Thieves on yards

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rachk89

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More just a rant than anything else, join in if you're as sick of them as me.

I've had it with paying for other people's horses. I've lost count of the number of buckets, haynets, shampoo bottles, fly spray, tail spray, brushes, gloves, hoof picks, brooms, shavings forks, lead ropes etc I've had to buy because people steal them. None of these things cost a lot so why can you spend £1000 on a saddle but not £3 on a bucket?

I mark my stuff with permanent marker, makes no difference. I found one of my lost bottles of fly spray today in someone else's open grooming box! Have to admit I took it back and saw some other lost items of mine in there but I couldn't prove those as they didn't have my initials on them.

I was extremely angry once to come in and find that not only had someone rummaged through my stuff to find a hair remover tool, but they tipped over a container of black hoof hardener cream stuff all over my brushes and tools in the process. If you've ever dealt with that hoof hardener stuff you know how sticky it is and how once it's on something it doesn't like going away. Took an hour to clean everything.

I've had to buy another lockable box to store stuff in plus replacements for everything stolen which is annoying. Old box was broken by the horse putting his hoof through it.

I don't mind the use of brushes, maybe fly spray if you've ran out, but to take stuff? That's stealing. Unfortunately the people I like are now out of luck of being able to find something they need when I'm not around as everything is getting locked away, including my hat which I am thinking I will replace after it also ended up going missing and I found it on the wrong place.

Just a rant. I don't blame yard owners for this, it's not their fault and I can't be bothered getting mine involved as I have no proof other than the one who had my fly spray as to who has been taking it. It's just annoying. Where's the cake?! :P
 
At an old RS not my last one I had stuff nicked that I'd just left in the helpers shed I had a new pair of good quality gloves taken once that were a Christmas present and that really annoyed me!
 
I'm sorry to read that - not surprised you're raging!

I must have been very lucky but I can honestly say I've never had anything go missing on a yard and I've been on 8 in nearly 50 years on my travels (including our own).

I have occasionally found someone's used my yard broom and left it somewhere else ... and a couple of things I'd lent to folk disappeared with them when they moved on but I'm not surprised. I think it amounts to a Grackle and a lunge line.

Is it just on this current yard? I know you don't want to involve the yard owner, but I'd say you have to. If it's happening to you, it's happening to others and that can't be ignored and not dealt with.

Would you feel the same if you things were going missing from your desk at work? i.e. 'I can't bother the boss?'
 
Mrs B said:
Is it just on this current yard? I know you don't want to involve the yard owner, but I'd say you have to. If it's happening to you, it's happening to others and that can't be ignored and not dealt with.

Would you feel the same if you things were going missing from your desk at work? i.e. 'I can't bother the boss?'
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Chances are the YO won't actually care, especially if OP is a one horse owner and the thieves have multiple horses (more income = more important in a lot of places).
I spoke to the YO on a previous yard about my hay being stolen - I was going through a large round bale for 1 small horse on 10kg of hay a day in 10-12 days - and she just walked off saying that she "didn't want to know". When I cited it as a reason for leaving she called me a liar!
 
When I had horses on first, a riding school yard, then a livery yard, things went walkabouts all the time, I bought a fab brush, and everyone used it and within 3 months it had almost worn down and the stalk was broken as someone's horse trod on it..
My sudocrem and alo tub would regularly be found in someone else's grooming box.
My wheelbarrow vanished for a week!!! Then turned up in YO back yard which was out of bounds to liveries!!
A brand new lovely blue headcolar and rope only lasted 4 days till it vanished, never saw it again..
People just used to use stuff and not bother replacing it or would think they could just take it for themselves, it goes on all the time.. the last yard I was on we all had individual lockable tack rooms, it was fab, every single thing went in there and I never lost anything again..a woman who I always thought was a big culprit of the borrow brigade, came to my last yard, and even had the cheek to ask me what the combination was for my tack room!!!
 
It's on the current yard but also on the last one. The last one people actually stole my horses feed. Can't be bothered to pay out for formula4feet so just use someone else's. I kept it in my car after that.

I think the YO would care. He is sick of a lot of them anyway as so many leave the place looking horrible. They leave poo in the tie up areas, in the arenas, people don't poo pick the fields. They generally just don't care. It's obviously not all of them, but most do not sweep up after their horses. They just leave the hay, the dirt, the poo etc lying around for someone else to clean up.
 
I can sympathise.

I had half a tub of globalvite disappear overnight then the suspected culprit started saying how hers had been taken out the bag- yet funnily her tub was lovely and full.

Another suspect was bathing her horse not sure whether I went home or to ride or whatever came back to find my detangler had magically gone down lots

Same suspect was trimming with orange handled scissors think I pointed out they look like mine. Not sure if she claimed they were hers or gave them back but wonder why next time I was trimming they felt so blunt when they were pretty new?!

Various whips have gone and I also suspect same suspect with the scissors was filling her treat ball with my nuts as they never looked in the same position and I'm the only one to make his feeds.

Unfortunately I could never prove any of it only suspect them.

