Thief at the Barn.

[Nous]

I plucked up courage and spoke to the BM today and she said it definitely isn’t the person I thought had them 😳. But she has nominated an alternative, and has promised to have a look for them. Perversely I am so relieved It wasn’t who I thought it was, and if it is the person BM thinks it is then for some peculiar reason I’m less bothered, possibly because it means they picked them up in passing rather than having to deliberately set out to take them.

I’ve got my tack trunk swapped with one that can be locked, padlocks and marker pens ordered. Now thanking my lucky stars that I’m not a confrontational person, it would have been most embarrassing 😳😳😳😳

Thanks for all your replies, they genuinely have helped and pulled me out of a depression cycle I was getting into.

[OverandOnward]

Glad you are getting some help from the BM … although the BM may or may not have told you the truth. Sometimes a BM has a boarder that they sort of ‘protect’ for whatever reason. Or they ‘protect’ all of the boarders because they don’t want the boarders to have bad feelings for each other.

One approach is to take a tone that maybe a possible thief picked up that thing “by mistake”. Explain that you “lost” yours (as if you are taking some blame for losing it) and say “Is there any chance those could be the ones I am looking for, do you think?” Since you don’t wish to be confrontational, be crafty instead.

I look on a board barn as like a sleep-away camp, when it comes to things. Label, mark, label, everything. I keep a sharpie in my grooming box. And lock or at least shut away out of sight anything you don’t want used by others. Even if it’s a great barn with no issues, the next new boarder could be the one.

An out-and-out thief is almost the easiest thing to deal with. Catch 'em, get proof and get them kicked out. True thieves are usually not as good at concealing what they do as we assume they are. They don’t change their stealing ways and will even take things they don’t need, even though if you knew their history you’d be surprised at how often they’ve been caught at it.

It’s the “borrowers” that are the real ongoing problem, IMO. The gal who just graduated from high school, first time in a ‘real’ boarder barn, who thinks that everyone can use everything, just like at her parent’s barn at home. Or the lady who is always going to buy you more fly spray but never will. Or the chronically disorganized who can’t find their own stuff, from hoof pick to leg wraps to shampoo, and has to leave in just a few minutes so doesn’t have time to look for hers but will just this time use yours since yours is organized and easily found.

Etc. Those are the tough ones because they aren’t clearly thieves, but they don’t change, either.

For your really valuable stuff, a locator may be just the thing. There are some caveats on how they are used (they are not GPS and locate only within bluetooth range). But they will map to an address where the thing was signaled last (you’ll know if it is on premises or not). And the “Pro” is the only one I can really hear from across the room or if the Tile is within fabric or stuff.
https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/products?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoMuG79np4wIVAhgMCh2Pyw8PEAAYASAAEgJbkPD_BwE

[ecileh]

I board at a pony farm, which means lots of kids around who are used to thinking that any and everything is up for grabs to use because the BO provides brushes, fly spray, etc… I used to put my fly spray away in my trunk to avoid “accidental use” by the lesson program, but then the barn workers would meet me at the door every time I came, worried that I was out of fly spray and convinced that my mare was going to be eaten alive. It got old.

I compromised by leaving the cheap-o spray on her stall door and locking up the good stuff.

The only thing I have ever had deliberately stolen was a neck cover from a rain sheet. Someone detached it from my sheet and made off with it. I never did find it and I’m still baffled by the size of whomever’s balls. At the time, my mare was the biggest horse on the property–someone has a neck cover that will double as a quarter sheet.

[cloudyandcallie]

At our first boarding barn I bought one of the available tack sheds because Cloudy and Callie had so much stuff. I put a lock on the door which I gave the last 4 digits of my cell and told all the kids and BO the code. Some kids had tack sheds as well. Most of us shared items and since the kids watched out for my after school while I was at work so my horses gave the kids drinks and parties on holidays etc. the kids reciprocated.
Only person who took fly spray at that barn was an 18 yr old who bragged about how much everything she had cost. She never would share with the kids but she swiped their fly spray

[Janet]

When I was in college, but my horse was at home, someone stole my saddle. There was a couple looking after our horses in return for stalls for their horses. An old friend of theirs from Boston (teens or early 20s) had visited shortly before they noticed my saddle was missing. So they called and asked her if she knew anything about it… She swore she knew nothing. But about a week later, a big box appeared in the mail. No return address, but postmarked Boston. My saddle was inside.

