Really worried!

[Pidge]

Got to yard at tea time and several girls on yard and a chap was just leaving in a van. I assumed by the way he was speaking to the girls that they knew him. He stopped and said they had been selling sofas in the town and had a brand new one left over that they were trying to get rid of. Told him not interested as if no one wanted it we would have to get rid of it. DOH how thick can I be! Am now convinced he was casing the joint and am worried about my tack especially as I've just bought a new dressage saddle. YO is locking gates tonight, but will that really stop them? Know I won't get a bit of sleep till I get to yard tomorrow morning. GOD I WISH I WASNT BLONDE!

 

[Tia]

That is worrying. I think if it was me I would jump in my car and take my tack out of the tack room and take it home. I would also want to check on my horses.

 

[Pidge]

Can't get in now YO locked gates - sat here feeling sick.................

 

[clipclop]

Just to put your mind at ease, we get the odd random man in a white van with a sofa or some other gear in the back to sell of cheap (Probably stolen)!

I shouldn't think he was checking you out but it's always best to be as secure as possible.

Cheers
C x

 

[Tia]

Could you maybe phone her up and ask her to put your tack in her house till tomorrow? She does live on the property??

 

[Pidge]

They live on site and have sensors all over the place which go off in the house. Tack room has metal bars over door and windows, and our tack is on lockable saddle racks to which they haven't got a key.
If he was casing the joint would he really have stopped me to chat about the sofa he was trying to get rid bearing in mind he had been on the yard for a good 5-10mins before I got there? Could it just have fallen off the back of a lorry? Could he have been an opportunist hoping to find yard empty and see what he could take? Clutching at straws now......... I should have been more suspicious and asked to see it.

 

[Pidge]

Oh I really hope so....

 

[Halfpass]

A friend had a white van pull up outside her house the other day with same story. She now has 2 fab cream leather sofa's for a really good price. Probably not very cosha (sp) but certainly not looking for tack to steel. Hope this puts your mind a rest a little.

 

[Pidge]

Problem was this guy didn't want any cash for the sofa (I don't think he did anyway?) God I'd be useless as a witness!

 

[Daffers]

i know its easy to say not to worry, but i really do think that if he was casing the joint he wouldnt have made conversation for longer than few mins. We tend to get pikey people round our way and i have to say they are the safest ones to know!!! strange but true!!!!

 

[Doreys_Mum]

agree with daffers...

I often ended up housing a gypsy pony with the wonder bug, so they spent a lot of time on my yard and in my house etc coming to get him all the time!

but they never nicked a thing!

 

[Pidge]

Got to the yard at 6.30am and horses were ok and tack still in tack room. Phew one very relieved Suey!
Question now is do I leave tack at yard or not? Would be interested in what everyone else does as I have an event saddle and a dressage saddle so not always sure which one I'd be using at night. Plus don't really like the idea of leaving saddle in car all day when at work - I go straight from work to the yard.
One option I've been thinking of is to leave hat, bridles, breastplate in boot of car (only have a corsa) and leave saddles at yard. What do you think?

 

[airedale]

get the saddles microchipped as per the article in H&H and do NOT NOT NOT leave both saddles at that yard. EVER.

Your yard HAS been cased and they will be back to rob it if they think it's worth while and TBH if they've been successful enough to get in and have a browse then they might also think the security is cr*p and come back.

A lock on the gate won't keep them out if they are determined tack thieves. That lot even take the roof off now.

I'd not worry about bridle and bitsas. Very rarely are those taken - and in comparison to the cost of the saddles they aren't difficult to replace.
Most breakins take saddles - they even take the time to rip off the girths and numnahs.

Also it is common that if they do nick the tack they wait about 3 to 6 weeks and come back again and nick the new stuff bought to replace what they stole the first time.

I'd assume the worst for the next 6 weeks or so and as its not hot any more I'd keep your tack in the boot of your car. It's not going to be too cold or frosty either for the next 6 weeks.

If the yard isn't done over by say first week Nov. you are probably safe.

I'd also advise YO to get an immediate visit from teh local police crime prevention officer and take his advice on security and implement what he advises.

Also check your insurance cover on horse covers tack if it is kept at a livery yard. Some policies exclude cover if tack is at a commercial stables and you'd have to claim on your house insurance.

 

[Pidge]

Right the saddles are coming home with me tonight, as they both cost over £1,000 custom fit I just don't think it's worth it. Plus I think I may be able to sleep at night. I know the saddles are covered at the yard as they are individually included on the policy and the NFU are happy the yard security is sufficient to be able to cover them. It's just the inconvienince of having to claim and then replace them that I wouldn't like. Plus no riding for weeks.......... Thanks ever so much for the advice.

 

[OWLIE185]

It really does not matter how well protected your yard and tack room are they will get in if they want to.

Please have your tack post coded and microchipped and your horse Freezemarked on the shoulder and micro-chipped.

Thay way if they are stolen you have a chance of them being identified and returned to you.

Peter Horsewatch

 

[airedale]

alternative idea - which is what we've all done - is to use synthetic saddles for day to day and keep the posh stuff at home for shows

so it's wintec bridles, wintec saddles and if both got nicked we'd have change out of 350 quid to replace the lot

sorry but I no longer want the worry of having expensive leather saddles and the wintecs (and thorowgoods et al) give very nice rides to both horse and rider and another thing is you can ride out in pouring rain (if you want to !!) and just put them away without worrying about the leather getting stiff or ruined.

personal view - I'd like to see e-bay ban the selling of saddles as so many of them have a high probability of being stolen

think about that the next time you buy a 'bargain' saddle from ebay - it's a good chance someone else is miserable at the theft of that saddle - and as Peter said above - get your saddle marked and microchipped

 

[Pidge]

Tack is marked inside by the saddler so can be identified as mine and sisters and both our horses are microchipped. Big sigh of relief now the saddles are home. Thanks for the advice everyone. I have also reported it to the police so they are aware of the incident and have also activated the horsey network round here to put the word around.