‘Borrowing’ stuff from people at the yard?

[theferry]

There’s a really big problem at my local stables of people ‘borrowing’ equipment and never putting it back. Some of jt is stealing, but mostly it just seems to be laziness and they dump it anywhere. If it’s not fixed down/locked away, it will go missing. Also people stealing feed so the feed bins have to be padlocked. Sadly, this isn’t just kids—it’s also some adults. It’s a big yard, with about 60 horses so it’s easy to take things. Drives DD mad.

I’m just curious about whether people have this problem on other yards?

Been an issue of most big yards IME. It's horrible and so unnecessary. You end up having to plaster your name over everything and no-one knows who to trust. Cctv helps but doesn't always cover everywhere. You could raise it with the YO if its a continual problem.

@Mchorseface thanks, in some ways the laziness of it (which is what it js mostly) bothers me more than when it is theft. They just dump stuff anywhere and don’t pay any regard to looking after the equipment. The owner is very aware of the problem, and there are lots of frustrated posts from
people on Facebook to return stuff. It still keeps happening.

DD’s share horse has just been moved to a private yard with only 3 other horses so hopefully this won’t be an issue there.

Smaller yards are generally much better for these things. I don't think I could ever go back to a large yard. When it's young kids it's kind of forgivable but the parents need to deal with it and then it gets tricky!

When we weren’t on full livery and did ours ourselves we used to keep all feed / supplements etc at home and take the feeds with us , we also kept all our tack and any rugs that weren’t in daily use at the time at home . Literally the only stuff at the yard was hay / straw / shavings ( only a few bales the rest were at home ) and mucking out tools which all had one of our horses names painted on .

This was an issue at the livery yards where we were previously- stuff constantly getting lost and stolen - not just by the kids, but also by the staff who would take anyone's head collars for convenience for example and then jump dump them anywhere.

Our new yard (which is still quite big and has a huge number of kids) surprisingly doesn't have this issue at all. No one takes anyone else's stuff. I was pleasantly surprised how nothing ever gets taken. I guess it's the yard culture, although it's a very laid back and relaxed yard in other ways, people are just not thieves/careless.

@XelaM glad to hear some places are OK. I think the staff may also be part of the problem at the old yard.

DD has gone to clear out her locker there. It’s the end of an era! Been there for 6 years.

I haven't had a horse for many years, but yes, this happened on pretty much every yard I kept my old horse on.

I would very often get to the yard in the middle of winter - and spend ages hunting down my headcollar and lead rope that someone had borrowed and dumped in some random place. And mucking out equipment - you get to the yard in a bit of a rush, and find someone else using your stuff!

I ended up locking all of my stuff away. 😡

Another one saying yes, this has been more or less an issue at every yard I've been on. People (especially but not just) kids don't see it as thieving, it's 'borrowing' or sharing. People think just one little scoop of your supplements or one use of your head collar won't matter but obviously when everyone does it of course it adds up and particularly when they drag said head collar through the mud or leave it lying in a puddle 😡.

It can help painting your name or your horses name on everything in big letters (stops the "oh is this your broom? I thought it was mine" thing, but tbh the only way I've found that works is hiding or taking away with me anything that can't be locked up and that I don't want light fingered individuals having (tack, saddle cloths, supplements, nice grooming kit, gloves, whips, sprays, treats etc live at home or in my car). For everything else buying/using versions of things that I don't mind being taken or spoilt, e.g. my nice leather or padded le mieux head collars live with me and only get brought out for best, for everyday use I've cheap ones that get slung into the communal pile and if they're there and not coated in mud or sopping wet the next time I need one happy days, if not I use whatever comes out of the pile, avoiding anything that has anyone else's name on of course.

My current yard thankfully has officially communal mucking out and grooming kit for everyone to use which helps as I can't stand petty squabbling over a shitty (literally!) shovel or barrow, and most feed, bedding and forage is supposed by the yard so only yard manager has to monitor that!

@maxelly do people share grooming brushes ? When we had 4 they each had their own grooming kits let alone using something that had been used on another persons horse .

This used to drive me nuts. Not every yard TBF but over 30yrs of horse owning/loaning I saw enough to know it can be a big problem.

The best was when people would keep using my wheelbarrow, the only thing kept outside my stable. I’m very particular about washing my mucking out stuff every time and it would make me furious to keep coming and finding it filthy. ‘Oh yours is the best. The wheel doesn’t wobble or squeak and the handles don’t wobble.’ Yeah, that’s because I bloody well look after it!

I bought one of those dumbbell style bike spinners and started taking the wheel off every time I finished with it. One cheeky fucker even asked me why because she loved using it! I told her it had a slow puncture and I was taking it home every time to pump up with the compressor ready for MY next use 😁😆

I agree. I almost shuddered reading that. I’ll share most things in life if someone is in need but don’t even think about looking at my horse stuff 🤬

They do! Shared between whichever liveries use them and the riding school ponies. It's a bit 🤢 I agree. To be fair none of the horses seem to have any nasty skin conditions as a result but I would only use a curry comb or hoof pick or something from the communal pile, my horse has his own nice brushes that live in my car!