Horse Tack theft and how to beat it

We have stables in West Cornwall and have been burgled twice in 8 months. Our neighbours have also suffered the same fate. According to the Police these are professional gangs working out of traveller and gypsy sites. One person who burgled us was caught as he left plenty of DNA at the scene and he was from a Gypsy camp near by. They have even taken rugs off horses backs during the night.

Don't think that a strong lock, barbed wire or alarms will put these people off, they are used to dealing with all of this and have an armoury of equipment to break into tack rooms and stables, we thought ours was secure but they were in and out very quickly and no one heard or saw a thing. They like dark windy nights and usually work in groups. They watch you come and go and work out safe times when you are not around, usually at night. Our advice in the winter evenings is to vary you arrival and departure times. Take all tack and tools home and mark all rugs with your post code. Write your postcode in big letters with white paint. Don't just write it in a small area as they will cut it out and patch it, write across the run and on both sides. It may look ugly but it's cheaper than buying new ones. Get your stock freeze marked or chipped and advertise that they are on the main gate. If you want further security advice contact your local neighbourhood watch coordinator, they can help you with advice and tack marking. Our local Police station also has an officer for horse tack and theft, yes it's getting that bad. Most areas also have a community liaison Police Officer. We now UV mark everything, put notices around to say it's marked and take everything home at night. If you become a victim of this sort of crime, don't touch anything, phone the Police and get advice. If you think evidence has been left at the scene stress this to the Police as they will then come out and try to use if to prosecute. Also tell people around you with tack and horses as they will certainly be visited.

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Horse Tack theft and how to beat it

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