Yard 'borrowers'

S

Shilasdair

Patting her thylacine
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Hi all
I wonder if you had any nice, tactful ways to encourage yard borrowers to become repayers of the things they had borrowed, or better still to desist in the first place?
I do like a peaceful life, but not enough to pay for anyone else's horses' requirements in addition to mine?
Any tips without starting WW3?
S :D
 
A tricky one....

Either, get yourself your own place, like me....but if that's a bit impossible, cover everything you own in that special paint that stains the hands of thieves, they would soon get the message when they have to have surgery to remove it!

:D
 
Sadly ime here is only one way to deal with serial borrowers and non returners. Tell them to sod off and leave your stuff alone.
You then visit them in the dead of night and take their souls! Of course that is something only you are capable of. :D
 
We had borrowers. So we used the old PC camp trick of emblazoning all our grooming kit/ first aid stuff/ general goods with our names in acrylic paint and sharpie pens to doodle pretty designs on them. Meant that if anyone picked our stuff up, if they didn't put it back we could see at a glance :D

For getting it back, I'd just wonder round and ask everyone "Gosh, have you seen my body brush, I can't find it anywhere..." followed by "I know I had it up here, as I never take it with me". Then glare at the offender.
 
What are they "borrowing" - feed, stable equipment, headcollars or what. Could you have some kind of lock up shed of some kind to put stuff in and lock it away. Dear enough supporting your own horse or horses without financing others.
 
I wish now that I had labelled everything I owned in indelible ink. I have 'borrowed' stuff all over the damned place!

I guess the only thing you can do to avoid WW3 is to say you need it back for a specific reason.
 
The borrowed stuff is consumable. And is quickly consumed by their animals, at my expense. :( Not sure how I can mark it to prevent it being 'borrowed'.
Sometimes they ask to borrow things like 'bute, too. But I never seem to get it back, and feel it is bad manners to ask for it to be returned. I also feel it is bad manners to refuse to help them. Gah, damn manners to hell. :mad:
I wish to be kind, but I can't afford to pay for more than my own beasts.
I'd take their souls, but I fear they have none! :p
S :D
 
If is is hard feed, get an old fridge/freezer (can get them for free from the dump) and a padlock, say it is for rat proofing (they are airtight :) ). Would also work for smaller bales.
 
The only way i found to stop people borrowing feed stuffs was to lock the bins (chain through the handles works) and to stop people taking hay etc was to chain tarp dont over it and round the pallets at the bottom of the bales, stops them simply lifting the tarp to get in or untying the knots.

As well as sticking a notice on your stuff saying hands off in a very NON polite way. Sometimes WW3 is the only thing you can do :(
 
Tie the string back up on bales - less likely to be 'borrowed' if they can't grab it quickly.

One of our liveries put a note on her hay which said (in big letters) 'please don't use my hay as I have PAID for it', seemed to work!!
 
jodie3 said:
Tie the string back up on bales - less likely to be 'borrowed' if they can't grab it quickly.

One of our liveries put a note on her hay which said (in big letters) 'please don't use my hay as I have PAID for it', seemed to work!!
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I have tried polite notices (I can be polite, really I can :D) but to no avail.
There is nothing for it, I must learn basket weaving and make a wickerman to dispose of the borrowers within. :p I should have it finished by Hallowe'en.
S :D
 
Our borrower is very well known to all... half the time it's because she can't remember what's hers and what isn't... LOL!

I labelled all my stuff and aside from my hiviz boots, everything I've lost has turned up in the same place...

What bugged me was something borrowed getting broken - thrice!!! So now I lock up my tools too.
And I told everyone the borrower had done it.
She's indignant that I blamed her, but my stuff doesn't get borrowed and broken anymore ;)
 
After 'lending' loads of stuff, including rugs, I have taken to keeping all my stuff in my car, feed, brushes, tack, everything, the only things I leave at the yard are a horse and a headcollar.
 
