Barn theft is a topic that really makes me mad. It can be as innocuous as swiping a friend’s bottle of fly spray when your own supply runs dry, or as egregious as lifting someone else’s saddle from the tack room to sell on eBay.
Don’t kid yourself: Theft at the barn happens all the time. Sometimes it goes entirely unnoticed, and most of the time it is not reported to the authorities. I’ve known stables where barn theft is as common as manure, and very few topics raise my hackles like this one. However, it is your job to protect your horse business from thieves.
The Purloined Halter
When I was in high school and working at the barn where I took lessons, I never had much money to buy horse stuff. My parents were supportive of my passion to a point, but they were not willing to dump thousands of dollars into it.
The Christmas of my sixteenth year, however, was the best one in my memory. My grandparents gave me a tack box in which to store all the wonderful horse stuff my parents purchased: halter, lead rope, grooming supplies, splint boots, bell boots —it was like I’d died and gone to Stateline heaven.
Monday after Christmas, I hauled my new possessions to the barn with a sense of pride I cannot find words to express. My trainers allowed me to set it up near the office since I didn’t have a horse, and I spent at least an hour organizing that tack box so I could find everything easily.
The next day, I came out to the barn and got started on the list of horses my trainers wanted me to ride. I first went to my tack box to grab the beautiful new halter I had not yet used, but when I lifted the lid and reached inside, the halter was gone.
I spent most of the morning searching for my halter, but to no avail. It was gone. Because someone was cruel enough to appropriate it for their own use.
That halter probably cost ten bucks and was about as remarkable as dirt. Nevertheless, it was my halter and I couldn’t have been more proud to own it. Not only was it mine, but it was evidence of my parents’ long-suffered surrender to my love of horses, a symbol of their support.
All Barn Theft is Serious
Whether it’s a halter or a horse blanket, or a limited-edition dressage saddle from Scotland, barn theft is serious business, and allowing it to run rampant in your barn is unacceptable. The occasional theft might seem par for the course, but it lowers morale among your clients and breeds hostility faster than competition.
The first step to stopping theft at the barn is to create a policy against it. Make all employees and clients aware that barn theft is in no way tolerated, and that anyone caught stealing from someone else will be reported to the authorities and asked to leave.
Although such a policy will not stop theft at the barn entirely, it will make people think twice before swiping something that doesn’t belong to them. Make it a priority and keep it at the forefront of everyone’s minds, and you might decrease it to some degree.
An Ounce of Prevention…
Don’t wait until barn theft becomes a problem. Perhaps you run a Utopian barn where no one would ever think of taking someone else’s belongings. But eventually, a boarder will arrive whose moral code provides no compunction against theft.
Provide your clients and employees with lockers in which to store their belongings. Some stables have private lockers in rec rooms and offices where clients can store jackets, purses and other personal effects. They also have tack room lockers where saddles, bridles, bits, martingales, saddle pads and other tack can be safely stored.
The best way for stable owners to stop theft at the barn is to give their clients an option. You might have a regular tack room that is locked, but to which all clients have the key. However, you should also offer a way for clients to lock up their belongings.
Tack boxes in front of the stalls are one example. At many barns, clients are allowed to bring their own boxes, which may be secured with a padlock or some other safety device. This way you do not have to spend money on lockers, but clients can keep their items secure.
…The Pound of Cure
It doesn’t matter how many precautions you take against barn theft —eventually, someone will breach the defenses of a client or employee. This is why you must be prepared for cure as well as prevention.
One way to ensure safety at the barn is to install video surveillance equipment. This is not nearly as expensive as it used to be, and you only need a few cameras in strategic locations.
Whatever you decide, take a stand against barn theft. Make everyone aware that you are in control over your stable and that you intend to make it as safe as possible.
About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Editor in Chief of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. Follow her EquiTips on Twitter.
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