Sick to death of yard thieves

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stacey_lou

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More of rant really but a while back I complained on here of theifs stealing feed on the yard to the point where I was getting through a bag of feed a week!!!! and its not just myself on the yard loosing out

Many of us have purchased lockable feed bins as we have a communinal tack room. Now its my haylage a a rule on a saturday I get 2 bales of haylage as these last me a week 4 1/2 half nets per bale and every time I open one I make all my 4 1/2 hay nets 10 -12 Lbs and hang them up....

well the other day I picked up a hay net and thought it seemed a little smaller than it should have been so I weighed it 6lbs!!!!!! someone had the cheek to take 6 lbs of my haylage out of my pre-made haynet!! This has happened a number of times now and im sick of it, unfortunaly I have no where to lock my hay nets up but at the same time I shouldnt have too!!!!

bloody cheek!!!
 
Wow that really does take the p***- ready made nets!!!
Drives me nuts at my yard, I dont loose feed or hay (as far as i know) but things like hay nets, I bought 7 to make up for a week i have one left!
feed stirrers- I am in such a rush in the morning and can never find my spoon to mix feeds, hoof picks little things but things that make a difference and its so un-necessary.
I have no idea what on earth you can do about your nets being stolen from How irritating.
Have you spoken to the yard manager or who ever is in charge?
 
That is really taking the P. I would be petitioning the yard owner to do something about it!. You can pick up an easy to use & fit cctv system with 4 or 5 cameras from maplin quite cheaply.
 
I had an issue a few weeks ago, bales of hay being taken, fine if someone wants to borrow one, just ask, but seriously if I only have three bales left, possibly I don’t have one to spare! The other issue I had was even weirder, someone kept opening my bales of straw and taking a few flakes, seriously do they not think I’d notice the bailer twine undone?!

I now have all my hay/straw bales under a massive sheet of tarpaulin with bricks on top, that is thus far deterring them! You could do the same with your nets, stick them in a bit of tarp and tie the top up with a bike lock or some other deterrent!

Have been at the yard for 10 months and have lost four hoof picks, a pair of brushing boots, my scissors, a lead rope and a feed scoop… not that I’m counting or anything! :D
 
We have all spoken to the YO and the YM when she has been away but as you can under stand the YM hands are tied by the YO.

We used to have a system where you could take bags of feed, haylage, bedding and hay when you liked but you wrote in a book under your name and it was all paid at the end of the month but bales were going missing and feed ect beacuse they were not being written down.

So now we pre-order and once a week we have it delieved to us by the YM but thats make it worse beacuse the thief cannot steal from YO and us they have to take it all from us! We have told the YO but nothing looks as though its being done.

I dont regrudge lending someone a haynet or some feed or what ever I can if they are short and i can spare it but just to take it is stealing and its rude.

We have asked for cameras to be put up or the wild life once that record when they sence movement but as far as i am aware this was refused.

I am sick of paying for someone elses feed. In the spring I was having the huge hales of haylage the 250Lbs ones and one of those I would be lucky would have lasted me 2weeks!!! which for the spring grass is lucious so haynets I make are only 8-10lbs Max beacuse shes a mare lol.

Its a joke! Im out of ideas at the moment im spending approx £180 a month of beeding, feed and haylage for one horse!!!
 
Then I would be moving my horse if it's that bad - and I would be telling the yard owner & YM it is directly due to them not doing anything about the stealing!. perhaps when the liveries threaten to walk, then they'll do something about it. It's disgraceful.

If moving REALLY wasn't an option, then do you have a horsebox or are you allowed trailer parking? I would be paddlocking my hayledge in there or even purchasing a storage container I could lock. Maybe you could go halfs with a trusted livery.
 
I am on the waiting list for another yard and am giving it till January/Feb before giving up on that one and going for my second option of yard, as I am waiting for another yard I wouldnt want to move her then move her again.

The container idea is a good one but they are a few hundered im sure. I just do not know what else to do that isnt going to cost me lots and lots of money, i worked out I should be spending £89 a month on feed, bedding and haylage but im spending £100 more beacuse of this issue!
 
Do you have a trailer/lorry that you can put your made up nets into?

Granted, it is a pain in the butt to put them in there, but better than a pain in the wallet!!!
 
