horse thieves caught in act??? should i report to police?

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Yorkshire dumpling

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last night i went to check on my filly (about 9:30) as she didnt look too happy yesterday and didnt eat or drink, colic sprung to mind.
when i got down there the fence was open and unlocked and two men were stood near the feed cabin, at first i thought it was the yard owners husband and her father but as i got closer i realised it wasnt, they said they had come through from the pond behind the fields. ok i thought fair enough and strongly advised that they dont in future as it scares the horses. they left via the gate and then i went to walk into my fillies paddock and noticed her fence was off and there was a man walking out of it. he said sorry love just cut through with my mates i think your appaloosa is a bit freaked out by us though.

i watched him leave to then checked my filly to see if she was ok and was not hurt ect, she was fine just a bit more spooky than normal. so i settled her down and while stroking her i notices a half finished plat in her mane just under her rug on her neck (she has full neck on) so i untied it and went round everyone elses horses (that would let me near them) so i could check them. the ones i could get to where all ok if not a little stirred up. and reported it to YO last night. this afternoon she asked if i had reported it to police to which i said no but if she wanted me to i would.
should i have done this straight away when i got home? i dont take my mobile down to field (as i tend to drowned them) and if so what do i say to the police? xxx
 
Yes I would call the police and report tresspass/attempted theft. Give them all the details of last night, time etc and what the men looked like.

At least then it will be logged as a suspicious incident. Other local yards might of had the same thing happening.

Better to be over cautious I think.
 
Yes I would report it and you really ought to take your phone with you. Wear something with a zip pocket to keep it safe, it may come in handy one day.
 
Get your YO to buy some "fake" security cameras and put them up. Basically they look like the real thing, but aren't, but anyone engaged in criminal pursuits ain't gonna know that! You can get little notices to put up saying that "CCTV is recording surveillance images" as well, just like you'd do with the real thing, so the whole show looks authentic.

Or even better, get YO to purchase the real thing and have CCTV in the yard properly.

Just me being a nanny, if the yard is isolated, and you've had oddbods hanging around, do consider your own personal safety and carry your mobile (charged!) close to hand, as well as think about a personal alarm on you, and let someone know what time you should be back etc etc. Be careful hun.
 
It would seem a little late now perhaps but you may well be warning the powers that be that there are thieves in the area. We have a local countryside watch around us, they even supply posters, but I was in a similar position before Christmas - on my way to work (having just left the yard) on a very wet, windy, horrid morning - I noticed two blokes crossing a sown field with dogs beside them, at first I thought they were beaters for the local shoot and felt sorry for them, then as I drove closer they were not gun dogs, more lurcher. I drove on past and then in my rear view mirror noticed a car pull up behind me and the fellas and dogs jumped in - mud and all! They must have reversed up the road as I stopped a bit further down the road and they didn't pass me. I rang someone back at the farm and asked him to report it to the countryside watch - passed the buck! I later saw on the update (emailed once a week or so) that they had been spotted down the road poaching. Don't know if they caught them but they often do - because people report sightings. So perhaps it is better to report these sightings, but obviously on a local number NOT the emergency number. Do you have a Horsewatch set up in your area? Perhaps post this on the Stolen etc section of this forum I am sure they can advise better.
I don't think that the 'travelling community' like appaloosas they are too unique (hopefully). I put up signs saying the horses on the premises are all microchipped. And I now have the signs saying YOU ARE BEING WATCHED!
 
Yes, of course you should report it and I would be remembering to take the mobile as well. What if you got the the field and found one of the horses had been taken or injured?
 
Definately report it, get it down on record of the activity and if god forbid something else occurs in the area it can all match up, intelligence can lead to arrests. Good for you for catching them out, but very worrying that they know what's there, I wouldn't be able to rest. Definately speak to the YO regarding security, police do attendance now and will look around and advise what you can do to tighten up security, there are signs advising smart water used, and cameras fake or real that can be used, security floodlights are a major bonus if you have them installed, (they also help lighten things up in the winter when your doing your chores!!) You may also want to put up signs saying horses microchipped and/or freeze branded.
 
no not a yard yard it is just field split into about 15 paddocks with DIYers in them and YO lives about 2 mins up the road. but defo reporting them, going to get credit tomorrow and give them a call.
and i will go careful
i will suggest the cctv and security stuff too, and i am moving soon hopefully anyway, i am planning to move to scarborough in spring xx thank you all for the comments and advise xx
 
Definitely report it may be too late for much to be done but the police will send out a message to your areas horse watch which will enable people to keep an eye out for them.
 
Yes I would have reported it straight away. And I would always have my phone with me, sods law if I didn't that's when I would need to call the vet.
 
