Help! Owner on yard padlocking their stable!

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mhorses

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I have been on my current yard got 2 years it's a small yard with 8 liveries all DIY on a small farm where the farmer lets us all basically run ourselves. Few rules apart from yard opening times as it's right next to his house, winter turnout and payment on time rules etc However last week a new girl who appears to be fairly new to being a horse owner has begun to padlock her horse in his stable when she is not on the yard. Last week there was a cattle trailer and some yard equipment stolen like wheelbarrows etc in broad daylight by gypsies we suspect. The girl is paranoid and think they will steal her horse next. I have got major concerns and told her that a horse should never be locked in due to fire risks but she has blatantly ignored me. I have been finding it difficult to sleep the last few nights and this is irritating me. I can't say much to the farmer as he has said he wants no bother from the liveries or he will kick us out due to bickering in the past thankfully those people have left and everyone is generally fine now apart from this issue. What should I do?
 
Cut off the lock? I don't know, that's tricky, but if someone wanted to steal the horse (is it a cob that could drive?) then they would simply bust the door and cut off the lock, so it's pointless. If someone's going to steal a horse, they'll steal it, no matter if the door is locked or not. It's extremely daft, understandable, but daft, silly and dangerous to lock a horse in, such a mad thing to do. :(
 
Suggests that she gets the horse freeze marked, padlocks and chains slow theft for seconds. Decent criminals carry tools. I would be worry with fire risk too
 
If someone going to steal a horse they will but with the horse market the way it is horse's are not worth stealing more likely tack, trailers equipment as sells easily and at a higher value then a horse
 
No horse should ever be padlocked inside a building ever. However, how you deal with this without having a YO involved I do not know. I think I'd tell her (not ask) to change the padlock to a combination lock so that at least everyone on the yard can get the horse out if needs be. Such a stupid thing to do, either with a combination lock or a key lock. Do you think she would listen to a BHS employee or WHW?
 
I drew a sharp intake of breath when I saw the title of this thread. How would she feel if people weren't able to get her horse out of its stable in an emergency? I appreciate theft of a loved horse would be awful but I would never padlock mine in. Our outside gates are padlocked but that's all. I hope that you are able to resolve the situation promptly.
 
You could try the tack what happens if your horse gets caste or injured in his/her stable no one could help the horse and he/she would be in pain and discomfort until she returned. No horse should ever be locked into the stable. Hope you are able to persuade her from this dangerous practice.
 
I think you said it yourself when you said that the farmer leaves you all to run yourselves

At the end of the day what she chooses to do is none of your business - it may be crazy and senseless but unfortunately you have no say in it
 
I'd get some bolt cutters and keep them next to the fire extinguisher, tucked just behind so not easily visible. Just in case.

Then I'd speak to her about finding a solution that would make her feel more comfortable about leaving her horse. There has to be a measure you can put in place as a yard that will put her at ease and not put the horse at risk.

To be honest, the theft at the yard would make me nervous too- not that I'd ever padlock the horses.

We have an alarm system at the yard with beams and cameras. I know that you can get fake cameras which just act as a deterant. Maybe that's something she can look into?
 
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Hmmm... Maybe you're right. Our fire extinguishers are at the back if the stables, you'd have to be looking to find them.

I wouldn't do it long term but I'd be nervous leaving a locked in horse. They can do such silly things and it always seems to be when they are in the most inconvenient position to receive help.
 
Stupid girl, with a very misguided sense of responsibility. I can only echo what everyone else on here has said, padlocking a horse inside a stable should never be done, worry over horse theft is a serious issue, but again as others have said, a padlock won't even slow thieves down. What she is doing poses a huge danger to her horse.

Print off this thread, pin it to her stable door, and hopefully she will stop doing it.
 
Have you tried the scare tactic of severe injury/illness requiring immediate vet attention, say the horse required immediate surgery but no-one would be able to help as the *rolls eyes* stable is padlocked? Say for example, if her mobile was unable to be reached/no time to spare etc?

Honestly OP, I do feel you could explore the avenue of interpretive dance here (you acting as her horse obviously!), it may help to get yourself stuck over stable doors or just hop/roll around stable in fake agony or better yet pretend you are on fire?!

Good luck with talking her around. Let us know if common sense sinks in.....
 
I would be carefull you dont start an all out war here. Its not a good idea to go in all guns blazing , all you can do is advise her why nobody else in the whole world would padlock a horse in the stable then back off and try to distance yourself from the whole saga. If theres an issue with this pretty soon there will be other issues too grit your teeth and try not to get sucked into the whole livery battle ground thing. I hope the horse does nt have to pay the price for her daftness.
 
Obviously flimsy padlocks deter no-one - and of big, solid locks were a deterrent people wouldn't get trailers stolen either - so entire point null and void.

Tell her to get CCTV in her stable hooked up so she can check-in online anytime she fancies. Not expensive at all and fairly easy to set up.

I once looked around a livery yard where the owner proudly showed me how she padlocked the barn door at night...
 
It's a very dangerous idea for her to lock the stable, I can understand why it is causing you upset as it is a frightening prospect what could happen- what about the set up of your yard, is it fenced? If not can you maybe club together and fence the yard in with a gate with direct access to a secure turnout away from the stables incase of a need to evacuate? You could suggest it purely from a point of view of upgrading security for everyone's benefit- I'm sure most people will chip in. (Maybe request a visit from your local horsewatch coordinator to identify risk areas? I'm wondering whether her fear might be due to the set up on the yard, I've been on yards in the past where they are almost open to all aspects and security is a very small inadequate padlock on the front gate. It's not an ideal situation but shouldn't cost too much (maybe the farmer might be able to chip in - I know they can either sometimes can be mega helpful or just want horsey people to look after themselves). Hope it works out for you all x
 
Most decent padlocks will be bolt cutter proof.

