Someone is nicking my feed.

Padlock everything!!!! Its yours and any questions asked just be honest and say there's a thief on the yard. simples!!!!! People work too hard to buy things Ask and I will give, but take anything and I will have a hizzy fit.
 
A good padlock and also make it known the reason why.

I have a friend that has had feed stolen and Hay nets cut. She now has every bin padlocked and a camera in her stable and her feed area.

Her horse has been quite ill and it was things like Bute and certain supplements that went. So unfair when she has worked so hard and spent a lot of money to get her mare right.

If people can not afford to feed or cloth their horse then they should not have them.

I'm so glad I do not have that problem I have my own yard and I feed my one and only livery (All but special supplements)
 
This is a no brainer. Put locks on your freezer. If it were me I would put locks on and a sign that says ... "If anyone is interested why I've put locks on my feed bin, its because some skank ho has decided to steal my feed, Please be aware"

Or something like that ;)
 
If I could .. I would put a camera somewhere, just long enough to see who it is, then start doing things to p*ss them off. If caught I'd just say 'oh well since you take my feed I thought we were sharing now?' But that's just my childish side :D

My hay has been going missing - I know for sure because I always tie my bales back up and often they are undone and much less is there. Have told YO who doesn't seem overly concerned... If I wasn't leaving tomorrow anyway, I'd certainly find out who it was and bill them.
 
Lock up and tell your yard owner too. I've been on a yard where all sorts went missing, and it's horrid not being able to trust anybody. Just make it impossible.
 
Detest thieving of any description, may be best to put a lock on your bins, maybe a few well timed exclamations when certain others are in ear shot of, WTF, my horse must have grown an extra couple of mouths, as my feed is going down rapid, funny that he ain't pooing any extra though !!
 
My OH is very technically minded so if this was me I'd get him to set up an old camera so that a flash would go off when the feed bin was opened, and I'd put a big sign underneath saying SMILE!!! Then I'd lock it up. That'd teach em, thieving gits.
 
Do the same again only this time put a note under it and say * BOO!!!! caught in the act don't nick my feed big sister is watching you.
 
Put a lock on your freezer, no one can touch it then.

Casually mention it in conversation though so the guilty party knows you are on to them and hopefully doesn't try it on someone else.
 
Forget cameras, too expensive, just padlock your feed bin, let the YO know what's been happening & alo let the rest of the yard know why you've had to padlock your bin.
 
Few things you could try:

1) As everyone (nearly) says - lock it. Bit of a pain, but you know its safe from casual theft. A lot of crime is not planned, but opportunistic, so remove the opportunity for them to steal.
If doing this I would also advise that you speak to others in a casual manner and advise them to do the same. If a few of you do it the thief might well get the message much more so (ps don't assume the thief is the one who "refuses point blank" to lock their stuff up - they can just as easily be one who does).

2) Cameras - well there are two ways you can do this:
a) Fish around and find a broken/old/dirt cheap webcam. Doesn't have to work, just has to have a cable and look functional. Set it up within view of the store and out of general sight. Then inside put a note "Smile you're on camera".
Idea here is you've not actually put a camera up (haven't got to tell/fuss with YO) and the only one who will complain is the one who gets caught. Dirt cheap and might work.

b) Get a real remote camera - £100 or less should get you one (you can get trail-cameras which activate with motion sensors can be set to do stills or video). You can then hide it up and record the event. If you do this though you really should inform the YO who might oppose or allow it.

3) Tell the YO and let them sort it out.

I suspect that the honest best option is to do 1 and 3 together. Tell the YO and let them sort it out; whilst at the same time removing the opportunity and lock your stuff up. 2 is fun but more fiddly and sometimes its easier just to not go down such a path
 
Lock it!

I detest theft. On one yard I was at, there was a lady who, in the process of 'borrowing' my scoop, would also help herself to a few scoops of my hideously expensive feed. I knew exactly how many feeds a bag of mix would make, so when I kept falling quite a few feeds short I got suspicious. It didn't take a genius to work put who it was, as she would fail to return my scoop, and I would have to fish around in her feed drums to find it! Frustrating on so many levels!!
 
A combination lock, then if at any time you can't make it to feed your horse you can give someone the code and your horse will get fed. Worked well on my paddock, the farrier, vet and land owner all had the code mainly in case of emergencies. No key to lose, I bought the sort that can be re programmed with a different code.
 
Thank you everyone. Wow what a response :).
It is definately not someone borrowing the scoop as in the room there are scoops everywhere anyway.

Im going to go down this morning and put a padlock on it. One with a key and I will hide the key somewhere so incase of emergency , i can tell someone where it is, and then move its hiding place. Either that or get a combination lock where i can change the combination easily.
 
Fill the bin full of high energy mix. Wait to see who gets bucked off first

^ this made me chuckle, I like this.


One friend I knew paid someone to ride her horse during the week. Her tack at the weekend looked unused so the following week she stuck one of her hairs from the stirrups to the girth strap and sure enough the saddle was unused and she had paid £ 20 per time x 3 for a few weeks before she complained to yard owner.
 
Thank you everyone. Wow what a response :).
It is definately not someone borrowing the scoop as in the room there are scoops everywhere anyway.
.

What I meant is ( as we have a scoop in every feed bin ) I thought they might lift the feedbin lid and use the scoop in the bind to nick food so this time when they lifted up the feed bin lid they would see the note.

You could make chalk lines on the bin and chalk lines on the side of the lid as sure enough when they put the lid on the lines would no line up (scuse the pun)
 
A and D. Mention it lightly to the yard gossip and the thief will not dare go near it again. But to be on the safe side, lock it so that no one can access it.
 
If people can not afford to feed or cloth their horse then they should not have them.

This a million times. At the beginning of winter I posted a thread because it was taking my horse and 1 pony 6 days to use a bale of haylage. I now roll all bales to in front of my stables and a bale now lasts almost 2 weeks.. Really boils my blood when people steal.
 
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