Yes you should have reported it - and at the time, not the next day. There is little chance now of fiinding those men or their vehicle. I'm involved with Neighbourhood Watch in our village, and it's so exasperating when people tell you something highly suspicious and then tell you they saw it 8 hours ago!

Go with your initial gut feeling. I've had to ring 999 a few times, and the police are very reasonable. They would far rather be told than not told. It is then up to them to act or not on your information. And if you do report something, don't forget to ask for a Crime Report Reference Number. This makes it much easier if for example there's another similar incident.
 
Tell the Police & make sure that everything is marked with owners postcode/horses freezemark as a deterrent to theives. You have all had your horses freezemarked haven't you seeing as it's the only visible deterrent.
 
Thank-you!

I would report it too...

That said I once had three men from the travelling community approach me whilst out hacking on my own - asking very detailed questions about my horse, where i kept him, how old etc . At one stage i thought they were going to drag me off the horse and disappear with him. Managed to get away from them and carefully headed back to the yard as i wasn't sure if they were still following me. Reported to North Yorkshire Police and tbh they couldn't of cared less.
 
Lockie123 said:
Thank-you!

I would report it too...

That said I once had three men from the travelling community approach me whilst out hacking on my own - asking very detailed questions about my horse, where i kept him, how old etc . At one stage i thought they were going to drag me off the horse and disappear with him. Managed to get away from them and carefully headed back to the yard as i wasn't sure if they were still following me. Reported to North Yorkshire Police and tbh they couldn't of cared less.
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at my old yard we had pretty much the same thing happen, 3 girls went for a hack and a van pulled up next to them and the men were asking questions about them all like what time they go up to feed where they are kept ect and they reported it. the police just told them to keep there eyes out and gave them a ref number and that was it! i moved my gelding (at the time) to where i am now and i have been here for about 3 years with no probs till now x
 
Yorkshire dumpling said:
at my old yard we had pretty much the same thing happen, 3 girls went for a hack and a van pulled up next to them and the men were asking questions about them all like what time they go up to feed where they are kept ect and they reported it. the police just told them to keep there eyes out and gave them a ref number and that was it! i moved my gelding (at the time) to where i am now and i have been here for about 3 years with no probs till now x
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Yep sounds very similar to what happened here!
 
Nice one! up the anti for the "Wind Plait" scam by claiming you caught them in the act!

Don't bother calling the police, they don't care about your plait fantasies.

For the record, Surrey Police also don't care if you actually are reporting a break-in in process. We were told to stop wasting police time.
So we called the local gypsies instead, was like a freaking action movie!!!
 
Report it, have your mobile with you at all times in the future and make sure all the horses are freezemarked if they are not done already. That is the best deterrent of all.
 
Yuletide_Gal said:
Nice one! up the anti for the "Wind Plait" scam by claiming you caught them in the act!

Don't bother calling the police, they don't care about your plait fantasies.

For the record, Surrey Police also don't care if you actually are reporting a break-in in process. We were told to stop wasting police time.
So we called the local gypsies instead, was like a freaking action movie!!!
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whats your problem? and it isnt a fantasy it happened, it isnt a "claim" it happened.
 
the police said they had had a few reports in the area over the past 5 days of suspicious men hanging around livery yards. an attempted break it to a tack room (which i heard about by a friend who keeps her ponies there)
 
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i know how you feel. its uneasy and makes you worry.

in the summer we had some really strange things going on at our yard. things going missing. gates being taken of hinges and all sorts of things. and its our own yard, so there is only me and my sister there.our arab kept getting these 'plaits' in her mane. and we put a post on here and got completely berated and were made to feel completely stupid. im old enough to know what is man made and what is natural. and i know for a fact the ones she had in her mane were man made as they were perfect little plaits. it really upset my little sister she was so upset that her pony was going to be taken. and shes only young but she got ganged up on.

i contacted the police and they didnt care really but upped the patrol in the area as there had been a few break ins and suspicious activities around. i contacted horse watch and she said the same as people on here about them being wind plaits and that apparently there is no evidence to link it to horses being stolen. its just a old wives tale etc etc.

but it really shook us up and we didnt get any sympathy from any one. but we put up micro chip and freeze mark signs and extra chains and padlocks and all the dodgy activities stopped.

deffinately worth reporting. you may get on better seen as they were caught in the act.

try not to worry to much.good luck
 
Yorkshire dumpling said:
whats your problem? and it isnt a fantasy it happened, it isnt a "claim" it happened.
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Oh it happened, did it?

Every other plait in a horses mane has been a wind plait. There has been nothing reported to police about plaits and thefts being linked.

So why on earth does a new user feel the need to post about finding men putting plaits into a horses mane?

There is not a man alive who plaits other people's horses as a prequal to theft. So either it's a coincidence, or you're making it up.

Either way, my post about the police still stands. They don't give a damn about rural theft!
 
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