clarifying that the CWHC is pretty much the only place to board horse outside getting your own property.
Yeah, it kind of sucks.  I'm really used to the usual line of questions though, I'm not hostile about it, just efficient.  I will NOT jerk someone around, the least I can do for a fellow horseperson is make sure they have NO misconceptions.  It's so not fair to give someone the idea that they can easily have a horse up here, and then they take a job on that basis...and then their flimsy arrangement at the CWHC falls apart through no fault of their own (or whatever) and they end up with a job up here and a horse they never see.  Don't write off the Ranch though, I've talked to the guy that runs it, he seems above board.  It's not a spectacular facility, but neither is the horse club. 

I moved up here so that my boyfriend at the time (now excellent husband) could see if our relationship could be taken to the next level.  I'm adventurous and left a great job in Edmonton for marginally increased pay in Fort Mac.  I'd have made the move horses or not though, but I'd have saved myself a LOT of disappointments if someone had just told me the darn truth up front.  Part of the problem here is that there is no single set of rules...if you've got a friend or relative, you get to go to the front of the waiting list...that's not just the Horse Club, it's everything, from rental housing to the grocery store line up!  That's why it's very hard to get a straight answer from people...they are hedging.  Are you a stranger, or are you a friend?  They'd rather take on a HORRIBLE boarder who is a friend than a great boarder who isn't a friend.  I didn't know ANYBODY.  I still don't, really.  The Horse Club rules prevent all us "outside" horse people from bringing horses onto their site, they aren't interested in any kind of events or resource sharing outside their club.