No i no longer have my lorry thats gone and looking for a new one. Maybe Ill ask my Dad to help me build a tall cubbord that I can hany my hay nets in
 
I think your mare should "get a virus" and you could leave notes warning that your haynets & feed are "medicated" and must not be given to any other horses. You could even make a big show of adding baking soda or salt from an unmarked container to them. Won't do her any harm but will keep up the charade. Equally though you YO has a duty of care here and stuff being stolen is scandalous
 
Can you thread a padlock through the top of the haynets? People could still take the hayledge through the holes, but I should think it would put them off. You can always take the padlock off when you give it to your horse. Very sad that you should even need to do this.
 
It is shocking espically as the yard I am at has a waiting list and yet not all is as it should be. I have moaned many a times about it and even considered refusing to pay all my bill but seemed that was unfair as its not their fault but at the same time should be taking steps to catch the person or people.

I dont know I think i may put up a camera anyway whether they agree or not!
 
or go really old fashioned and go to the dump and pick up an old fridge/freezer - look for one with handles that you can padlock?

Could you at the least be allowed to post a major sign up in a communal area stating that you are very disappointed that there have been thefts, your evidence and how much it is costing you and you are now giving fair warning that you have been forced to set traps to catch the thief (ves) - that could be enough to deter some if they actually are not sure what you are up to?
 
Are you able to store your feed at home and bring it in daily - I know it makes a mess of the car but at least it won't go missing. I've had to do this as I have a 4 legged robber who manages to get into the fenced off area if he gets a whiff of haylage - bad pony! I got a large tarpaulin that I used to line the boot of the car - kept the hay under control.

What you could do for your nets is to buy the padlocks with the long shanks on them and run it through the top loops and lock it once you've filled it - then no-one can get into the haynet. It is possible to get all the locks keyed the same or you could get the ones with numbers on and code them all the same.
 
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I actually spooke with my dad last night and we will build a chip board cubbord almost like a single wardrobe with a hook in it to tie my nets in and then ill padlock that, its so sad beacuse despite all this its a nice yard and ive been there for years and we have never had this problem before.

Also I got my bill last night and I had 6 bales of haylage extra last month that my girl eats!! now thats n ot even funny she could of had a new rug with that money
 
I'd be staking the place out my self and go into stealth mode at that rate :D, joking aside, nothing would please me more than to catch them red handed and name and shame them.

Sometimes you just have to take matters in your own hands and I'm afriad and that's exactly what I'd do.
 
My dad told me last night if I put up cameras and Caught the person doing it and I didnt put signs up stating that I had CCTV then I would in eyes of the law be commiting a crime also! How silly is that btu at the same time of needing to put up a safe cubboard to stop it I want to know who it is so I know who I shouldnt trust. Does that sound childish
 
Hope that the cupboard works. It should do! Its awful that it has had to come to that. I'd still be a bit annoyed with the yard owner not doing anything about it. They obviously know that there is a problem if they were having hay stolen. I'd tell them that you are not very happy about the situation. They must be able to tell from your bill how much extra you are paying for. They will surely lose customers if this carries on..
 
I remember someone was stealing my made up sugar beet at one point, I was SURE there was always less than I'd left the day before, then one day I came up and there was none left! They'd had the cheek/stupidity to use the last of what I had made up!

I left a note in the bucket which said "Dear thieving b*****d, I know you've been using my feed, the YO has been informed and the staff are keeping an eye on my bins, so kindly **** off and get your own sugar beet." Oddly enough none went missing after that!
 
i put food dye on my nets, the person who was nicking my hay had bright blue hands from it, might be worth a go
 
OMG that is terrible.
You need to spak again to YO and compare who is buying what amount of feed / haylage and compare the amount to yours taking into account size of horse.
It must be really horrible, always wondering if the person you are chatting/riding with is the person stealing you stuff.
Hope you get it sorted
Before your dad buids the cupboard, i would stick up a sign saying 'I AM WATCHING YOU' that should be enough to deter them
 
I'm sorry about your situation. That really sucks. I bought a big container from a Home Depot type of place for 120 euros, but have seen used ones for much less. I didn't buy mine because of thieves but because I needed to make things tidy when moving into a shared yard for the first time. It has a place you can lock and it would be able to hold your hay nets, haylage, and feed. FWIW, mine is never locked.

I share a yard with 3 other people including the landlord. I thought it would be very hard but has worked out brilliantly. Nothing goes missing ever and at one time or another we have all borrowed off of each other. But we would never ever take from someone unless they were there as it's just common courtesy. And I don't mean we can't afford things, just sometimes shavings guy doesn't come when he is supposed to or sometimes hay guy can't get there for another day, ect.

Terri
 
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