Who has been a victim of horse equipment theft

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filly190

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Interested to know what's happened to you, and how severe the theft was.

I have been on a brand new yard, state of the art tack room and everything gone. Since moved.

My next door neighbour has been done 5 times, an generator set in concrete was even taken!
 
The only thing I've had stolen was my trailer. I found it 3 miles away a few days leter, in a wharehouse car park. Not quite sure why they left it next to a housing estate in the open, I imagine someone was supposed to pick it up! It was fine apart from the hitch lock was knackered and the wheel where they'd battered the wheel lock off.
 
an old saying is "locks were made for honest people"

if they want it - they'll take it - and the only chance you've got is to multiple lock everything - tip from a copper.

If you've got bars at the window they need to be verticle as well as horizontal

If you've got a roof (i.e. and not a shipping container - which is about the safest thing to keep tack in) then you need to reinforce it with scaffolding bars bolted into the wall - as it is now common for thieves to come in thru the roof of a tackroom and normal 'mesh' is merely an inconvenience dealth with by bolt croppers

I've got 'defence in depth' - ie gate has 5 locks on it plus prickly bushes, barbed wire and if that gets breached then it'll be replaced with razor wire - I mean business !!

I've got 3 other locks onto propety plus 7 further locks to get at tack

ALL locks are extremely expensive - last 2 I bought were 85 quid each and the most expensive cost 110 quid 9 years ago - sort you lock down a very expensive motorbike with

got multiple guard dogs as well, live on site and have a gun license

and still I do get 'prowlers' - mostly 'poachers' but the ilk is the same- if it's not bolted down they'll take it

problem is that people don't want the 'inconvenience' of security at that level. If my locks are frozen it can take me 45 mins to undo them unless I use a small blowtorch. My keys wear out the pockets on many coats and I get VERY wet if it's raining and I'm having to unlock things as it takes so long

If you've got a couple of 20 quid locks and your tack is in the tackroom - take it home - it's not safe

0h and there is a monitored alarm as well plus a few other tricks I'm not going to mention................

real security is a ***n nuisance - but it does keep stuff safe.

My OH thought I was parnoid when he first met me - now he also thinks the same as me - "I'm not paranoid - the thieves ARE out to get me"
 
I had my tack stolen twice over the space of two years. Thankfully after the first time I kept very little at the place I was at at the time.
It did all turn up, a couple of years later when a new livery arrived at the yard I was then on (I had moved specifically because of the breakins). The police eventually sorted it and I got some of my stuff back.
 
the best deterrent is to make EVERYTHING identifiable so it is hard to sell on, and put up signs everywhere to say that your stuff is marked, including the horses.

Speak to Horsewatch if you have a local one about stamping your tack, use indelible pen on brushes, rugs, buckets and rugs, freezemark your horses..invest in a simple shed alarm if nothing else.

Keep details including registration numbers of all casual visitors, no matter what their story. Only have liveries who are friends of friends - some jobs are inside jobs, your new livery is gone after day one and so are the contents of the tack room

anything and everything has been stolen and as long as there is a market, will continue to be stolen
 
Totally agree with marking everything. Even if you are unlucky enough to still suffer at the hands of these scumbags the chances of you getting back unmarked stuff is zilch.
I had a HUGE job trying to convince the police the stuff was mine, as one cavesson noseband looks very much like another. Was it not for the fact that they had stolen prescribed medicines I may have had to drop the case completely. Imagine being on a yard, where there is a livery that has all your stolen gear. It was awful!
 
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Imagine being on a yard, where there is a livery that has all your stolen gear. It was awful!

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Oh my god - was that the actual person who had nicked it then? And you saw it and realised it was yours???? Wow - was it other peoples stuff too or just yours?

Can't believe the brass neck of some people!!!!
 
I used to be at a large livery yard - we had all of the tack stolen, probably 50+ saddles - they wheeled it all down the drive in our wheelbarrows to load into a car.

Luckily (or not) the car broke down under the weight of the tack and we got it all back a few days later.

They then struck again - taking all the tack which we didn't get back. I was secretly pleased as I hated my saddle and needed the Insurance money to get a new one, but those that weren't insured lost out!

I now take my saddle home, as even though we have alarms and CCTV etc, it would just be too much hassle to get another saddle as I have to have Pash's made specifically for him
 
At college on the student yard I'm on all tack is kept in a massive (I think it's steel) container with a big bolt cutter proof combination lock. Tack room is alarmed but not working but the little alarm box on the outside flashes so it looks like it's alarmed. All of this is really pointless when PEOPLE LEAVE THE DAMN CONTAINER WIDE OPEN WHEN THERES NOBODY ON THE YARD!!!!!
On Friday I had a pair of £240 riding boots and a pair of spurs (I can't find exact replacements anywhere! Only ruddy Stubben make them now
frown.gif
) because some barsteward didn't lock the tackroom when they left the yard in the morning.
 
Well all my fencing but i know who took this (lady who there was a falling out with field below) council house gypse....

The horse i worked with before were druged and had there rugs taken off there back... Oh Sh1t thats what i forgot to do *runs for paint and starts painting rugs*
 
a fair fewyears ago we had horses rugs nicked off their backs, bloody nerve of them, was told by the police to deface them by putting our post codes on them in paint, seemed to do the trick, never happened again
 
Yup, me too - 3 saddles complete with leathers, irons, girths etc. 2 of the saddles were for my daughters TB, one a very nice dressage saddle which she had for her 18th birthday. Our tack room was only 20 yards from the house!
3 months later, my lorry was torched - me paranoid????? YOU BET!!!
 
Whilst working for John Popley we were leaving a show we had stabled at I had all the horses bandaged & ready to go tied up in their stables waiting to load. Went to loo came back to horses with NO headcollars on! They had nicked all the leather headcollars. Barstewards. Friend of mine Stud groom for Duchess of Devonshire number of years ago got broken into their tackroom xmas eve took everything. Duchess then spent quater of a millon safe garding her tackroom (That did the trick! but was wee bit late)
 
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