Ended up leaving notes in the supplements etc/ on the detangler saying I am aware you are using this it is mine not yours as I'm the one to have paid for it to at least make them aware I knew about it.

I also painted lines on the feed bin lids and the bin itself and made sure they lined up each time I'd made feeds so I knew if they moved

Funnily they both left the yard and things stopped disappearing....

Since we've had a new yo i haven't had any problems.
 
I don't think I've ever experienced a yard thief, I've been very lucky I guess. Hope you get it sorted.
 
I am shocked that you have thieves on your yard, I really would have a word with your YO to see what can be sorted out

Have you thought about going on Freecycle or some other site and asking for a chest freezer to keep your stuff in, obviously padlock it up

I was wondering the other day if things were the same at shows as years ago, you arrived dragged out all your stuff leave it all laying around on the ramp etc + lorry unlocked and go to your class and it was all there when you came back, never occurred to us that it would be anywhere else. I doubt I would be so trusting now, which is such a shame

I hope you get this sorted or whats the point of having a tack/feed room if you have to keep using your car to hide things
 
I lock everything nowadays - feed, supplements, rugs, grooming kits, lunging equipment, first aid kits - whatever I leave day-to-day is locked up.Of course, it isn't going to stop a determined thief but 99% of people who 'use' stuff on a yard are just casual 'it's there so I'll use it' type of people.

Thinking almost everyone at my yard locks their stuff up & we've never had any problems ...! I personally wouldn't leave my riding kit or tack at any yard - that's always come home with me.
 
I might mention something. It's to the point now that I am getting a supplement from the vets to help my horse and I'm not daring to leave that in the feed room as I know people will use it. I know in previous times when my horse has needed danilon, if he finishes his course of treatment and we have danilon left over its gone 'missing' to someone else's horse.
 
rachk89 said:
It's on the current yard but also on the last one. The last one people actually stole my horses feed. Can't be bothered to pay out for formula4feet so just use someone else's. I kept it in my car after that.

I think the YO would care. He is sick of a lot of them anyway as so many leave the place looking horrible. They leave poo in the tie up areas, in the arenas, people don't poo pick the fields. They generally just don't care. It's obviously not all of them, but most do not sweep up after their horses. They just leave the hay, the dirt, the poo etc lying around for someone else to clean up.
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Sounds like the problem is the way the yard is run, or not run I should say. None of that would be tolerated by our YO, we have rules about tidying up and keeping clean, and if she found someone stealing then they would be off the yard, no discussion. She's threatened to ask people to leave for not picking out their horse's feet before leaving the stable, so leaving muck in the tie up areas would be completely unacceptable! The odd thing goes missing, but generally if something is borrowed it gets returned, and everyone is happy to share.

Sounds like you just need to lock all your stuff away.
 
The last livery yard I was on I used to fill all my nets (over 20!) as I had 3 horses and worked full time, id go down on a night and find at least 3 horses munching on my haynets! I never left anything there apart from haynets!
 
Call them out on it in front of other people.

I would. Why gets pi55ed off about it and not point it out? Once ppl realise you're going to publicly embarrass them, they won't do it. Keep taking your stuff cos you never say anything - easy way to get freebies I guess.

Luckily we don't have this on our yard but I'd be calling them out in front of the whole barn if I caught someone with my stuff they didn't have permission to borrow!
 
This isn't something that you should just put up with, I'd make everyone aware that you've realised things are going missing, and have a word with YO.
I'm on a very large livery yard and in 17 years I think the only thing that's gone missing is a short whip that I forgot to put away and left out on the floor next to the bench.
I've left other things (headcollars/bottles of fly spray etc) out overnight that have always still been there the next day!
 
Girl on my yard bought a saddlecloth off a livery who was leaving .... When she showed it to me I asked her if she didn't find it a bit suspicious that it had the full registered name of one of my horses embroidered on on side .... How stupid can one be?

We get borrowing of little things like brushes and hoof picks on my yard, but when it happens I put out an empty black bin for an amnesty return and everything has turned up in the bin a few days later! I would flip if my headcollars moved from their hooks overnight!
 
A while ago my old boy was on Ventipulmin (at £70 a tub!!). This was obviously noticed, though never spoken about. One of the other liveries asked one morning if anyone had some Ventipulmin that she could "borrow", as one of her ponies was wheezing. (how the hell do you "borrow" medication??!!). Anyway - I said I had some, but couldn't spare any. The next time I opened the tub - a third of it had disappeared. Coincidence? The levels some people will stoop to staggers me! Unfortunately we all share a shipping container for the feed, so anyone can help themselves to whatever they want if they feel inclined. But to steal medication - how do they sleep at night?
 
I am always surprised that you people are surprised when stuff goes missing and you havent locked it up. Generally you have one thing in common with other liveries and thats you like horses! You can be nice and polite, even friendly but never trust a group of people you dont know anything about.

