PeterNatt
Well-Known Member
Important Information from Horse Watch
Some of you may have read an article in "Horse Deals" about how thieves make a small plait in a horse or pony's mane which marks it out for future theft. Apparently there have been incidents like this in Essex. A few months ago a horse owner from Tideford, Cornwall, discovered that her horse had a narrow 2"-3" plait fixed half way down its mane, held together with a piece of matted hair. This has been reported to the Police.
A lady from Newton Abbot area was distressed to discover a photo of her horse and a grid reference as to its location on the Geograph website.(www.geograph.org.uk) You may be aware of this website which shows general photos but also gives OS map locations. This has worried a lot of people as there are pictures of their houses and properties clearly shown. It may also explain some of the concerns about "sightings of people taking photographs" reports.
If you are concerned you can complain to the website or the ISP to have your images removed. The photos are hard to act on but if somebody has been on your property to take images that may be a good lever.
Farmkey, the freeze branding company, received a call from a customer saying that a man had come into his yard in Norfolk, stating that he worked for Farmkey and needed to see the passports of his horses to check they had a record of freezemark digits on their passports. It is thought the man had presumed that the horses were freezemarked by Farmkey from the sign that was on the paddock gate. When the customer queried this, the man produced a card with the Farmkey logo and photograph ID and said his name was Martin.
Farmkey have confirmed they do not have a technician of that name and do not carry out checks in this manner. It is possible that the man was checking out the yard to see which horses were not freezemarked or to look at the security of the tackroom etc for possible future theft.
The best advice is probably not to allow anyone onto your yard without a prior appointment. If anyone contacts you from Farmkey, check with the office before allowing access. Their phone number is 08708 707107.
Some of you may have read an article in "Horse Deals" about how thieves make a small plait in a horse or pony's mane which marks it out for future theft. Apparently there have been incidents like this in Essex. A few months ago a horse owner from Tideford, Cornwall, discovered that her horse had a narrow 2"-3" plait fixed half way down its mane, held together with a piece of matted hair. This has been reported to the Police.
A lady from Newton Abbot area was distressed to discover a photo of her horse and a grid reference as to its location on the Geograph website.(www.geograph.org.uk) You may be aware of this website which shows general photos but also gives OS map locations. This has worried a lot of people as there are pictures of their houses and properties clearly shown. It may also explain some of the concerns about "sightings of people taking photographs" reports.
If you are concerned you can complain to the website or the ISP to have your images removed. The photos are hard to act on but if somebody has been on your property to take images that may be a good lever.
Farmkey, the freeze branding company, received a call from a customer saying that a man had come into his yard in Norfolk, stating that he worked for Farmkey and needed to see the passports of his horses to check they had a record of freezemark digits on their passports. It is thought the man had presumed that the horses were freezemarked by Farmkey from the sign that was on the paddock gate. When the customer queried this, the man produced a card with the Farmkey logo and photograph ID and said his name was Martin.
Farmkey have confirmed they do not have a technician of that name and do not carry out checks in this manner. It is possible that the man was checking out the yard to see which horses were not freezemarked or to look at the security of the tackroom etc for possible future theft.
The best advice is probably not to allow anyone onto your yard without a prior appointment. If anyone contacts you from Farmkey, check with the office before allowing access. Their phone number is 08708 707107.