Some advise on what to do about a theif

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Kelly1982

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Hi all

Just need some quick advice really so will try and keep this short.

I have been at my yard for over 3 years and not once have we had any issues with things being stolen as it is such a small yard (only 6 horses and 4 owners) that if we ever ran out of anything we would just ask to borrow it and repay it when we brought some. Most of the time we would just buy things in bulk and split it anyway to save on delivery costs etc.

Well some new liveries moved down 6 months ago and to say their horses were in bad condition is an understatement!! They clearly cant afford their horses and have openly admitted it. One of their horses have just gone 4 months with the same shoes on and in the end they just got them took off completely.

Anyway everytime they run out of feed hay or bedding their horses are still somehow managing to get fed etc.

They ran out of hay and then 2 bales of my friends hay went walk abouts, low and behold they had 2 bales that day which they claimed the brought down the road.

They ran out of feed for a week but their horses were still getting fed everyday??

Now they have run out of bedding (coz apparently everywhere local had run out) and a bale of my straw has been cut open and wedges taken.

Their kids have even admitted to helping themselved to whatever they like but they parents just laughed it off and said that kids say things they dont mean all the time. And i have even caught one of them taking hay from someone and he claimed he didn't realise it wasn't his.

We spoke to the yard owner about it but since then things calmed down but the last week or so it has started up again.

Thing is our yard owner is really ill and has been in and out of hospital so dont really wanna bother him as he isn;t really in any fit state to deal with it at the moment but have tried ringing him anyway to talk to his wife and i they never answer the phone.

There is a bloke that lives across the road and does maintenance to the yard if we have any issues but its not really his place to do anything.

I have confronted these people and they just flately deny it so what else can i do??
 
Thats such a horrible situation. Is there anyway you can have your hay and bedding etc locked away? Put locks on your feed bins etc? Is there a spare stable you could put your hay in, that could be padlocked? It seems silly to go to such an extreme measure, Just to keep your own hay safe, but It doesnt sound like you have much choice?
 
Chop their hands off!!!
mad.gif


I would be livid!!!!!! I would confront them again and say ' I know it is you stealing my things, and if you dont stop I will call the police' Because at the end of the day that is what they are doing is STEALING. If someone stole from your car or house you would report it.
I would defo talk to the YO about it though.
 
Tbh, agree with above. You can get lockers etc that allow you to lock things away, incl tack. These are expensive but if you were to get one between you and all the other liveries then at least oyu know your tack, grooming kit and gear etc is safe. You can also buy feed bins and hay stores with locks. It sounds like this is the way forward. It sounds like they need to cut down on the amount of horses they own!
 
Be very blatant - put big notes on everything - 'sarahs hay - 5 bales here - use being monitored' it might work, it might not but they might just realise you're all onto them.

I do think that you need to speak to YO asap, I appreciate that they're ill be ultimately it's their responsibility to sort it out.

Also, long shot but how about the community police officer?? They often do safety checks to tell you how safe your stuff is - it might be worth arranging it, talking about it loudly all the time about 'how worried you are since all this stuff is going missing' and see if that helps too.

I think though if they genuinely can't afford their horses they need to make alternative arrangements / sell them.
 
Thanks for all your replys.

I have locked everything i can away, tack, feed etc but hay and straw is a bit more difficult, especially coz we have to order in bulk of 200 bales at a time.

I only noticed that my straw had gone because they actually cut it open, which i never do, i always use a whole bale at a time and coz i have put a fresh bale in the day before i knew exactly how much i had left.

We have confronted them out right all three times, the first time they just ended up in floods of tears and even turned up at one of the other liveries houses claimning her innocence and the other 2 times they have just denied it.

Thing is they make is so obvious, especially with my straw as its only me and them that are on straw!!! Everyone else is on shavings!!

We have also put up notes saying we know stuff has gone missing and if its not returned then the yard owner will be contacted but this hasn't worked either.

Maybe it would be worth getting a community police officer down to check the place out but even then i dont think this would work coz they never come down at regular times, its always when no1 is about. They either get there horses in before 3pm or after 8pm to avoid the times other people are down.

Think im gonna have to just keep trying our YO, i just feel so bad coz he has been really ill.
 
TBH it sounds as though this has got beyond the point where you can just keep warning them. I would now be seriously threatening them with the police. If they stole £20 from your purse in the street you would report it, this is absolutely no different and theres no room for confusion as they have basically admitted it.

