A woman has been left outraged after her boyfriend ordered her to put down her beloved horse to 'prioritise their relationship'. The 24-year-old explained how she has been dating her boyfriend for around nine months - but has been riding horses almost her entire life.
Taking to Reddit, she said: "I've been riding horses since around four-years-old when I started taking lessons. When I was 10 I started helping out this girl at the stable with her horse Lady.
"When I was 12, she told her she had to sell due to time/interest and asked if me and my parents wanted to buy Lady. Luckily for me, my parents were able to buy her and she’s been mine ever since. She’s my best friend and I love her a lot."
When she started dating her 26-year-old boyfriend, the woman made sure to be upfront and honest about how much time she spends at the stables, as she was worried he'd think it was "too much".
He originally told her that he didn't have a problem with her spending so much time there because it was important to her - but he started to change his tune as their relationship went on.
"When single I could spend three to four hours a day in the stable but as we started dating I cut this down to about three hours every other day," she added.
"This is roughly how long it takes for me to do all the cleaning/preparing food/riding. Most of my friends are at the stable which obviously means this is also social for me.
"After about six months he told me I spent too much time at the stable and I should prioritise my relationship more and somehow his family got involved, saying it was strange to prioritise the way I did.
"I wasn’t comfortable with this but I am a bit of a pushover so I agreed."
To try to appease him, she cut down on her riding hours even more as she was worried about her boyfriend blowing up at her for taking too long.
"I know he’ll be annoyed and p***ed off for days and give me the silent treatment," she added.
"I know my horse isn’t really suffering from not being ridden as often as before but I still feel very guilty that I’m always rushing around her."
Still annoyed by how much time she was spending at the stables, her boyfriend turned to her one night and asked her to put down her horse because "she's old anyway".
She said: "He told me it was time to sell Lady. I laughed at him and asked if he was serious. He was.
"I told him no and he said I needed to start prioritising this relationship more and I said I’ve done nothing but prioritise this relationship.
"We argued about it and he apparently thinks I can just put her down as she’s old anyways.
"I was furious at this and told him that was absolutely not happening and I would never sell her.
"He said that any reasonable person would sell or put down their horse in favour of their boyfriend and the only reason I wouldn’t is because I only hang out with other insane horse people."
While most users urged her to break up with her boyfriend, others slammed him for being so heartless.
One user said: "Dump him. He doesn't respect a huge part of your childhood and your adult life. I'm not usually on the 'dump him' dogpile but in this case, get rid of him."
Another user added: " Your boyfriend is an a***hole. He is toxic, controlling and manipulative. Cut him out of your life. You deserve someone better. Maybe someone who is into horses as well."
A third user said: "I’m worried about your horse’s wellbeing since he just mentioned putting it down as if that’s the most sensible solution. Keep your horse and get rid of the boyfriend. Seriously, run!"
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