much as possible and if that means charging for feed and then not feeding the horse, that is what he does. 

He will also hit you up for $20 here and $30 there everytime you come out for "miscellaneous" items you did not sign up for or agree to.  By the time the end of the month rolls around, you realize you have paid him $800-$1000 instead of the $425 that was agreed upon.  I don't think David is a malicious or evil person.  I think he is a very nice person that certainly has great talent when it comes to handling horses.  But what concerns me is that he is not feeding these animals like they should be fed. 

Everytime I went out to visit my horse, he was not working with any horses.  He was either out buying more materials to build his ranch or he was working on his ranch.  He did work with me and my horse one-on-one a few times but like I said....the training was not my concern.  It was the malnourishment and lack of regular feeding for my horse that concerned me.  It was also the continuous asking for more money that threw red flags up.  As far as I can tell, I was taken for about $4000 in "miscellaneous" charges in the six months of business I did with David.  I know David has a speckled past.  I do believe he has tried and is trying to make things right for his past. 

So I don't hold that against him.  We all deserve a second chance.  But I do worry that boarding an animal here for any long period of time could result in the animal being starved or neglected.  If you are considering boarding a horse here or hiring David to train your horse, you may want to reconsider unless you can have some way of guaranteeing that your horse is receiving the feed he/she is promised everyday and ensure that YOU are receiving the services promised because we certainly didn't.