Equipment borrowers

Wimbles

Wimbles

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It's been a very long day in an equally long week and I feel the need to have a bit of a moan before I end up stapling something to someone's head!

My wingey gripe of today is people that don't have their own equipment and constantly just use mine, without even asking most of the time. On a couple of occasions I've not even been able to muck out as people are using my stuff!!! ARGH!!!

I'm starting to wonder if I'm just a walkover or does this happen to other people?

I will happily lend anything to anyone and I'm pretty laid back at the yard normally but I feel that these people are starting to take the Mickey! They all own their own horses but don't have tools, wheelbarrows etc so just use mine. They do, however, all have lovely new saddles, rugs and riding gear!

On the face of it things seem pretty small but it's always me that ends of replacing things when items inevitably get broken and no-one ever owns up to it. Getting pretty miffed about it now!
 
No way would I tolerate that.

I’d lend anything to a friend, e.g. if theirs broke and they’d not yet been able to replace. Or if needed multiple wheelbarrows / forks for big field clearance. But as a one off / for a week.

Friends lend both ways, occasionally when needed. And occasionally I’ve shared occasional use tools with friends – we bought together. Or one person has something we all use occasionally e.g. leather holepuch

But tools are expensive, and wear out and need replacing, and are inconvenient to share at peak times.

I would make sure my name is on all tools, and I used to have blue marker tape on all my tools as well. And if a serious problem I would chain all the items up / leave out of sight / leave locked up. With a note saying “my tools, please do not use without permission”.

If challenged I would say that you cannot afford to regularly replace worn out tools and repair wheelbarrow punctures etc. you need your tools to last.
 
If someone's "borrowing" your barrow (for example) when you need it, just go up to their stable, empty it onto the floor - regardless of what's in it - and remove it. I certainly wouldn't stand around waiting for them to finish their mucking out so I could have my own stuff back. Like you, OP I'll lend anything to anyone if they ask, or are genuinely in need, but this arbitrary "help yourself" attitude is infuriating.

Years ago, I was on a DIY yard with someone who did this. I found my water bucket (with horse's name painted on it in big letters) in her stable because hers had sprung a leak and she "couldn't be bothered" to get new one. I simply removed it, emptied it, told her her horse hadn't got any water and retrieved it for my lad. Her horse had a new one within half an hour!!!! She could be bothered when she was pushed and I think you'll find the same...... they'll only learn if you make a stand.
 
When i was at a livery yard this drive me nuts! I bought my own stuff as at my old yard although it was supplied if I was trying to muck out at the same time as others there wasn't enough. Moved yards and had to search for my tools every bloody day!
 
A cheap combination padlock with a curly wire is your friend here. I used to spend hours searching for my tools, but put one of these through the handles of your shovel, fork etc, then through a loop of string tied to something rigid and people will wander off to find an easier target. Yes they could untie the string, or cut it if they really wanted to, but they don't. They take your stuff because it's easy, so making it difficult is enough to stop them.

And as somebody above said, I certainly wouldnt be waiting around for them to finish with it! Just walk up to them, say "Excuse me, that's mine" and take it out of their hand!
 
Have a massive meltdown in the middle of the yard about it and make everyone really worry about you. Hopefully they will be too scared to 'set you off' again and will leave your equipment alone.
 
I don't mind people borrowing my things as long as they take care of them, but I do insist on them being available for me to use when I need them.

I just go upto whoever has it and tell them I'll be needing my equipment back after I've caught my horse in which I'm going to do now. Once or twice people have given me a funny look, and occasionally I've had to go to their stable after fetching my horse to ask them to go empty the wheelbarrow now because I need it, but nobody has ever refused to give my stuff back or tried to have a row about it. I do paint my name on everything though.

If anyone looks to not be taking care of my things I lock them away so nobody can use and that's how it stays until I move yards.

You're definitely being too nice OP.
 
I don't know if you have a notice board at your yard, but have you thought about pinning up a short note explaining that you're tired of people using/breaking your tools without asking/replacing them?

The suggestion of using padlocks was also excellent.
 
I paid £30 for a fab yard brush that will brush anything up be it wet or dry!!! And all and sundry borrow it, some even leave it in their stable so I have to go hunting for it..even though they know it's mine, and it's kept with my skip, barrow and fork in a corner of the yard...! It's annoying when I am rushed and then must do hunt the brush... I've even got my name on it.
 
"Neither a borrower or a lender be". I always provide my own gear and only lend to the sole person who shares my yard, my daughter.rb
 
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No use,but has made me realise how fortunate I am to have NEVER been on yards like these!! I honestly couldn't bear it!
I've also read threads about feed and equipment being stolen - sounds awful, if I have had the misfortune of being on a yard like that I wouldn't stay!
 
