How do you keep your yard secure?

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dafthoss

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To top off an amazingly rubbish week our yard got broken in to last night.

So looking for what security measures you all have in place. We had a heavy duty chain round the gate and padlock and another padlock on the barn but they got both them off and took out the out side lights.

All I can offer is hospital food really as that's where I'm heading now.

*waits for troll accusation* you really couldn't make it up this week! :rolleyes:
 
The best security for tack are the containers from lorries. A former yard had a breeze block built tack room with iron bars on the windows and the door and a tiled roof.

Thieves took the roof off and got the lot.
 
It is so much harder when there is no house on site, or no nosy/friendly neighbours. I hope they didn't get too much :(

What other security apart from the locks and chains do you have? Electrify your gates? Get the place alarmed. Wire rape alarms to all doors. CCTV. Geese apparently make a heck of a racket when they are disturbed too, but no good if there is no-one to hear them. :( I know someone who parks a tractor across the yard gateway every night.

My security? Not a lot. When people come thieving here they come with guns, they can take what they like in that scenario.

Nobody gets in or out of my place without passing the house, I have excellent guard dogs that let me know what is going on. I can see my barns from my windows and no-one is going to steal horses, hay yes, horses no, more likely that I would find extra horses dumped.
 
Alarmed padlocks - yes they can be cut, but only if someone is wearing good earplugs and is a mile from the nearest house.

Security lights and a big dog.

Sorry to read that - cr*p :(
 
Oh gosh you poor thing, how awful for you. I hope they didn't take too much?

We are lucky in that we have some natural security - we're down a mile long private, gated drive which looks like it only leads to the manor but in fact leads to the whole estate, we live on site, and there are generally people around all the time.

I have two very large dogs, who bark on command, and bark if they hear anyone at night, we have CCTV everywhere with signs up saying so, security lights everywhere, the tack room is padlocked and alarmed, and the alarm system goes through to our phones (mobiles and landline) as well as making a hideous racket.
 
I find it a little odd people would be prepared to leave a dog alone in a yard... its just as likely to be stolen and you could end up with the dog being pts for doing its job.

Yards by their nature are insecure its not an easy task. Good luck with what you do end up using personally if its of value I take it home.
 
Thanks guys, they took two leather saddles but left the 3rd which they had obviously seen as it was moved and had a foot print on and left the synthetic. Took all the normal battery chargers and stuff and head collars but left the nice leather ones and the bridles. They also took loads from next door which has farm and building machinery and supplies in.

They only wrenched one padlock the other they broke the fixing to but they didn't cut it so forensics can't get any thing but the type of gloves they had and half a foot print.

We don't really have any where to put a container sadly. But will look in to the alarmed padlocks, we had security lights but the broke all them as well sadly.
 
Keypad entry gate at front, owner and owner's in-laws live on-site, only access is from Forestry land, main barn double locked and alarmed on outside door/double locked and alarmed on inside door, workshop behind second door and padlocked, tack room behind a double locked and alarmed door with individual padlocked lockers containing tack, three sets of padlocked gates between the forest and main yard (as in you need to get through all three to get to main yard). Rug room (on main yard) padlocked.

I think we're pretty secure ;).

P
 
Star_Chaser said:
I find it a little odd people would be prepared to leave a dog alone in a yard... its just as likely to be stolen and you could end up with the dog being pts for doing its job.
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OP asked what security we have at our yards. Yes, I have alarmed padlocks, security lights and a big dog, however my house is at the yard therefore I do not leave my dogs alone at the yard - they live in my house :rolleyes:
 
Just be a bit careful posting the security regime at your own particular yard on a public forum on t'interweb, peeps.

Hope you're OK and that the damage is easily rectified, OP.
 
Im sorry to hear your news. We have been broken into twice now in the last 3 months and many times before. Everything of value gets taken home but in November they took all of our horse feed. Now we only have enough for about about 3 days left at the yard. So this time nothing was taken but again its the damage caused, not only that they left ALL the lights ON which means they probably went through the stables to see if we were hiding anything there :mad: Even when we stack the hay and straw we cut one of the strings on each bale so they can't be moved.
We have bought a Swann security system which calls my phone and I can download an app to view the yard anytime even at night. Just got to get it installed. I did see two really good systems on offer at Costco recently.
 
Honestly if someone wants in they will find a way no matter what. There was a really sad story recently about thieves cutting through a padlock chain (after a quad bike) and the sparks set fire to nearby hay and horses were killed - they really are scum!

The only real prevention is not to leave anything there that you don't mind wandering off. All tack, boots, spare rugs etc. in the boot of your car. Energisers in those big (expensive) fixed to the ground boxes so they can't be moved.

I assume planning permission and £150k to build a house on site is not a possibiilty!

It's very sad but once they've been once they will be back, usually they wait a couple of weeks to let you replace everything then go through the same routine again. So do be really careful about what get's left at least for a good while - if they come and have a rummage around and realise you're keeping everything off site they might not bother again for a while.
 