I think I do know who is doing it. I like them, but don't know them very well, don't have much to do with them.
I would like to think that they don't know the stuff they borrow belongs to me, but as I have polite notes all over it, it's hard to believe that. :(
S :D
 
I had my new dressage whip borrowed last week. The reason why it was new was because I lost the old one in a water jump as someone borrowed it and lost the top cap off it and it slipped out of my hand. New dressage whip had been hidden behind an old trunk in the tack room and as I dont normally ride with it I didnt notice until the morning of my dressage lesson - it was snapped in half and taped up in the middle. I text the offender (I knew who it was as most of the horses on our yard are not being ridden) with "New dressage whip £7.99 thanks" and a new one was delivered a couple of days later with a bag of horse treats with it. I now take it home with me!
 
Shilasdair said:
I have tried polite notices (I can be polite, really I can :D) but to no avail.
There is nothing for it, I must learn basket weaving and make a wickerman to dispose of the borrowers within. :p I should have it finished by Hallowe'en.
S :D
Click to expand...

Well then we will need pictures of the finished wickerman and instructions too!
 
Years ago, when I was younger and didn't care so much about others opinions, I used to get my horses to have phantom, contagious diseases to retrieve brushes, rugs, numnahs etc. Amazing how quickly they reappear if the borrowers think they might get a hefty dose of ringworm. With missing feedstuffs, I used to offer a day or two's worth to the borrower (it's usually quite easy to work out who it is!), in front of other people 'to give them a few days breathing space to get their own'. Gets everybody else on their guard too.
These days, everything is labelled, painted or locked down! I'll lend anything to anybody, if they ask first, and appreciate it if they let me know if something is damaged in their care.
 
label all tools and leave in stable when horse not in it, as if in general area easy to borrow! Feed, get the dustbins with handles on that you can put a chain and lock through, subtle hint not to thief :rolleyes::p everything else get an old cupboard and put a hasp on and lock it.
What gets me is why some horsey people think its acceptable to steal feed, fly spray etc etc :mad: Bet they wouldn't go the supermarket and nick a loaf of bread!
 
If its feed swap it for race horse mix or nuts and then coat it with propell or similar, then you just wait and see who ends up in A&E :D
Add some hair bleach to fly spray then leave out and wait for the blonde horse to come in :D evil moi??

This thread has made me so glad to be on a yard where none of my stuff even needs to be named.
 
Kill them. Simple.

Seriously, confront, preferably with evidence eg witness. Or lock up everything, which is a pain. My back section has a padlock (never locked but looks like it is).

Refer to YO if he or she is any good.

Take stuff home or but big lock box.

One old dear at my yard has 2 unused horses which she cannot afford. She comes up at 11 pm in order to steal hay and straw. It's very annoying. I can't afford to feed two other horses and of course, it's very difficult to lock up hay and straw. :(
 
It bugs me too! I get to the yard and my barrow is full ,my broom nowhere to be found and if I leave a bucket anywhere it will be gone. I brought one of my field buckets in one evening so I could fill it the next day. Found it the next day full if water in someone else's field. The cheek! I don't understand it, even if you don't know who owns something you must know it's not yours!
 
No idea Shils but I just want to take this opportunity to say how much I love my yard and the fact none of my stuff has ever gone missing since our resident teenager left, apart from when I leave it somewhere I shouldn't and can't find it straight away!
 
last time i had my dressage girth and pink brush borrowed i just stood in the middle of the yard told all the staff to listen and then ranted about money respect and my stuff for me because i needed it. my stuff came back instantly. i have no shame and i hate people taking my stuff
 
Get a fake/old CCTV/webcam style camera, and fit it to point at where your feed is. It doesn't have to be linked up (unless you're techy and can do that sort of thing), but people are a lot less likely to steal if they think they're being watched.

Or if you can get photos of them doing it (setting up a foaling style camera) and then send the video/some stills to the yard owner, you can deal with the problem for good.
 
Lolo said:
For getting it back, I'd just wonder round and ask everyone "Gosh, have you seen my body brush, I can't find it anywhere..." followed by "I know I had it up here, as I never take it with me". Then glare at the offender.
Click to expand...

This made me giggle! I imagined it perfectly! :D :D :D
 
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