What about a CCTV camera? you can get them very cheap now. It might provide the proof thats needed for the police to take it seriously and when they are deliveberatly doing it when noone is there. They certainly need an official shot across the bows now as the nice approach has been exhausted, so that they dont progress to more serious offending.
 
I think you should all get together with the parents and say that you are all very angry and that you have all had stuff taken and that if it does not stop you will call the police or a community support officer. They obviously don't care and it is not fair that you are paying for their horses. How dare they think they can do this to you and the other people. It is stealing and it needs to stop or try YO i know it is hard but it is their responsibility to make sure everyone is happy.
 
It sounds exactly like a family who had two horses at a yard I was on. None of the family worked and all claimed dole (sp) money etc - things would disappear but never enough to really have firm groundings - they even use to come up to me and say 'I think some feeds gone - we think its X doing it'. But they weren't even nice to their horses. It all came to a head one day when I had one horse tied up outside the others stable whilst I was plaiting up. They were stood outside one of their stables and the horse put his head out, nothing else just came to say hello; she went balistic and was screaming at him and waving her arms about. The YO knew what they were like but like the money so didn't do anything - I had to leave and arrrange it actually up at the show that very day. I have my horses for pleasure, they give me enough stress themselves without others adding to it.

Could you get some of those dummy CCTV cameras - tell them that they are hooked up somewhere they don't go - YO's house etc?
 
Mix up some food colouring with some water and spray it over the bales, you'll soon know if they've got your stuff as they'll be eating or lying on coloured hay/straw! Bit difficult to fob off that one.
 
Keep a diary of all your stuff and when it has gone missing, so that you can clearly state,' half a bale on this date, a bale on that date, etc. That will stand up more effectively than just complaining such and such keeps taking my straw. And your YO will find it easier to approach them with this evidence, rather than hearsay or a general statement, which they can deny.

Also what is the arrangement for straw/hay at your place. Is there a barn with all the straw and you buy so many bales a month and store them in a different area? Or do you just pay for what you use, in which case could the straw she uses be added to her livery bill and yours reimbursed by the YO, then it would be a financial issue covered by her contract and up to the YO to sort out. If you have your own bales, would it be practical to lock them in a horsebox/trailer/shed.

The YO still has responsibilities and I am sure they would want this dealt with before they lose clients over it.


PS. someone on an earlier, similar thread suggested putting a mouse trap in their feedbins to catch the 'mice' that were stealing and that dealt with the issue very effectively. these little traps could discreetly be slid bewteen the slices of a bale. Just don't forget and grab a slice yourself!!
 
For the time being I'd just buy small amounts and take everything home. Make a space in the garage, put your feed in some cheap dustbins and make the feeds up at home. Get some pallets and a tarp for your hay and keep just a handful of bales at home, make up a few nets at a time.

Get everyone else on the yard to do the same (and you've got to be united even with the inconvenience) which they will because they won't want their hay/feed being the only stuff left to take and your thieving gits will finally get the hint.
 
The food colouring idea is a good one LOL!! Think i might actually try that.

And thats a good idea about making a diary as well coz then we have a bit more evidence so to speak to back us up. I have tried ringing the yard owner again for the 5th time in 2 days so i will just have to keep waiting til he gets back to me.

My friend has suggested bringing her video camera down and hiding it in the hay to see if we can catch them out but we didn't think the battery would last long enough so might look into the CCTV cameras and see how much they are.

Baileyhoss - Our YO doesn't order anything in for us, it is completely DIY so me and the other liveries usually order in 200 bales and then split them between us so we get it cheaper. We even asked the people we suspect are stealing to come in on the delivery with us in the hope that if they had their own they may not take ours but it hasn't worked.
 
If you can't find a way of securing the bales. Does the barn lock? Can you keep the bales in a place where there would be no reason for any one to be other than if they are taking bales? (to give them no excuses if seen in that location)

Then you'll need to be direct. In the first instance call a yard meeting to 'clarify' some yard rules. without accusing an individual, remind 'everyone' that the hay/straw in the barn is paid for through this shared scheme and those not involved should not use it and will be considered stealing and reported to the YO/asked to leave the yard if they are found to be doing so. Take a minute of the meeting and copy to all liveries & yo. (you will need yo's approval if you are threatening eviction)

Then you'll need absolute evidence they are the culprits. Diaries of what goes missing & when. organise shifts/spot checks, cameras or food colouring or similar, to catch them red handed.

Good luck!

F x
 
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