A Public Apology From Me & A Lesson For Others...

I am an AVID Snopes.com checker...along with a few other rumor checking sites...and will check everything before I ever forward or post on our blog. Isn't that what you do when you get a forward that says that you can get money for free, get a car for free, or any other scam that gets circulated on the net. I even email people back (and hit reply all) when it's hoax, and tell them to check out snopes.

I felt that I would NEVER be fooled...well...I am here to tell you that I was wrong (don't tell my husband, good lord lol).

Many of you probably remember the poem about the little girl and why she had horses...posted, here on this blog, at the beginning of June. It is a beautiful, wonderfully written poem, authored by Tracy Meisenbach.

Last night I saw a post on our fb page asking me why I was using her copyrighted material?! I was like "what, are you kidding me?" I had thought I had credited her properly and since it was emailed, assumed (and you all know what happens when you assume something, ugh) that it was ok to post.

So, thinking she didn't want her poem used without permission I removed it from this blog and apologized to her profusely...hoping she would except my apology and asking to purchase the article, as it was that lovely.

But, then, it got worse...what I didn't know until her next email, is not only had I posted her poem, but the version I posted from the email I had received was a stolen version!!

Someone had stolen Tracy's material (changed/altered it) and passed it off as their own...I was so sick over it, I threw my dinner in the trash and emailed her again immediately and asked her what I could do to make up for my huge blunder.. Tracy was very nice and kind to me...

This was Tracy's response, "Jo, simply post on your blog, website and any other pages that passing along material without the author's permission is theft. It takes money away from them, it abuses their trust and it makes the horse industry look bad."

To my readers: I am aghast that this has happened and I will NEVER post another article emailed to me without verifying it first, you have my word.

To Tracy Meisenbach: I am truly, truly sorry that your beautiful work was stolen and passed off as someone elses and I am very, very sorry that I unintentionally reposted it here on our blog without checking with you.

I hope my readers will share and spread the word...VERIFY INFO BEFORE POSTING that you receive via email!!!