I'm at home now but I used to have a large lockable trunk that came with me to yards and my feed bins were adapted to be chained closed (it costs a few quid to modify bins and buy chains and padlocks) when on pure DIY. My last livery yard was part livery so I didnt have to worry about feed/ hay/ bedding and we had open fronted lockers in a secure tackroom .... with my lockable trunk shoved up against the wall so the bare minimum was hanging in the locker, the rest locked up.

If they dont have access to it then they cant take it. Prevention is better than cure, there really is no excuse! ;)
 
rachk89 said:
I might mention something. It's to the point now that I am getting a supplement from the vets to help my horse and I'm not daring to leave that in the feed room as I know people will use it. I know in previous times when my horse has needed danilon, if he finishes his course of treatment and we have danilon left over its gone 'missing' to someone else's horse.
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Now this I would be reading the riot act over - this is beyond 'borrowing'/thievery of equipment and is affecting horse welfare.

With lotions and potions try decanting them into different bottles (as long as you remember what's what :) )
 
Oooh don't get me started!! I am on a yard where most people loan one or two days a week the horses from the YO. Like a step up from a riding school. Then there are 4 liveries. Loaners 'borrow' stuff all the time. We had a huge yard meeting about it recently when we were getting to the end of our tether and being told we were borderline bullying people who used our things...basically the YO tells people yeah feel free to use my things as everything is provided in the loaning contract. What she doesn't do is tell people which things are NOT hers. Everything of mine is labelled with ugly electrical tape. I buy headcollars and leadropes in disgusting colours and hide as much stuff as I can. People like to use nice looking things.

The frustrating this is we are all people good friends. Go out for meals, yard outing ect. But the bottom line is they have no respect for people things as they don't realise how much things cost to replace. I am the first to offer to lend someone something but if you don't put it back there is hell to pay.

My favourite is when people take a numnah from your saddle rack (that usually has your saddle on) make it filthy and leave it elsewhere.
 
Thankfully not had anything go missing yet beyond me misplacing them, but did have someone knock a big brand new bottle of expensive shampoo off the shelf, smashing lid open, who then just left it there to leak out all over the floor and underneath all my stuff stored under the counter. I made it very clear that I was very unimpressed on the Livery Facebook page.

But that aside, I keep all my expensive stuff in a trunk with a padlock on it, and I keep my stable stuff (brushes, sprays etc) in a locked heavy duty filing cabinet in my stable.
 
As well as livery yard petty thieving, I have also experienced a freelance groom visit my yard and help herself. I arrived home from work unexpectedly early one day to find her getting into her car with a full large bucket of my hard feed and a massive haynet of hay. She must have been doing it for months while I was totally unaware what was going on. She said it was a one-off because she had been so busy and hadn't had time to restock for her horse....I suppose you would say that when you get caught red-handed!
 
Wow..! Amazing how little respect there is sometimes.

I spent 8 years in the Army, if it wasn't locked up it was stolen. This included military equipment that was serial numbered.

I don't ride/look after a horse so can't comment in respect to the logistics of things but anything not secured in a locked locker has the potential to 'walk'. If you've tack in a container, can you run a steal wire to a padlock on the side? As to stealing feed, not sure what you can do but hope the YO puts their foot down, by the sounds of it some aren't interested which is a shame.
 
I have had the odd couple of things like a skipping out bucket and a schooling whip go missing at our yard which we have been on for 2 years. Luckily, as our pony is the smallest by about 4 hands nothing of hers tends to go walkabout! We did have a livery for a while who was a bit of a bee-atch in general. While she was there hay went down very quickly (once when confronted she said that when she was busy her husband had been doing her horse and had been using the wrong bale by mistake) and I lost a nearly new pair of Sealskinz gloves and a yard broom. She then accused a long term livery who was moving on of taking one of her horses rugs with her - and was proved wrong. The rest of us are all quite happy to lend or share stuff, if asked first and stuff is replaced if necessary.
 
I lock my supplements and feed away in a metal feed bin and her feed which is made up the night before is left in a dustbin with a lid to deter rats.I heard that supplements were going missing and £60 for supplements every six weeks is expensive enough without having to share with everyone else.
 
I ran a small yard for years, little things went missing all the time.
Fly spray was a favourite, none of my liveries ever had any! Lotions out of 1st Aid box. Things would be "borrowed" and then just left where they dropped them, such as lunge whip in middle of paddock used to drive me crackers!!
Oh and the how did that break and no one would have any idea!!!
Now on my own and I love it, everything stays were you leave it and my feed is magically lasting nearly twice as long!!
 
I now own a lunge rope in a disgusting lime green colour - so at least I can spot where it has walked off to! Although to be fair to my new yard no-one seems in the least bit interested in hijacking other people's stuff and I think that's because the YO is well stocked herself and wouldn't tolerate sticky fingers.

I have a very well stocked box of potions and lotions and people were forever dipping in there at my last yard. Its amazing how quickly a big tub of sudocream goes down. Plus everyone knew I had a stash of danilon for my arthritic one and I ended up storing the box at home in the end and just keeping a few sachets at the yard. It used to drive me mad that people would want to 'borrow' the stuff rather than actually speaking to the vet and trying to work out if there was an underlying problem & / or getting their own stash.
 
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