Hi all. I am not looking to sue but looking at my potential options.

My horse was boarded at a barn. For 3 months I was unable to come to the barn, but it was full care board, so they should've been taking care of him regardless. I decided to sell the horse to a friend, and when they started visiting him, it was clear he was dropping weight fast. By the time we had the horse moved, he was skinny enough for an ASPCA commercial, and covered in bite and kick wounds from other horses. After the move, people at the barn have been spreading blatant lies about me. They have said the barn owner spoke to me about his weight loss and suggested supplements which I declined (untrue, and supplements wouldn't fix this), they stated I was four months behind on board payments (untrue with proof. the farthest I was behind ever was a month and that was literally at the very end of his time there), they stated I was being deceitful to his new owner about the sale and the existence of a consignment commission (untrue), and they have even reached out to the new barn the horse is at to try and tell them lies about me as well. I run a business in the horse world, and I fear this will begin to damage my reputation. When is it fair to cry defamation and send a cease and desist? How can I make a public post about this without it being deemable as defamatory myself? Can the new owner make a post? Is it better to just let it go?