[Marla_100]

I once observed the BO using someone else’s fly spray on her horses and then went to the wash area and filled the bottle

up with water and then put it back on the boarder’s stall door. :eek:

[tipzythegreat]

You could always ask the person with the similar ones where they bought those, or heck – offer to buy them! If they are hard to replace. And then lock them up!!!

[Mukluk]

Glad I keep mine at home. I think if I boarded I might re-home expensive horse products in wildly “different,” particularly unrelated, and cheaper product containers or at the least unmarked containers. I am not the least bit religious but perhaps a large poster “Thou shalt not steal” or could have some effect? It all really sucks and it really sucks that people do this. Perhaps God will see fit to smite them?

[Equestrian24]

I’m sorry you had this happen! There are many good suggestions here. I like the idea of asking innocently if they’ve seen your spurs that look just like those, or where they bought them.

I also mark everything I own that can be marked. I’d love to know how to engrave bits and spurs! Everything else either gets a plate, tag (I prefer plates though because they’re much harder to remove), or marked with Sharpie. I also try to take everything home if I can’t keep it in a locking locker. A lot of my tack goes home anyways to be cleaned.

[DarkBayUnicorn]

@Equestrian24

I’d love to know how to engrave bits and spurs!

I take mine to the engraving place in the mall. Just make sure everything is spotless first.

Having once kept my horses at a facility where the BO and her staff felt 110% entitled to help themselves to any and all client equipment: bridles, bits, reins, pads, spurs, gloves, boots, blankets, coolers, etc.–and didn’t care if they returned it, broke/destroyed it, lost it, loaned it out to a third party not at our barn, put it back filthy–I no longer tolerate and have permanent/semi-permantent labels, plates, monograms, etc. on almost everything.

Current barn is great. We are somehow able to behave like adults and ask before borrowing, return in great condition, say please and thank you, and generally respect one another. Miracle.

[Arelle]

I like to buy incredibly tacky (ha, get it?) things when I board, specifically if it’s things that are unable to be under lock and key.

Like the leopard print halter for my paint mare.

Or the neon blue and yellow lead ropes.

Or the crazy orange stiff brush.

Those don’t go missing nearly as much as traditional things. Although, recently I had to pick up a mare for a friend at one of the top AQHA barns in the country and they looked at me like I had three heads when I grabbed the crazy colored lead rope out of my tack area. :rolleyes: (Which, ironically enough, I had to grab since the nice leather halter and plain lead that she was dropped off with were no where to be found.)

All of my stuff at home is traditional navy, and full hair brushes, and plain colored saddle pads, etc. - which is my preference. It isn’t fool proof, however - I left two crazy lead ropes and halters with my current off site, in-training horses - and I haven’t seen those at the barn since the first week they were there. Back in the day, I DID also grab a roll of leopard print duct tape… wrapped a piece around the crown of a black halter, wrapped a piece around my black whip, wrapped a piece on my black grooming tote, etc. The leopard stuff never went missing.

[Equestrian24]

@DarkBayUnicorn

I take mine to the engraving place in the mall. Just make sure everything is spotless first.

Having once kept my horses at a facility where the BO and her staff felt 110% entitled to help themselves to any and all client equipment: bridles, bits, reins, pads, spurs, gloves, boots, blankets, coolers, etc.–and didn’t care if they returned it, broke/destroyed it, lost it, loaned it out to a third party not at our barn, put it back filthy–I no longer tolerate and have permanent/semi-permantent labels, plates, monograms, etc. on almost everything.

Current barn is great. We are somehow able to behave like adults and ask before borrowing, return in great condition, say please and thank you, and generally respect one another. Miracle.

Thank you!

I am also at a barn where people respect each other’s property and I love it! I’m more concerned about stuff being misplaced, confused for someone else’s, etc. than anything, and also for when the time comes that I start showing again.

[Equestrian24]

@Arelle

I like to buy incredibly tacky (ha, get it?) things when I board, specifically if it’s things that are unable to be under lock and key.

