Thief at the Barn.

[Nous]

I need to rant.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to do some long reining. I keep my hat, spurs and gloves in a bag in my tack trunk by the stable, so I took my hat and gloves and left the spurs on the trunk. When I got back the spurs had disappeared 😡. The spurs are slightly unusual in that they are fairly old style and not easy to replace. Unfortunately there’s a person at the barn that Has suddenly taken to wearing spurs that are the same style. I have absolutely no way of proving they are mine, but it is really winding me up as to whether this person is a thief or not. I need somebody to talk me down!

[ReSomething]

Well you could confront them, but unless you had engraved something on the inside it would be your word against theirs. Let the BO or BM know and don’t do anything you wouldn’t do in a public parking spot, don’t leave anything.

I had my helmet borrowed by a kid lesson student once, I finally saw it on her head in the arena, told the trainer and got my old bug green tip back. But a bug green helmet that is falling down over a kids eyes is hard to miss. I also had my initials up in the crown, saddle, blankets, groom supplies. When I got lazy and didn’t put the duct tape with my initials on it on the fly spray, poof. Public place.

[Scribbler]

hmmm. Did you post a notice that your spurs were stolen/misplaced at the barn?

Honestly I would be tempted to just “borrow” them back and see if the theif says anything. If the spurs are genuinely theirs, they will announce the loss. If they aren’t, they will keep quiet.

[candyappy]

We always labeled everything with our initials and kept it locked up. I would be mad too. Maybe have a talk with the new spur owner…

[Nous]

I posted on the facebook page and spoken to the BM, but I can’t / won’t name names without being 100% sure. It’s just the blatancy that’s making me mad, it’s been noted by other people, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

[Gainer]

Unfortunately, theft can be quite common at boarding barns. Always a good idea to mark EVERYTHING in some permanent way and keep it locked up if you’re not using it. Especially if there are lots of lesson kids/shows being held on the property.

One of the worst thieves I ever encountered was the barn owner herself. She stole drugs, supplements, shampoos, fly sprays, everything you can think of. I often feel that the issue of theft flows down from the barn owner/manager. If it’s well known that theft will not be tolerated, it tends not to happen as often.

I once caught another tenant stealing one of my water troughs one day. She swore up and down it was hers. Little did she realize I had engraved my initials on the bottom.

[sophie]

Makes me mad, too.
I mark stuff I don’t want to “disappear” (halter, girth, horse boots, etc) with permanent marker and lock up the rest.
This thread is a good reminder to always have some discreet, but distinctive sign on your belongings, saddle pads, saddles, bridles, etc.

[HJdaydream]

I used to be at a huge barn with 5 trainers and 150 stalls. Stuff went missing ALL the time. Duct tape and even sharpie can sometimes be removed. For items like crops, spurs, gloves, and brushes I would buy nail sized decals from etsy (like for painting your nails, so super small ones) and put them on the above mentioned items and then “seal” them on with several coats of clear nail polish. Works like a charm!

[Scribbler]

@HJdaydream

I used to be at a huge barn with 5 trainers and 150 stalls. Stuff went missing ALL the time. Duct tape and even sharpie can sometimes be removed. For items like crops, spurs, gloves, and brushes I would buy nail sized decals from etsy (like for painting your nails, so super small ones) and put them on the above mentioned items and then “seal” them on with several coats of clear nail polish. Works like a charm!

That is really smart. I have been dabbing a distinctive color nail polish on things.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

1. wait for the right time and take your spurs back.
2. get one of those nanny cams that look like stuffed animals and let it guard your stuff.
3. present any evidence to your clueless BM.

You have a thief in the barn because management tolerates it.
I don’t mind a certain amount of “borrowing.” i.e. someone takes my whip cause they can’t find theirs and they’re in a hurry.

just bring it back in the same condition you found it, where you found it.

I was at a large boarding stable and the worst culprits were teenagers.
it wasn’t so much theft as it was laziness. One young woman kept taking my horses’
lead rope and halter because she kept losing hers and it was easier just to take mine.

Fly spray however is my line in the sand. I keep mine put away now because when I left it out even when clearly labeled people would just help themselves.