Go for a compromise and suggest she gets one of those combination padlocks and lets everyone on the yard (including farmer) know the combination. Not ideal but maybe over time she will calm down. She's new you say and new brooms sweep clean.

A livery tried it here. I (as YO) immediately removed the padlock and nothing more was ever said. But I needed a hack saw and it was a cheap lock. If locks are of decent quality, it would probably need an angle grinder or a crow bar which any decent self respecting (!) gypsy would have as standard tools of trade in the back of his van.
 
Show her this thread and the concerns most people would have. Or compromise on a combination lock which all of yard knows. Little else you can do if yard is run between yourselves.
 
It's her horse and her decision. She obviously perceives the risk of theft to be higher than any other risk. If you convince her otherwise and her horse gets nicked what will you say then. Let her get on with it.
 
Very thankfully the risk of fire is pretty low (unless farmer welds at the other end of the barn or everyone on the yard smokes etc), if her horse gets colic or cast presumably you all have each others phone numbers so could call her to assist asap.
Of all the stupid things I see people doing this probably risks the horse very little.

You can't teach common sense and you'll rarely get thanks for pointing this kind of thing out
 
If people are getting in to steal, then they could just as easily get in to set the place on fire and it sounds like there is plenty of material to set fire to. A horse is viable for about 4 minutes in a stable fire. If the farmer is able to do welding at the other end of the building that implies that he has gas bottles at that end too. They can be devastating in a fire and mean that the fire service have to back off until they are made safe. Anything that slows the fire service down in getting the horses out makes it less likely that the horse would survive. There is a good information sheet under notes on the Friends of the Hampshire Animal Rescue Service Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/frie...reen-animal-rescue-specialist/202789866399296
 
mhorses said:
I have got major concerns and told her that a horse should never be locked in due to fire risks but she has blatantly ignored me. I have been finding it difficult to sleep the last few nights and this is irritating me. I can't say much to the farmer as he has said he wants no bother from the liveries or he will kick us out due to bickering in the past thankfully those people have left and everyone is generally fine now apart from this issue. What should I do?
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What should you do? Nothing! You've said your piece now leave it, it's not your horse & it's nothing to do with you. Too many problems are caused by people sticking their nose into other peoples business. Get on with looking after your own horse.
 
I'm with the few people who feel that you've said your piece, now leave her alone.

btw, if a horse is viable for about four minutes in a stable fire (quoted from a post above) how many people would actually know or have someone on the yard who knew within four minutes that there was a fire or could get there within four minutes? Which reminds me that I need to check my smoke detectors again but my barn is a few yards from my house.
 
Most stable bolts are held on by six screws which are easy to undo with a screwdriver, and silent too – probably quieter than unbolting the door!

ll you need to do is keep a screwdriver handy. It would take about 30 seconds to undo the two screws holding the catch part that the bolt slides through and once that’s off the door will open, locked or not. That’s 30 seconds I wouldn’t want to waste, myself. But better than nowt.
 
Sorry but it IS the concern of the YO and he cannot just sit on his @rse and do nothing about this. If there is any welfare issue with any animal on an owner's property then they are deemed to have a "duty of care" - so to say he doesn't want any hassle isn't acceptable and if the RSPCA came knocking on his door (for instance if the owner locks the horse in the stable and then goes away and doesn't feed/water it or whatever) then they wouldn't give a stuff about his not wanting to be bothered as HE would be deemed liable.

I'm a DIY YO and whilst I know that my livery has the sense to never lock a horse inside, if it ever were to happen here then livery would either surrender the key to the padlock or more probably be sent to trot on up the road! What FFS is going to happen if her horse colics and/or gets cast and the vet has to be called - but can't get into the stable to see to the horse? Or there's a fire, and the poor horse is trapped inside and no-one can get it out. The possibilities are horrendous.

At the very very least, if she's committed to doing this, the owner should place the key to the padlock in a prominent place in the tackroom: where everyone knows where it is in the event of an emergency.

But really the YO needs to think about making the yard secure: we had a professionally installed system here as there were a lot of burglaries from equine properties in the area - but if someone is handy and/or so disposed, quite cheap home security units/CCTV can be bought at places like B&Q which at the very least give a visual deterrent.

I am frankly appalled that the YO is allowing this to happen. In the event of a fire/colic/horse cast - inevitably these things happen in the middle of the night - is it REALLY going to be the best thing in the world to be faffing around looking for a screwdriver - AND a torch - to undo the lock? Cold fingers to boot? Umm, I don't think so.
 
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Could you suggest to her that she leaves a duplicate key hidden somewhere (that you all know about) on the yard or with the YO so that, in the event that people need immediate emergency access to the horse (colic/cast/fire ...etc) you can release it promptly? Also, there should be some way of everyone knowing each others contact details, phone numbers etc so you can call her if such a thing should happen. That way, she's happy in the knowledge that her horse is locked in, and you can be re-assured that it can be attended to in the event of an emergency. The point of everyone getting on well at a livery yard is that you are all extra "eyes" for each other.

At my yard, we often just have a quick look at the other horses to make sure they're all OK, even though the YO is on site. This worked in my favour once when my boy started to colic at 7.30pm, after I'd left. Someone raised the alarm and it was sorted. What would she do in the same situation?
 
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