Stolen - Bateson Deauville trailer & tack

[FigJam]

Just received an email from a friend and wanted to post on here for more exposure. Please get in touch with her if you've seen/heard anything. Thanks.

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My horse box was stolen last night at 11pm, 18th Oct. I'm emailing everyone in the hope that they will pass it on to someone in their mailbox, that I dont know, hoping that the word will be spread!!!

It was a white bateson deuville with the yellow stripe, back rear right spring was rusted and 1 gas arm was broken, it has a decal on the back fold down door, with a horse head and H on it, it also had a blue plaque on front under window, with harvey on it.

As I was going to an endurance ride today, I loaded it up yesterday with all my stuff, wintec 500 gp saddle, myler bit, black+white endurance bridle, saddle had a cream seat saver, heather moffat seat saver, caged end stirrups, there was 2 hats, joddy boots, various rugs, body protector,2 boxes with various tack, show bridles etc, hay bags, equi ties, etc. the list could go on and on, you all know that I had everything you could think off for my boy, and unfortunately it was stored in trailer!! It did have a wheel clamp and hitch lock, so be warned, they are obviously not a deterrant!!

Thank you for taking time to read this and I hope you will forward it to someone I dont know, no matter how far away they live, as police said it couldve been stolen to order and could be anywhere!!

cheers, tracy. (k9kutz@btinternet.com)
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[Baileyhoss]

This was taken from near Nairn, but it could be anywhere by now. A bit to close to home for my liking. Hope she's well insured.

F x

 

[FigJam]

I know, it would be gutting enough to lose the trailer, never mind all the contents as I'm pretty sure no insurance policy will cover the loss of tack etc if stored in trailer.

I odn't know her personally, just received the email from a friend who's in the Aberdeen area, hope something can be recovered, Batesons are much more distinctive than Ifor Williams.

 

[KarynK]

PLEASE if you want to stand a chance of getting your trailers or property back take precautions and mark them.

Take the time to mark your postcode on the roof of trailers and lorries in paint or you can buy decal kits for around £8 then people like skywatch and police patrols can see it recover it and stand a chance of prosecuting those with it. Contact your local horsewatch for ideas and if you can get any metal pieces on the trailer marked with the postcode with a metal punch kit (Horsewatch and or your local police can help with this).

Invest in the best trailer locks you can afford, choose one recommended by people who say they tried to steal my trailer but couldn’t get the lock off!! Don’t forget always put your wheel clamp on the Back wheel of the trailer and fit locking wheel nuts. If you put it on the front wheel then it can still be towed with the lock on it!

Look into using an old mobile phone and sim card alongside a company that offers mobile phone tracking services, it costs very little and you can check regularly where your trailer is!!

It’s a horrible experience having your trailer stolen and knowing these people have been near your horses so take every measure you can.

The reality is people do not have time to look for small identifiers like a cracked mud guard but a postcode on the metal or on the roof is easy to trace and check up on! There have been a lot of lorries and trailers recovered this way. One trailer looks just like another to an unhorsy person.

Here is a link to Hampshire Horsewatch http://www.nfed.co.uk/horsewatch.htm

Saddles you can microchip or have the leather marked, the sad reality is that unless your tack is at home or behind a dead bolted door then it is unlikely to be covered by your horse insurance so if you cant afford to loose it do something! It's that time of year when darkness and bad weather are in abundance and with the current climate tack / trailers are a good soft target to make money!

 

[Baileyhoss]

didn't know that about the wheel clamp being onthe back wheel? why is that?

good tips there. Maybe admin would make a sticky about security tips like this.

 

[KarynK]

What they do is hook the A frame of the trailer over the tow hitch so the trailer is up at more of an angle, this takes the front pair of tyres off the road and allows the back ones to roll still, they take it somewhere safer and take off the lock.

Equally with some types of clamp you just undo the wheel nuts and take that wheel off put on a spare and away you go! So locking wheel nuts are a bit more of a hinderance to them.

Though as you know if they really want it! Most insurers of trailers insist on a wheel clamp but not always a hitch lock, which if fitted as well does put most would be thieves off.