If you had a good working relationship with someone, what would you do if they suddenly stopped responding to your texts?

Would you eventually assume the working relationship was over and hire someone else, or would you be really worried and desperately try to find out if they’re okay?

In this story, one woman does both, but when she eventually finds her former farrier on social media, she’s shocked at the response she gets.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for thinking my farrier died after he ghosted me, only to find out he blocked me and then his wife called me desperate?

I (28F) have worked with the same farrier Josh (35M) for over two years. For context, farriers are specialists who trim and shoe horses’ hooves every 4–6 weeks. It’s an important and regular part of horse care, and you build trust with the person doing it.

(quick context* I have two senior pasture horses that live on my parents’ property. I don’t ride consistently anymore (I work full-time and have three kids, two of them toddlers), but I tend them weekly. They get vet visits 2x a year for shots, hoof care every 4–6 weeks, and regular attention by my parents when I can’t.

They’re both shod in the front and barefoot in the back due to some lingering white line issues from wet conditions and this is common in most horses in our region)

She had a really good relationship with her farrier. It sounds like they were kind of friends.

For the full time of our professional relationship,it was always friendly and professional.

You get to know your farrier fairly well since they are such a regular part of care (IYKYK) so we’d chat during appointments about life, family, politics—you name it.

He knew my horses well, recommended treatments for the white line I pirchased and did throughout our time, and I was always timely with payment, flexible with scheduling, and respectful of his time as he was with me.

No drama. No tension. Ever.

This seems pretty odd.

A few weeks ago, I messaged him about something my vet recommended after my mare was diagnosed with arthrisis. Getting a game plan to adjust the trim slightly for arthritis and askimg if he could come pull the shoes so I could soak the horse’s hooves for bacteria. Normal.

No response.

Five days later, one of my horses lost a shoe. Still nothing. I texted again. Called. Waited a week. Then two.

I genuinely started to worry.

Wow! I’d start to worry too after all that time.

The messages hadn’t even been marked as read, so I wondered if something serious had happened.

I looked him up in the news. Nothing.

I sent four more texts over the span of a month just asking if he was okay.

Still nothing.

She thought of another way to see if he was okay.

I finally booked a different farrier to help.

When I mentioned what had happened, he agreed it was weird but figured maybe Josh was on vacation or dealing with something personal. We all were still trying to give the benefit of the doubt.

Then I remembered Facebook.

I rarely use it, but I checked… and there he was… Posting just a day earlier, celebrating his certification as a journeyman farrier.

What is the deal???

I felt relieved.

I commented congratulations publicly and messaged him privately saying I’d been worried and maybe needed a new number.

The next day? His profile was gone. I had clearly been blocked.

So I went to Instagram. Sent a similar message there, hoping it was just a tech issue.

BLOCKED AGAIN within an HOUR.

Something is clearly wrong.

Now officially freaked out and confused, I asked my husband to check.

Josh’s profile was still visible on his account, so I messaged from there asking if something was wrong or if I’d done something to offend him. Still trying to be respectful.

I even messaged his wife on Facebook with the same concern.

I was blocked there too.

She thought she’d never find out what was wrong.

I hadn’t said anything harsh. I didn’t accuse or demand. Just tried to check in.

At that point, I figured maybe I was too small a client, or the vet note rubbed him the wrong way, or… something I’ll never know? Idk. I was hurt and honestly stunned, but I decided to let it go.

Until a few days ago, his wife unblocked me to messaged me and send me a rant.

Here’s what his wife had to say…

She called me “desperate,” said her husband “doesn’t owe me anything,” accused me of not taking care of my horses (???), and even sent me the literal definition of ghosting like she was explaining it to a teenager and commenting that because i was young, I didn’t realize how “entitled and disturbing” my behavior was…. WTH

Now I’m left feeling both stupid for caring so much and angry that someone I worked with closely for two years couldn’t give me the basic courtesy of a heads-up.

It’s not like I sent 50 unhinged texts—I was WORRIED.

She doesn’t understand why it ended this way.

I would’ve completely understood if he wanted to move on or drop me as a client or if he had an issue and wanted to bring it up, Ive been through my fair share of farriers in the past 12 years (edit for all who think this is a red flag, Ive moved from Chicago to two places in Texas and 1 Farrier retired, that would be 5 including Josh and 6 for the one im going to have to find and settle on in 12 years).

But why block me and then trash me behind a screen?

So Reddit, AITA for thinking something had happened to my farrier after weeks of silence, trying to follow up respectfully, and then being upset when I got blocked and insulted?

That is really weird. You’d think he could’ve just responded to one of her texts to let her know he was dropping her as a client.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person urges her to share what happened to her with other horse owners.

I was wondering the same thing.

This was not handled professionally at all.

This person makes a couple guesses at what happened.

She’ll probably never know what really happened.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.