Cambrica that sounds awful, fancy having all the food stolen too!

We were robbed in broad daylight about five years ago, they took all the tack and rugs for four horses, plus headcollars etc. We had liveries in those days, who had top of the range rugs, and I'm convinced they spotted them in the field and decided to hit us. 95% of what was taken was mine and kept in a big shed with a padlock on. Ironically it had been in there for two years previously unlocked - saddles and all. A male friend who is a builder said, when I put the locks on, that it would attract thieves...

Thankfully we haven't had them return. We moved everything out of the pony yard, which is right against the lane, and took some stuff to the house. Other stuff is dotted around the stables. There is a tack locker in each stable, things kept in overhangs, stuff behind hay etc. If they did come to take things, it woult take a lot longer to get at everything and load it up.. We still locks on the gate at the end of the drive, but they would get through if they wanted.

Another thing that a lot of people do that makes me cringe, is have photos of their horses competing on the stable/tack room walls. I wouldn't advertise what the horse can do to them either..
 
We have a security guard on the farm who checks everywhere and we don't leave anything up there unless absolutely necessary. Saying that I still had all my rugs taken off the ponies backs a few years back.

Hope things start to get better for you very soon xx
 
EstherYoung said:
Just be a bit careful posting the security regime at your own particular yard on a public forum on t'interweb, peeps.

Hope you're OK and that the damage is easily rectified, OP.
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won't make any difference, thieves generally know that most people will padlock their gates and lock house doors etc, they won't come looking on forums for that information. At the yard where I do my carriage driving, they have the harness room in a separate shed from the rest so that can be locked with a key, then those keys are put in a drawer in the main office which is locked with a passcode padlock, and the two gates on either ends of the yard are locked with a passcode padlock each on them and heavy duty chain with plastic on it.
 
Star_Chaser, my dogs don't get left on the yard, although we were at one point looking into getting a pair of guard dogs to be out on the yard at night when we had ridiculously valuable horses in.

I live on site, and my boys live with me, but bark like crazy if they hear the yard gates opening at night, and I let them out to gob off if there's anyone suspicious hanging around.
 
I live on site
northern inuit dog to warn
tack room special lock and they cannot lift it up either
lock on gate remote area and drive
alarm

soon to be cctv


extra geese loose on yard
alarm linked to police
mark everything extra extra well
tack marking
and other things on this web site which has been created for securing your property
http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/preventing-horse-theft.html



.
 
Leviathan said:
I live on site
northern inuit dog to warn
tack room special lock and they cannot lift it up either
lock on gate remote area and drive
alarm

soon to be cctv


extra geese loose on yard
alarm linked to police
mark everything extra extra well
tack marking
and other things on this web site which has been created for securing your property
http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/preventing-horse-theft.html



.
Click to expand...

I long for a Northern Inuit. Would you accept a Great Dane, a Great Dane x Doberman and a Springer x Lab (damn good gundog) in exchange?
 
We live on site but keep all our tack in the house since a neighbour had her tack stolen from her outdoor tackroom. We did have our suspicions about the perpetrator, as other valuable, easily sold-on items were left behind.
 
Unfortunately I don't think there is a lot you can do if they are determined. All you can do really is minimise your potential losses by leaving as little up there as you can. We do what we can by having only the essential rugs up there, and no extra tack, but if they're determined they'll take whatever they can, and I have several friends who have literally had EVERYTHING taken. They are tucked away down a gravel track and I don't think that helps with their security at all. There is very little chance that anyone will notice anything untoward.

My brother put me on to some special (and expensive) chains and padlocks which are sold for motorbikes and are supposedly almost impossible to cut through. I have those on our field gate at each end.
 
Honey08 said:
That happened with us too, they dropped half a breastplate, and stole a cheap pony saddle with a broken tree but didn't take my XC boots... :confused:
Click to expand...
Not sure it would have been the same person/people as we thought of someone very local just being nasty really. However they left behind power tools etc. Think the tack probably went to Holmfirth the weekend after.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Not sure it would have been the same person/people as we thought of someone very local just being nasty really. However they left behind power tools etc. Think the tack probably went to Holmfirth the weekend after.
Click to expand...

No, it probably wasn't. In our case I think that they were in a rush (it was broad daylight on a week day) and were just grabbing stuff and chucking it in their van. Ironically they dropped all the rugs that we didn't use.
 
Starzaan said:
I long for a Northern Inuit. Would you accept a Great Dane, a Great Dane x Doberman and a Springer x Lab (damn good gundog) in exchange?
Click to expand...



lol throw in a yacht and you have a deal is this what you want ;)
he is older now mind you this a few years old
george001_zps10f6cec6.jpg
 
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Ensure that all your tack is marked with your post code (Rolson Quality Tools 38 piece automatic number and letter stamp) which is available on line or Halfords.
Mark rugs with postcode in very large lettering.
Apply Smartwater to everything www.smartwater.com
You would be amazed at how much tack is found after being stolen but because it is not marked it is impossible to identify the owner.
 
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