Like the leopard print halter for my paint mare.

Or the neon blue and yellow lead ropes.

Or the crazy orange stiff brush.

Those don’t go missing nearly as much as traditional things. Although, recently I had to pick up a mare for a friend at one of the top AQHA barns in the country and they looked at me like I had three heads when I grabbed the crazy colored lead rope out of my tack area. :rolleyes: (Which, ironically enough, I had to grab since the nice leather halter and plain lead that she was dropped off with were no where to be found.)

All of my stuff at home is traditional navy, and full hair brushes, and plain colored saddle pads, etc. - which is my preference. It isn’t fool proof, however - I left two crazy lead ropes and halters with my current off site, in-training horses - and I haven’t seen those at the barn since the first week they were there. Back in the day, I DID also grab a roll of leopard print duct tape… wrapped a piece around the crown of a black halter, wrapped a piece around my black whip, wrapped a piece on my black grooming tote, etc. The leopard stuff never went missing.

I’m kind of similar. I have some stuff I bought dirt cheap on consignment that I use if I ever have to send a horse into training with a bridle or whatever. That way, if something happens to it or it goes missing, it’s not a huge deal. I don’t think anyone would steal it because it’s ugly and not the greatest, but I worry about nice tack being broken (I’ve had people return loaned tack to me broken and filthy in the past from improperly storing it, just throwing it on the ground when they were done, letting horses rub with it and catch it on something; my biggest pet peeve! Etc.)

I also have my name on everything I can write it on, and plates on my tack. I’ve thought about getting a leather stamp so it’s extra permanent and also probably cheaper in the long run than continuing to order plates for several more years.

My nice stuff goes home with me and never stays anywhere unless it’s locked up. Even though I’m at a great barn where everyone’s respectful, it just gives me peace of mind.

[Libby2563]

@Mukluk

I am not the least bit religious but perhaps a large poster “Thou shalt not steal” or could have some effect? It all really sucks and it really sucks that people do this. Perhaps God will see fit to smite them?

Perhaps a Buddha statue? https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-11-19/how-buddhist-shrine-transformed-neighborhood-oakland

[Nous]

BM and assistant are now definitely on the case and hatching plots to retrieve the spurs, unfortunately the Person Under Suspicion is keeping them in her car. I’ve told BM they are not to do anything that might jeopardise their jobs as PUS is BO’s DD!!! I’ve got everything I can locked up and the markers have arrived for the rest. I’m now more amused than anything, it’s such a relief being able to view the other liveries without suspicion.

[ReSomething]

DH epoxied a Buddha on our big rip rap project, I hunted up sword ferns and tucked them into spaces in the rock. Somebody bashed his head off and we retrieved it and epoxied it back on, again, because it was cement and freaking heavy and I knocked his head off getting him up there. I would bring him pretty stones from out of the creek bed, of course they shrank to SMALL pretty stones after his head came off.

Best wishes for the return of your items, and some good tips, too.

[BlueDrifter]

So the BM has seen the spurs on the PUS? But you saw them on someone else – whom the BO said wasn’t the culprit?

Sounds like you have a good attitude about the drama of it all, lol.

[Renn_aissance]

@Mukluk

Glad I keep mine at home. I think if I boarded I might re-home expensive horse products in wildly “different,” particularly unrelated, and cheaper product containers or at the least unmarked containers.

I used to board at a farm which had a lot of borrowers. My braiding hairspray would always grow legs and walk the night before a show. I would just buy whatever was on sale at the drugstore so I wasn’t out a great deal of money, but it was the principle of the thing. So I poured my hairspray into a bottle of spray-in hair conditioner and poured the conditioner into the hairspray bottle. That solved the problem.

OP, if I were your barn owner, I would want to know that my daughter were absconding with the private property of my boarders… that’s a great way to lose business.

[Scribbler]

Has anyone used one of those leather or woodburning pens to mark up their tack? I remember these used to be sold as crafts items for teens in the 1970s when leather art was a thing. Never had or tried one.

[Wicky]

Many years ago I got a branding iron with my last name on it, and branded (lightly) every piece of leather and nylon I owned. Worked fine, except when I want to donate or sell something, it will always have my name on it.

Doesn’t work for spurs or irons, though!