Not sure what to do...

You Wont Forget Me

You Wont Forget Me

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Bit long sorry.
Anyway i have recently been leaving my boy unrugged day and night to help him shift someweight but there is gypsys who have moved in 5 mins from our yard, where they have been previously and we have previously had things stolen from the yard by them, not necesserily the same people tho. Soo everyone is panicking and everyone seems to be advising me to keep a full neck rug on my boy as he's a coloured that really stands out so the gypsys will likely steal him and ive somehow got myself really worked up and worried and dont know what to do. I could easily clip him now and put his rugs on but i dont want to if its not necessery. (oh and the gypsys that are along from us do happen to have a trailer at their caravans which made me a bit more nervous)
So just want to know what you would do if you were in my position... thanks
 
When you walk down the street and see an Asian, do you think that they are all extremists and are going to blow you up?

If somebody is going to steal your horse, they will do it with or without a rug on.

If you are that concerned, have him freeze marked :).
 
quirky said:
When you walk down the street and see an Asian, do you think that they are all extremists and are going to blow you up?

If somebody is going to steal your horse, they will do it with or without a rug on.

If you are that concerned, have him freeze marked :).
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Fair point, he is microchipped anyway but its just the horrible thought that keeps running through my head if they did do it
 
Why don't you just dye him brown all over?
Or failing that, get a bike chain and padlock him to the gate (but not if it's a metal one, as the ****** will probably just nick that too) :D

ETA : Hahaha I never realised that p 1ke ys was a dirty word!
 
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Sorry, not being very helpful.
Looking at your siggy he is very gorgeous and it would be a shame to dye him brown. But seriously, are your gates all padlocked and does anyone live on site?
I don't think putting a rug on will do anything other than make him overheat...
 
scatty_mare said:
Sorry, not being very helpful.
Looking at your siggy he is very gorgeous and it would be a shame to dye him brown. But seriously, are your gates all padlocked and does anyone live on site?
I don't think putting a rug on will do anything other than make him overheat...
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Its fine lol. We arent allowed to padlock gates for "health and saftey" how that works i dont know, there is a cottage just up from the yard but no one mans the yard as such, we are currently trying to get cctv on the yard but will most likley be ages before YO considers
 
Really? that's so silly! I'd talk to YO about getting padlocks I think, and even if you don't actually have CCTV, put some signs up saying you've got it. Might work as a deterrent.
 
get him freezemarked and get the gates padlocked with proper locks. get the rugs marked with your postcode, put signs up saying horse is microchipped and freezemarked and go down at random times - just in case they keep a time diary.
 
What about the other ponies at the yard, what colour are they?
Do you seriosly think, that because your is brown and white it is going to be stolen by gypsies.
 
If you really want to rug him, get a sweet itch hoody, that covers from ears to tail, including belly, and is only cotton, so allows him to stay cool..

I would be more worried about the gates not being locked whoever was living next door. I can see that it is difficult being a livery yard, but couldn't they put a combination lock on, so that nobody needs keys?
 
You Wont Forget Me said:
The thing is i wouldnt have thought twice about it if there hadnt been so many people say to me but after seeing your replies i think i maybe am overreacting a bit so will just ignore it i think
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You are not over reacting. Do what Dancing Queen said, get him freezemarked and padlocks on the gates.

My horse was the only coloured in a field of 6, and he was taken by travellers passing through - so yes it can and does happen.
 
Get him freezemarked so you don't worry. If you're really worried about the security of where you keep him I'd move TBH.

ETA - my boy is a coloured cob and it is a worry in certain areas, he is microchipped and freezemarked and kept in a secure area; I don't think you are over reacting.
 
i would freezemark your horse. microchipping isnt a deterrant as it cant been seen. it only is good when a horse is scanned and your normal joe public doesnt have a scanner but can see numbers and letters. mine is freezemarked and microchipped for this reason.

also if you are really worried about it do a bit of a paint job with purple spray (the stuff you put on wounds) and either mark his legs with it - easy to spot in a field as cant be covered up - and will look like he has something seriously wrong with his legs!! ha ha that should put them off!!
 
I would put up signs saying Thieves Beware horses are freeze marked / micro chipped or similar - I am sure you can buy proper freeze mark ones not sure re micro chipping - Mr Google may tell you :D
 
I can understand why you are worried. I would be too if I was in your situation as I own two coloureds! But seriously, I doubt they will steal him. Put it this way, it would be a bit obvious it was them if they have just moved next door and then your horse when missing. I would definitely speak to YO about getting padlocks though. I would say they are more likely to try and steal tack, etc so if I was you, I would keep my tack and any other valuable items at home.
 
I'd tell your YO of your concerns and explain why you want the gates securely padlocked (even if only for a short time). Really not sure why your gates cannot be padlocked for 'Health & Safety' reasons??? Get a good quality coded one (so no one has to worry about having a key on them all the time.) If there's ever a major emergency, a set of padlock cutters would soon have the gate open.

If YO wont budge on the padlock idea, ask what security provisions are in place to protect the horses on their property. It's a genuine concern - regardless of a temporary gypsy camp down the road or not. Anyone could be casing your yard out at any time, personally I'd like to know my horse/s are as safe as possible in my absence. And defo consider freeze marking.
 
I have a sign on the wall as you come in the yard which says 'If you can read this, smile, your on camera.'

I'd also recommend freeze marking your horse.

This particular group of people may have a reputation thats not 'their' fault, but I wouldn't take any chances, the reputation for thieving and all the rest was earned by people from their community, so it's up to them to change it, if they want to.
 
mole said:
sorry to say it but its either 'if you can read this, smile, you are on camera' or 'if you can read this, smile, you're on camera'
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I would definately be padlocking gate - and make sure the hinges of gate are reversed so gate cant be lifted off - if it can be lifted off you may as well not bother padlocking ! my 2 were let out of a field i was renting even though it was padlocked they just took gate off hinges ! (both found safe and sound thank god - worst day ever !)

I would padlock one side with normal padlock but make sure the chain cant be cut (you can buy ones that cant be cut with bolt cutters) and on opening side I would put a similar chain but use a combination lock - you can then give the combination to the people in the cottage - to everyone with horses in the field and also put a sign up with your contact number for emergencies and then if someone rings and they are genuine you can give them the combination (as you are driving down there)

better to be safe than sorry I would be as concerned about kids leaving gate open as them being stolen !

hope it is all ok x
 
It is not just coloureds ... I was asked the other day ( and its the second time) how much I wanted for my bright bay as we were long lining the other day is her driving harness ;) . I do not of course know that the gentlemen in the van / car were travellers or not and am making no supposition as to their intentions having seen her and being keen to buy her ..... but one should be securuty concious all the time not just when one suspects that a cetain type of person is nearby !

My horses are both freezemarkd and the gate has a combination padlock on it.


The health and safety concerns about padlocking some yards gates is that the firebrigade would have difficulty accessing the yard should there be a fire ( although I do think their bolt cutters would in reality deal with most chains :p) .......... this is more pertinant where horses are stabled or humans live on the premisies etc. It matters not really on our yard as only stables / barn there and our horses are never shut in ;)


oh and we do have cctv too:cool:
 
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