Stabling horses at shows....

To move or not to move?

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I think it depends on the venue, we've stabled at racecourses and showgrounds quite a few times. We've never really worried about them, we and many others sleep in the lorries near the stables, and we check the horses last thing.
I always feel happier at racecourses, but this may be due to the facilities as much as the security!! I dont think we've ever stabled them somewhere we havent felt was safe x
 
only done it once at the BD Winter Champs at Solihull. There were loads of people on site and I stayed in the lorry park. Certainly felt safe enough, although I guess there wasn't any specific security - people were arriving and leaving at all times of day and night, so anyone could have come in.
 
I have stabled mine at Trailblazers Finals and gates got locked at a certain time, which is good, but sercurity never crossed my mind really
 
Only ever stayed away BSJA (well, apart from PC Camp as a kid
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) and tbh, it never really crossed my mind. I was one of those walking the course (p155ed out of my skull) at 1am....and then down the stables saying goodnight to my boy !

Yes, i'm sure security could be improved...but it hasn't caused me a problem yet
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Security can be a problem at some shows.. e.g. We were at a Pony Premier show last year at Norton Heath and someone let someones ponies out of their stables (all 4 of them). No one elses ponies were let out so it looked like sabatage.. especially as there was a HOYS qualifier on the next day.

Security at shows abroad is much better. No one is allowed into the stable area after 11pm and Security are there all night to protect access.

It is a worry - some people are desperate and will do anything to win.. including stooping to drugging other peoples horses/ponies. Look what happened in Jersey recently..
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Karen
 
The thing that worries me most is how tiny the boxes are!! My boys are used to big big solid stables and Im always convinced they are going to get cast or bash through the wooden sides. Also I always do a pre check for nails etc sticking out, of which there are normally several, so I always have a hammer and pliers in my grooming box!!!
 
Good point! We found a couple of large nails in our horse's stable at Scope. Also the horse behind ours kicked a hole into the back of the stable and we were lucky that none of them were hurt.
 
Beening the North of Scotland we often have to stable if we are doing Pony Club area comps, Eventing. A lot of the time we have stabled in marts which was always good fun with the horses stalls just had bars and I never saw any problems. I just thought about Blair Castle. They have a security guard for the eventers but anyone can go in the showjumpers stables.
 
No, don't worry about it. My horses have always been pretty chilled at events. Only thing that has ever happened to me is coming face to face with a loose Arko being chased by a groom with a pitchfork...

No one seems to worry about security looking at the amount of saddles, bridles, rugs etc that get left outside stables all day.
 
tbh (and i know this is going to sounds bad) but ive never really thought about how safe Bloss has been. Ive stabled in the temporary stables at Sheepgate (U25 BYRDS Nationals), Solihul (Winter Dressage Championships), and at the Bath & West show ground (bath&west show). Ive also stayed overnight at numerous other places but they have all been stables on proper yards. I only really compete BD so its nearly always dressage that i stay over for.

I dont however leave anything outside my stables, not even a fork!! some people leave tack and all sorts outside their stables! unfortunately im not made of money so i always makesure all my things are put away!
 
We had someone sit outside the stables all night at HOYS when we had horses stabled overnight this year. Quite a few people did the same. The international SJs were OK as they were in a separate compound with better security. Anyone could wander into the general stables area without a pass and feed any of the horses anything. They were stricter about who got into the arena than who got into the stabling area - wrong way round in my eyes.
 
I rarely stable. Only ever done so for eventing and they all seem pretty safe, especially as there's always people round who I know so its not like my horse is all on his own if you know what I mean.

The only place Id probably worry about stabling at would be big showing ones, like HOYS - Ive heard showing people can be horrid at trying to destroy their rivals! Luckily, I dont do much showing!
 
Hickstead is little open but never had any problems there and I dont think you find british riding clubs quite so stressy about the competing factor that it wouldnt be safe!

Warwickshire College for the UK Chasers is reasonable secure again, I never thought twice as my boy would eat anyone he didnt know!

For the SEIB XC Champs we chose to stay at a yard about 30 mins away and slept there overnight so again there were no real fears as it was so quiet and only 2 horses there that were competing in the finals.

I think it is sad when we have to start worrying about people doing nasty things, dog shows are worse apparently!!
 
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