24-Year-Old Horse Owner Cuts Ties With Toxic Parents When They Mistake Routine Business Maintenance With Family Disloyalty

Apparently, if you're not the Golden Child of this family, you're expected to do ranch work au gratis.

Even though it was 15 miles from her house, this 24-year-old horse owner agreed to board her horses at her parents' ranch, hoping to help them with their bills. However, instead of using the money she paid monthly to hire a ranch hand, they suddenly expected her to handle their property maintenance. Her horses were boarded there, after all, wouldn't she want to mend the fences to keep them safe? However, the woman was paying market rates for her boarding, and at any other facility, these maintenance issues would be handled by a hired hand. 

Meanwhile, the parents expected their daughter to slide on the work gloves, fetch the cows, and take care of their ranch for them, but they let their Golden Child son sleep at the house rent-free, praising him for feeding the animals and occasionally doing his own laundry. Good for you, son! The disparity between the way these two siblings were raised rubbed the woman the wrong way, and after a lifetime of being taken advantage of, she decided she wouldn't take it anymore. Clearly, their priorities weren't straight in this household, because when the young woman refused to take over business operations at the ranch, they called her disloyal, pressuring her to "pull her weight." 

But with the perspective of the waning ranch in her rearview mirror, this young horse owner was vindicated in her decision to board her horses at a professional establishment. If not just to protect herself from the baggage of a freeloading family, she made a call that protected her boundaries and drew a line in the sand with the family.