We were wondering why the newcomers at the yard always borrowed our stuff then realised the yard owner (lovely old farmer) was telling them "use what you like, no one will mind"!!!
 
My YO is the borrower in my case! He has a huge wheel barrow but I can never find my little one. Usually it's full of his tack so I struggle muck out. When he asks " Could you skip the horse next door out too" normally I would be fine but when his wheel barrow is nowhere to be seen and mine is missing I can't bloomin skip out at all!
Have a diva moment usually sorts it out
 
On the other side of this I have done a fair bit of borrowing this month (got my horse on the 2nd), I made sure I had the basics, MO Tools, Wheelbarrow, buckets, haynets etc etc! But I have borrowed a hi-vis jacket, some bandages and padding as unexpected mud fever, and a dressage girth to try my saddle with as mine hadn't arrived and I was excited.

However, I always always put things back, I always ask, and I always return in the same condition as when it was given and mostly made sure that it didn't put anyone out! So I'm not so sure it's the borrowing that's a pain but the people borrowing it!
 
I worry about this a lot from the other side! I am one of the only full liveries on the yard, so don't have my own tools there. My horse spilled some chaff on the floor in front of his stable, and I didn't want to just leave it for the staff to clean up! All the liveries yard tools are kept leaning against the back wall of my stable, and I so wanted just to pick up a brush and quickly fix the mess. But as none of them are mine, and there was no one there to ask.. I found myself scooping it up by hand :p. I am going to go buy a little brush and scoop bucket for such occasions i think! The liveries are all lovely and I am sure no one would have minded, or noticed! But after reading threads like this... id rather not!
 
I've never understood how someone can be on DIY livery yet not own a barrow, fork or broom to muck out with? I couldn't 'borrow' tools on a daily basis but some thick skinned, tight, penny pinching b@s***ds can & do. It makes me sick. When you come on the yard & your tools are being used by someone else without your permission just walk over, say excuse me, retrieve them & put them back where they should be. Hopefully the 'thief' will know not to take the P again!
 
Nobody borrows my stuff, they would be far too scared. If my tools were fingerprinted, I'm 100% certain only mine would be present. I will lend items of tack, for instance a particular bit or girth, but will expect them back within a reasonable timeframe.
 
Locking your stuff up is a way to deal with the problem without having to confront anyone. You just put the lock on and bind it up so they can't use it and leave it at that. You don't have to have a strop, arguments or anything and sometimes we don't have to fight for everything to get our way.


That said if borrowing is a major problem suggest to the YO that since so many people don't have the basics everyone should chip in a bit to get a basic communal set for the yard. Those too tight will fast buy their own; whilst those who might have weaker finances might be grateful for a communal set.

Of course you still have to secure your own gear, it just mean that people won't beg (as much).
 
Our barrow was borrowed and returned with a stonking great hole in the bottom! Not buying another for the same treatment so we have used it for two years held together with gaffer tape.

I mean just how do you make a hole in a barrow?
 
i once lent someone a mucking out fork , they had it for so long that when i left i was accused of stealing it when i took it back!
 
You need to get a "my other ride is a broomstick" reputation; I have and nobody barrows anything from me with asking first and returning it after.

I barrow anything I make sure it is returned promptly and in at minimum in as good condition as I when I borrowed it. I always wash or clean other people's things before I return them; it's good manners and necessary hygiene in my book.
 
If you can't afford a cheap but sturdy broom from Aldi, a muck fork of whatever design and a basic barrow then you can't afford a horse and therefore shouldn't have one. You can bet your life that the "borrowers" of stable tools are also borrowing peoples' feed and hay supplies too. I once came down and found my barrow, full to the brim with the contents of someone elses stable, put back in my stable. I drilled a hole in the barrow and chained it to the wall after that. At the other place I went to my stable block companion thought it was perfectly ok to use my aubiose fork any time she liked, (she had a shavings fork of her own but mine was a properly engineered, quality item that actually worked as it should), broke it then left a message with the YO, her best buddy, that no she wasn't prepared to put her hand in her pocket because it was clearly wear and tear! I should add that aubiose forks are almost impossible to break. My horse was on boxrest at the time so until I could replace it (mail order only) I had to muck out with a rubber glove and a shovel twice a day. New fork cost me £44, so a nice little sum to add to the vet bills and extra cost of stabling. I hid the replacement fork after the that. The cheeky b888h also helped herself to my bridle one time as she had tied her horse by the bit and he snapped the bridle. I came back and found my filthy bridle in pieces on the tack room floor where she had taken my bit and reins off to use her own. I live in hope that something really unpleasant happens to her one day, something very painful with a bit of luck.
 
