Yeah it’s definitely not been a big problem in our area until now. I know the town where I live is booming though and I have noticed an increase in theft. More people, more crime.
But it’s very common for people around here to leave their cars unlocked at the barn and multiple barns have been hit in a short time period and a wide range all over the state.
Now I’m a little worried about my saddle. They don’t have tack lockers where I board. These thieves aren’t stealing tack, but it certainly could happen. Ugh, happy holidays!!
I think Colorado’s crime rate has still been on an overall downward trend (gentrification at work in Denver’s formerly sketchy neighborhoods). But the relentless and relatively dense development of all of the open spaces on the Front Range means that there are suddenly lots of people (inevitably including some dishonest folks) in close proximity to equestrian facilities that formerly only equestrians knew were out there.
FWIW I used to board at a very urban barn (outside of CO) that didn’t have tack lockers, just open racks in shared tack rooms. We had car break ins in the parking lot like clockwork every 3-4 weeks, but zero incidence of tack getting stolen out of the tack rooms in the years I was there. That barn locked the tack room at night (with a key that hung in the aisle – wouldn’t have taken a genius to find it) and closed a gate across the driveway at night, but otherwise the tack there was pretty vulnerable.
Maybe it actually works in all our favor that selling saddles is a PITA! Hopefully not worth it for a criminal to nab saddles, whose sales involve a relatively small, dispersed, specialized market where pre-purchase trial is not uncommon, when they can just cut a bike lock, make a quick and anonymous Craigslist sale, and get their meth fix the same day!
You also should hide your garage door openers if you park outside of the garage. Or all a thief has to do is wait for you to leave, and break into the vehicle, and open the garage, then they can take everything in the house.