The worst culprit was one of the farriers. He would grab the bottle and spray down his horses.
All of them .

I wasn’t his client. He just helped himself. Shrug. Once I figured out why I was having to refill my bottle so often I just stopped leaving it out.

maybe one of the lawyers on COTH can tell me what the bailment is on fly spray.
that s___ is expensive.

[CHT]

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the “thief” used to have spurs like that, and thought you took them from her, and took them back like was suggested you do?

Can you find someone who will ask her where she got the spurs? Or you ask her yourself? “Where did you buy those spurs, they are unique and I am looking for a pair like that as mine went missing” or some such.

Is this the only incident of things going missing at your barn? If so, it seems more like a mistake than a thief problem/something management needs to get involved in. Still frustrating, but I think it is a leap to go from one missing item to setting up a nanny cam.

[CanteringCarrot]

For whatever reason people love to borrow fly spray without asking. Even if it is put away in a cabinet, trunk, or whatever.

I may or may not have encouraged someone to put a harmless dye/coloring water combination in her fly spray bottle. Soon we figured out who was using her things… On a gray horse nonetheless :lol:

Well, your horse wouldn’t be spotted if you weren’t using someone else’s things without permission…

[splitrockfarmnc]

@CanteringCarrot

I may or may not have encouraged someone to put a harmless dye/coloring water combination in her fly spray bottle. Soon we figured out who was using her things… On a gray horse nonetheless :lol:

Bahahahaha :lol:

[Ruth0552]

Ask her where she got the spurs? You had a pair like that but they went missing and you want to replace them but haven’t found them anywhere.

Is the facebook page really the best place to post it? At my barn a big note that says MISSING: SPURS with a pic/drawing on a piece of paper somewhere would get more notice.

[Nous]

I can’t take them just in case they really are hers. I’m getting padlocks so I can lock up as much as I can but I like the idea of the nail varnish to mark what can’t be locked up.

[clanter]

@Gainer

.

I once caught another tenant stealing one of my water troughs one day. She swore up and down it was hers. Little did she realize I had engraved my initials on the bottom.

well such thefts are contained solely to the barns, we had to write our addresses on all of our trash and recycle cans/bins that are to be placed on the curb for pickup as some people thought it was easier to take the things than buy their own

[clanter]

@Nous

I can’t take them just in case they really are hers. I’m getting padlocks so I can lock up as much as I can but I like the idea of the nail varnish to mark what can’t be locked up.

we have used those programmable combination locks for years, if needed we can give out the combination then can easily change the code afterwards

(daughter has set them all to her birthday so I will not forget her)

[Beck]

“Oh you found my spurs! I’m so relieved! I have been looking everywhere for them!” - and babble about it enough not to give them a chance to come up with a fabricated reply.

[Bluey]

Just walk up to her and ask her:

“Where did you get those neat spurs?
I had a pair just like those I can’t find.
I wonder where to get a replacement for them.”

Then see what she comes up with.

She may say she “just found them”, or where she bought them, or who knows what the response will be.

If possible have someone with you as a witness, so there is no “she said/I didn’t say that” when you surprise her.

[Capall]

I once lost my very distinctive zebra print tail cover at the barn. It showed up on the black and white paint right across from my horse! I couldn’t believe it. Horse belonged to a teenager. I had even written my horse’s name on the tag, so when I went into the stall to remove if from the paint, I checked the tag. Yup, had “CHLOE” written in big letters on it. So, I removed it and talked to the girl next time I saw her. I was very nice about it. Apparently I had left it in the wash rack and she thought that meant that I didn’t want it anymore and was leaving it for whoever wanted it. It matched her horse so she thought it was awesome! She was a very sweet, very bubble-headed and non-malicious kid. Had no common sense. I just said to her “But you need to ASK before you take things, because I accidentally left it there!”

Not saying this is what the OP is going through, but man some people just have no sense! I hope you get your spurs back, that is infuriating. I’ve had other things disappear only to reappear on someone else or their horse before and it’s so annoying. Especially annoying when they KNOW it is yours and take it anyway.