Horse Powered Equestrian Tara Lynn PotempaTara SladekTara Potempa-Sladek Avoid this facility at all costs. Overpriced, horses are not taken care of very well Homer Glen Illinois

I submitted a response to the rebuttal a few days ago but it has not yet been posted to this site.  I emailed customer service to ask what the delay was and received a response stating since I included "criminal allegations" against the business owner and her husband my response is still under review.  They aren't allegations but rather facts and a police report was taken and is on file.

For the record, I absolutely used the alias, Susan M for the review. I did so because the owner allegedly received a message from a "Susan Murtaugh" and accused me of being this person.  Its use was to poke fun at her.  I have nothing to hide as I stated the facts.  

So, let's start this update by pointing out the fact that recording phone calls in the state of Illinois without consent, which a party would not have the privilege of hearing without it being recorded, is a crime for which you can be prosecuted.  Thank you for admitting that here.  :-) 

Now, here is what I have gone through in the last few days.  The barn owner has unleashed her husband on me. This site won't allow me to state the specific crimes he committed but I had to get the police involved.  There is a report on file. In addition to her husband, she herself began calling my office looking for the name and number of my boss in an effort to intimidate me by promising to cause the loss of my job.  

In regards to other items - board was discounted to $465 due to the fact that my horse was utilized regularly in her lesson program.  Board was not discounted because the owner was being nice.  She used my horse, I got a discount.  Period.  Did I expect to get services and items such as poultice wrap for free?  No, absolutely not.  Did I expect to pay double the amount of the actual cost of an item?  No, absolutely not.  Did this happen?  Yes, it absolutely did.  

So, was I, as shown in the screen shot posted, happy back in August?  Yes, I was relatively happy.  Can things change in a matter of 3-4 months?  Yes, they can and they did. I stand by the review as originally written, as it is 100% true, 

I clicked the incorrect selection the first time (I am not an employee or former employee of this business) -

My daughter took lessons here over the summer.  It was going well until Tara took over her lessons and then it went downhill.  Her confidence decreased immensely, and as a parent is was a huge turn off to watch someone who is suppose to be a role model smoking in the barn.  I had also met Tara's husband a couple of times while at the barn and he made me very uncomfortableas well.  With that said, I will remain annonymous.  Do your homework people! No matter what barn you're at. A quick Google search of names and you'd be surprised at what skeletons you find.  We have since started lessons at a new barn and are pleased with they way things are ran and how  much more professional it is.  My daughter is also jumping now!

Disguised as Susan M. (Murtaugh), Lisa has been defaming my character both publically and anonymously, for the past several weeks. She boarded her horse with me for approximately one year, with a message as recent as August 29th, "I'm so appreciative that Bob and I are able to be a part of your team. We are so happy at HPE and appreciate all you do." This is one of many.

Suddenly she speaks of outrageous costs. Board is $665, and yet she was discounted $200 each and every month.

While we indeed do not have an outdoor arena, we have 50+ acres of outdoor riding, and an indoor plenty large to accomodate our hunter/jumper needs. However I do not see the relevance.

She said a larger stall cost an extra $100, when in reality the larger stalls cost an additional $60.

The kitchen, laundry room and office are anything but "filthy," and certainly do not stink.

Our fully matted stalls are bedded 6 days a week and have never been missed for a single day, as she falsely claims. Also, boarders are welcome to pick through their stalls at any time, as a wheel barrel, forks and shovels are always available because we all have a little OCD in us :)

We have a video surveillance system for a peace of mind, around the clock visual of the farm since no one lives directly on the farm. 

Board is all inclusive with no "incidentals." However, when a horse needs a medication, for example, which the barn owner does not have, the farm offers many of those supplies in the event the owner wishes to purchase. That's standard. We also offer fly spray service throughout the summer months, and boarders can opt for this service. 

The long "story" about varying feeding times, lack of turn out and lack of stall cleaning is absolutely false. Due to my video cameras, that is easily proven. 

Also, my interactions with barn help, and the fact I take very little time away from the farm, is also documented by the farm's video surveillance, easily proving her "story" as false. 

The only complaints I have received from ANY client were from students she herself had taught, although I am not here to berate her teaching or disclose her weaknesses and anxiety issues. Regardless, I have had to "patch" a student's confidence, and worse, parents' confidence, on the back end.

Her falsehoods regarding my lesson etiquette are purely rumors. First, she's routinely frequented the barn maybe once/month. Secondly, I have my trusted video cameras to expose her falsified rumors. 

Horse show are quite inexpensive with my farm. She claims I charge "through the nose, to the tune of $1000," whereas her bill was in fact $260. That included braiding at the show, and the preparation of clipping and mane pulling prior to the show. I absorbed her horse's medication fees and have yet to charge for the typical expenses farms routinely do. Pretty straight forward, and a far cry from her accusations. 

The alias, Susan Murtaugh, was used to harass both myself and friends of mine in the recent weeks. This exact claim she filed on this site about myself and my business, she also posted on Yelp, with the same alias. I have a recording of her from today, admitting she wrote it.