Unfortunately everyone probably knows someone who has had tack or horse equipment stolen.  Looking at the problem realistically, if someone wants to steal your horse equipment, and they are determined, they are probably going to be able to do so – that is a fact of life.

However, you can make it difficult for prospective thieves, not necessarily by spending thousands on alarms, big guard dogs and razor wire – although these are a good deterrents of course, but by making some simple decisions and making your tack and equipment traceable.  

If your tack or equipment is stolen and you have had it marked, or post coded in some way, the chances are that the thieves may dump it, if recovered, the Police will look over the equipment searching for any distinguishing marks by which the owner can be traced.  Remember, if there are no distinguishing marks, then they can not return it. 

Many items of horse equipment each year are recovered, but  if there are no marks in place, these items are eventually auctioned off as there is no way of returning them to their owners.

AQHA UK in connection with the Cambridgeshire Countryside Watch and the Cambridgeshire Police have come up with some top tips to secure your tack and equipment. 

Things TO DO

      Do consider joining your local Countryside Watch – a quick internet search will bring up your local team.  Countryside Watch is a rural crime prevention partnership between the Police and your County Council.  Do get your tack marked.   Western saddles in particular although somewhat unique, don’t always have serial numbers.  The Cambridgeshire Countryside Watch team have formulated several ideas to help mark western saddles.

      Do have your tack marked.  A unique identifying number is embossed into the leather, either on the top side or underside of the fender, or on the underside of the seat jockey.  As fenders can be removed from the saddle, a saddle that is marked on the fenders will also be post coded on the underside of the back jockey.  This way, if the saddle is stolen and the fenders are removed, the saddle is still post coded, and the postcode will tie in on the Countryside Watch database with the unique identifying  number.  Postcodes can either be stamped, or etched into metal (see photo 3).  A certificate of Identification is then issued, if you sell the saddle, you can transfer into the new owners name.

Remember, you want a visual deterrent, although there are microchips available to be inserted into saddles, the problem is there is no VISUAL mark.   Not all Police Force’s have microchip scanners, and not all scanners read the same chips, so in the opinion of the Cambridgeshire Police and Cambridgeshire Countryside Watch you are better to mark your tack somewhere where it can be seen with a little bit of searching.  

It’s wise to remember that the Police don’t know a fender from a latigo, or a horn from a cantle, and they really wouldn’t have a clue as to what a basket weave ¾ carved saddle in light oil with full quarter horse bars would look like, but they are good at finding and reading numbers and it is always advised to have your saddle marked on the left hand side as this is the side they will look at first.

Do

Do consider purchasing “Smartwater”.  Smartwater is a colourless solution containing your own unique forensic “code” registered to your premises.  It is quick and easy to apply, items can simply be painted.  It is very robust and is easily detectable under ultraviolet light.  It is virtually impossible to remove completely.  Smartwater can be analysed to a billionth of a part (smaller than a pinhead).  95% of Police Forces use Smartwater, and more importantly Criminals know about it and fear its power to forensically link them to a crime.  Within the UK, the number of machinery thefts on Smartwater protected farms has dropped by 50% compared to the figures the previous year.  For more details about Smartwater you can visit www.smartwater.com.  For Western Headstalls and Show Halters, Smartwater would perhaps be the ideal product to use, in conjunction with postcode marking if possible.

Do mark other equipment such as wheelbarrows, buckets, and rugs with your postcode.  Thieves recently in Cambridgeshire stole rugs, feed bins and wheelbarrows as well as headcollars!  Cambs Police Top Tip for marking rugs is buy some fluorescent spray paint, (a quick internet search found a 400ml fluorescent pink spray available from B&Q for £6.78) and spray your postcode, or if your horse is freezemarked, with the freezemark number onto the rug.  The Policewoman that passed on this tip who owns horses, also remarked that it made it easier to see her horse at night when she’s searching for it in the field!

An interesting thing to bear in mind is that the Policy and Countryside Watch teams often visit auctions and sales and often see rugs for sale that are covered in mud and look like they have just come off the back of a horse in a field.  Their point is that surely if you were selling your rugs, you would have them cleaned first in order to get a good price for them.  These rugs are always checked to see if there are any postcodes or markings on them, however, there rarely are, so they could be stolen, but there is no way or proving it.

Do consider having your trailer or horsebox roof marked.  Large Self adhesive stickers with your postcode are available from Countryside Watch, Farmkey, or you can make your own, or even spray paint your postcode on the roof of your trailer or horsebox.  This mark isn’t obvious on the ground but if your trailer or horsebox is stolen and reported to the Police, helicopters often fly over motorways and other areas and your postcode  will show up, and your trailer or horsebox may be found.  Did you know 9” lettering can be seen from a height of 1,000 feet.

And now for the Don’ts!

Don’t ever leave tack room doors open, ideally they should always be locked, however, in some busy yards this isn’t achievable so at least make sure the doors are ALWAYS closed.

Don’t  leave saddles or tack laying around unless you are in the area.  Thieves work extremely quickly.

Don’t go to a show and leave your horsebox, tack box open, you may think you know everyone on site, but there was a few years ago items of equipment stolen from open horseboxes at one of the show venues.  Opportunistic thieves are always around.

Don’t leave head collars and ropes outside stable doors or on field gates.  You want to make it as difficult as possible for a horse to be stolen – why give them the equipment to lead the horse from the field.

And finally... Don’t think it can’t happen to you...  if it does, then at least have the comforting thought that your equipment is marked and if found will be returned to you.

HAVE YOUR TACKED MARKED AT THE AQHA UK NATIONAL BREED SHOW

AQHA UK and Horse Creek Farm in March have

arranged for the Cambridgeshire Countryside Watch

to attend on Friday 25th before 4pm to enable you

to have your western saddles marked. 

The cost is £5.00 per saddle.