Thanks for the replies, least I don't feel quite so alone now!! I know I need to man up a bit but I've got 5 stabled horses on livery, work full time and I just want a quiet life without drama. One of the worst culprits is otherwise really nice and we get on so I almost feel like I don't want to rock the boat but I guess it's time that I said something as it's really not on.

I'll add another classic about the people on my yard - One of them asked if they could borrow one of my boys to hack out on with their friend. I'm fine with this. I trust a few of them to look after themselves and whoever totters along on top of them. The best horse is really fab so I said to use him but he cannot be stabled (even to tack up) and prefers to be tied up down the bottom yard where there are no low overhangs as he's 17.2hh. I told them exactly what to do and left them his tack without a second thought.

On the day they were to take him out I got a phonecall to say that the horse had been mental and was now loose down by the bottom field. Turns out they'd tied him up at the top yard so it's was easier for them, put his bridle on and clipped the leadrope to his bit (my pet hate), had shouted at him when they put the saddle on so he'd chucked his head up, yacked himself in the mouth, chucked his head up again, cracked his head on the overhang, pulled back and ran away from these muppets (I don't blame the horse one bit).

My bridle was given back in about 10 pieces, my saddle had hit the deck in the deep mud down the track and was returned covered in filth and worse still they had taken the bit off and tried to keep it. Words fail me!
 
Wimbles said:
Thanks for the replies, least I don't feel quite so alone now!! I know I need to man up a bit but I've got 5 stabled horses on livery, work full time and I just want a quiet life without drama. One of the worst culprits is otherwise really nice and we get on so I almost feel like I don't want to rock the boat but I guess it's time that I said something as it's really not on.

I'll add another classic about the people on my yard - One of them asked if they could borrow one of my boys to hack out on with their friend. I'm fine with this. I trust a few of them to look after themselves and whoever totters along on top of them. The best horse is really fab so I said to use him but he cannot be stabled (even to tack up) and prefers to be tied up down the bottom yard where there are no low overhangs as he's 17.2hh. I told them exactly what to do and left them his tack without a second thought.

On the day they were to take him out I got a phonecall to say that the horse had been mental and was now loose down by the bottom field. Turns out they'd tied him up at the top yard so it's was easier for them, put his bridle on and clipped the leadrope to his bit (my pet hate), had shouted at him when they put the saddle on so he'd chucked his head up, yacked himself in the mouth, chucked his head up again, cracked his head on the overhang, pulled back and ran away from these muppets (I don't blame the horse one bit).

My bridle was given back in about 10 pieces, my saddle had hit the deck in the deep mud down the track and was returned covered in filth and worse still they had taken the bit off and tried to keep it. Words fail me!
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Flipping heck, I'd have gone mental!

If one of the offenders is otherwise nice, maybe they just don't realise it annoys you? We had a stable neighbour like this - a quiet mention that she ask if she needed to borrow anything, and to put things back where they were/in the condition they were, and we didn't have the issue again :)
 
Wimbles said:
Thanks for the replies, least I don't feel quite so alone now!! I know I need to man up a bit but I've got 5 stabled horses on livery, work full time and I just want a quiet life without drama. One of the worst culprits is otherwise really nice and we get on so I almost feel like I don't want to rock the boat but I guess it's time that I said something as it's really not on.

I'll add another classic about the people on my yard - One of them asked if they could borrow one of my boys to hack out on with their friend. I'm fine with this. I trust a few of them to look after themselves and whoever totters along on top of them. The best horse is really fab so I said to use him but he cannot be stabled (even to tack up) and prefers to be tied up down the bottom yard where there are no low overhangs as he's 17.2hh. I told them exactly what to do and left them his tack without a second thought.

On the day they were to take him out I got a phonecall to say that the horse had been mental and was now loose down by the bottom field. Turns out they'd tied him up at the top yard so it's was easier for them, put his bridle on and clipped the leadrope to his bit (my pet hate), had shouted at him when they put the saddle on so he'd chucked his head up, yacked himself in the mouth, chucked his head up again, cracked his head on the overhang, pulled back and ran away from these muppets (I don't blame the horse one bit).

My bridle was given back in about 10 pieces, my saddle had hit the deck in the deep mud down the track and was returned covered in filth and worse still they had taken the bit off and tried to keep it. Words fail me!
Click to expand...

Thank goodness not done livery for 15 years. Indulge me and tell us the name of the yard with these people who returned your tack filthy and in pieces. Naming and Shaming is one good use of social media!!
 
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