Contractual issue pertaining to a small claims suit

I recently filed a small claim against a horse boarding facility I previously used. My girlfriend was the one who signed the boarding agreement with the facility, but I was the one paying the monthly bill of which there is a paper trail leading back to my checks with my name on the heading of the check.. A falling out occured between my girlfriend and the facility owner on February 13th 2016 and we were forced to move our horses that same day, and they promised to pay us the pro rated board of $275.87 because we paid up front for the month of Feb. They refused to pay us after the incident so I filed a small claims suit and yesterday was the pre trial mediation.. An agreement could not be reached with the mediator so we went before the judge so she could set us a trial date.. The judge then told me that because my name was not on the contract with the