Long story short, two $70 girths have been taken from my locker. This is the second time it’s happened. After asking my trainer to look around, they have not been found. Additionally, a different trainer lost my bell boots at a horse show. They were fairly expensive and an absolute necessity for my horse. While the expense of just replacing the items isn’t extremely high, I would prefer to find them. Is there anything else I can do, other than replace them?
lock the locker? If your trainer needs access, she has a responsibility to lock it up… or make her use her own girth? If your trainer lost the bell boots, seems like she should replace them…
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In the normal world, one without the word “horse” mentioned anywhere, if someone used and then lost some property, one would reasonably expect the automatic replacement of that property, together with an apology from the offender.
As to girths: mark them very obviously - not where it would show when in use on the horse - like LARGE BRIGHT LETTERS on the inside so that anyone can see who owns that girth. Stop being nice and tell everyone, loudly, that a thief has stolen your tack. Lock tack up, even at shows, and don’t give anyone else the key. Why should an amateur ever be lending a professional trainer riding equipment?
I’m in a grumpy mood right now and I get annoyed when I can’t find things because someone else has “borrowed” it without asking first.
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Is your locker locked so that only the trainer could have misplaced? If a trainer misplaced any item of mine I’d expect them to replace it.
If your locker is unlocked and anyone could have “borrowed” it, I’d get a combo lock and only give the code to the trainer.
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It really depends on your barn culture. Is there a communal bulletin board where you can post a notice? MISSING – date and description and picture of items.
If you find yourself in a place with a culture of petty theft then you need to protect yourself going forward. Write your name on everything and lock it up and keep a mental track of where everything is.
I was at a barn with several thefts that we thought were connected to one person. This person also sold things on line. It occurred to me that it would be the easiest thing in the world for someone to steal stuff in one town and sell it on FB in a local classified group on the other side of the country and noone would ever connect the two. In other words your gear is likely gone.
Going forward you need to protect yourself.
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Sorry your tack went missing.
I would label it with a label maker and lock your tack up like other people have said.
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Above posters have it right:
-OBVIOUSLY mark your items with obnoxious colors
-put up a ‘missing’ poster on your box and on the board in the barn
-lock your stuff up
It’s infuriating when that happens.
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Also some people will pose as blanket cleaners/tack cleaners/etc, and steal your tack. Avoid if possible.
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This doesn’t go well if the person complaining about stuff being stolen is the barn slob who leaves all their crap around and doesn’t put it back in their designated area. It is beyond rude to leave notes and exclaim loudly. And, at least ime, that person finds themselves looking for a new boarding stable. Buhbye, you annoying slob!
And, even if stuff is being actually fully stolen and not misplaced or not returned from being borrowed, it makes non-guilty people at the barn feel like they are being accused of something they would never even consider doing.
Not the best choice. Quieter detective work along with fastidious labelling and safekeeping measures are the smarter way to go if one wishes to stay at the barn and maintain a pleasant atmosphere.
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Mark your equipment. Girth’s can be marked on the outside right in the middle and it will not be seen if you are using them for showing, mark the underside also. You might get a small engraving tool or decorative burning tool and use them since they are permanent. Same with the bell boots and everything else you keep at the barn. Agree with locking your tack compartment, keep it locked even when you are in the barn/riding, the only issue is if your trainer is using your equipment and knows the combination, they may not be careful enough to lock it themself. If you have some tack you don’t want stolen, take it home with you or keep it in your car.
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This can be a problem even at a relatively small barn. One boarder just couldn’t find her unusual, custom girth anywhere on the farm or at home. Some months later she was wandering around the community wide used tack sale and there it was, on for sale on someone’s table. She said, rather loudly, “That’s my girth!” and the seller hustled over saying it wasn’t until the boarder showed her initials that had been stamped into the leather. Seller said she didn’t know how she’d come to acquire the girth. We’re pretty sure we know who the intermediary was.
And I’m pretty sure I know who the “friend of” a boarder was who took my lovely wool Newmarket quarter sheet, but I’ve never seen it again.
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This might be a bit ridiculous but how about putting a game camera in your locker so you can see who’s going into it?
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Yes well, rather than a tool primarily for digging, typically comprising a metal blade on a long handle, I tend to call a spade a spade.
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I don’t agree with this AT ALL! Isn’t it beyond rude to take something out of someone’s tack locker? How is this person the “barn slob” if the items were taken directly from their tack locker?
So you’d evict someone who was complaining about their tack being stolen?
I had to put a lock on my trunk as my things kept going missing and then someone had the balls to ask me to borrow my lunge line as my trunk was locked!!!
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I am exactly the same, except in this sort of circumstance where lots of other things could be going on rather than a straight up theft AND I want to keep my place in a nice barn AND there are things I can easily do to prevent such things (theft, misplacement, delayed return of items loaned/borrowed) without making an ugly scene and making myself look like a complete tool.
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I am NOT saying that the OP is The Barn Slob. I am saying there are a whole lot of possibilities for what might have happened and NONE of them will be properly rectified by “Stop being nice and tell everyone, loudly, that a thief has stolen your tack.” Because A. That might not be what happened. B. Because it isn’t going to help in retrieving items, help to maintain a comfortable barn atmosphere, nor to prevent such recurrences. All it’s going to do is foster ill-will, and if there is a thief, make them stealthier.
As to eviction, that happened in the barn I was at, there were other things that went on as well to cause “Sorry, you are not a fit for this barn. Please find another stable for your horse.” that also went on, but let me tell you, going into the barn every day to see that person’s stuff strewn about (never fully returned to her tack area) and notes all over the place about how someone had STOLEN their thises and thats was extremely off-putting and uncomfortable. It definitely was one of the nails in that particular person’s boarding agreement coffin. Making an overblown fuss a la toddler tantrum is NOT the way to handle missing items in a boarding stable if one considers themselves an actual adult.
Use a lock. Tell people to let you know if they borrow items and to make sure they ALWAYS return them promptly. Don’t ever loan items out. Etc. There are loads of ways, many of which can be combined for maximum security.
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Your situation sounds completely different than what has been described by the OP. There’s nobody throwing a overblown fuss over leaving their own tack out. This person had their tack stolen from their personal locker. She’s allowed to let the rest of the barn know her tack has been stolen.
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Lost, Someone’s Integrity. Can be found when my stolen stuff is returned
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JFC. I was not replying to the original poster but to the fabulous advice of another poster who said to raise a loud stink about it.
And, what’s more, we don’t actually know anything much about the OP, her multiple trainers or the policy she has with them in re borrowing tack.
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