I am PEEVED

[Minimor]

Many of you will remember the mystery of the wooden box that someone left in our side pasture one night last November. Then sometime after that--perhaps late in the winter or very early spring--someone came into the yard & took two flat tires on rims--I had taken them off a truck late in the fall & put them over by the horse trailer along the tree line at the edge of our property. Went to get them this spring so I could put two new tires on them & put them on the one truck--and they were gone! Just to be sure I hadn't put them somewhere different than what I remember, I looked everywhere. They are not in this yard, and that means someone came in here & took them. Why would anyone want to steal 2 flat tires, unless they wanted the rims?? For goodness sake, I paid $10 each for those two rims when I bought them from a wrecker years ago! Either someone is very hard up, or they're trying to be annoying--that was what I thought. I don't even know how they'd have known the tires were there to steal. At least I didn't know--now I guess I do--they were here for something else & just happened to come across the tires.

This is why I am peeved--We keep a variety of horse tack in our horse trailer--our carts are in there, along with some of our show supplies (grooming tools, lawn chairs, and various things) We also have some blankets and halters (small equine size) and some full size horse tack that we have for sale--there were saddle pads, some western saddle blankets, western cinches, bits... As well there is a bit of stuff in the back corner of the hayshed--my every day harness, a suitcase of Mini horse blankets, hoof trimming tools--well, quite some time ago I advertised some farrier tools (shoeing tools that I don't use now that we only have minis and ponies) for sale & had a buyer, and when I went to the shed to get the stuff, it wasn't there. I couldn't find it anywhere. I thought maybe it got put somewhere different, or was lost under something, but in any case I never found it. Then I had a couple of western cinches, the nylon ones with the fleece padding--one was new & one nearly new--and I know those were in a box in the trailer. I went to advertise them one day & couldn't find them. I thought maybe they got moved somewhere...but I've never found them. Now I know where they went--they were STOLEN. How do I know this? Because now something else has disappeared--I had a new navajo saddle blanket and an old horse hair saddle pad in the horse trailer--they were folded up together & laying on top of a box of stuff at the front of the trailer. When I cleaned the trailer out last week to use it for the show--they weren't there. Now I KNOW those two things were not moved anywhere else, and I know neither I nor Mom took them out of the trailer, and I know they haven't been sold--they were out there not all that long ago! The one day when I was looking for something else I had to lift them up & look under them--so they were there then. Someone had to have taken them, and that means the other stuff was surely taken by someone too, at an earlier time, or times! There actually seems to be a lot less stuff piled at the front of the trailer, but I haven't determined yet what else might be missing. I'll have to go through it all & see if there is more that is gone. I will be padlocking all the doors on the trailer. The tack that was out in the shed has been moved to a safe location. I'm not even going to leave the everyday halters & ropes hanging out there any more. It never used to be a problem out here, but lately....I'd be really wild if one day I looked and any of the carts were gone!!! I think I will buy a lock for the trailer hitch too, so no one can steal the whole trailer. If someone comes here to look at tack I generally try to have it at the house, or out in the truck, so they won't know there is stuff in the trailer--but over the years there have been one or two people that wanted to see something extra & I got it out of the trailer. There is one of those persons that is suspect--he doesn't live nearby but does come to the area sometimes & could easily swing by here any of those times. I need to start leaving the older dog loose so she will be out & about if anyone comes into the yard at night--when she is confined she can't do a lot & may not even be in a position to see or hear that there is someone around the horse trailer. So far we haven't often been leaving her loose at night as she is still young enough that she can get into things if she's out & about on her own for too long. The younger dog is just now starting to bark at things, but she isn't protective yet--that will come with more age--and she is even more likely to get into trouble when loose, so she isn't going to be left loose at night for awhile!! I am also considering rigging up a booby trap, so if anyone approaches the trailer in the dark they will trip over something & make a lot of noise! The trailer is going to get moved to a different location, away from the property line (neighbors live right there, it's not like it's vacant bush land--but it would be easy for someone to come in off the road & walk down the neighbor's lot between our trees and theirs...

Then the middle of June someone was coming in across our side pasture to the back gate & feeding oats to the horses--I wasn't sure when, if it was during the day when the gate was open, or at night when the gate was closed--but I had reason to believe that at least once it was during the night. That was a little weird--people don't usually go that far in off the road to pet a horse, and usually they wouldn't have oats to bring along (it wasn't our oats they were just taking, this was whole oats & we feed rolled oats). Twice Reva, the new Shetland filly we got just prior to this, was out of her paddock...and it was her gate they were coming to with the oats. One of the times she'd gone through the fence into the back pasture and the other time she'd gone through the fence & gotten into the yard. We wondered if someone had been there trying to catch her--that would certainly have put her over/through the fence!!!--she had no reason otherwise to bother the fences & hasn't bothered them again since then--she is perfectly happy where she is at with the company she has! (Reva is better about being caught now, but still wouldn't let strangers catch her easily--and right now I will say that horses that aren't real easy to catch are seeming like a very good thing to have here!!! There has been no more oats left in the corral or along the fence, so it seems whoever it was has given up & gone away. I don't know if they just gave up, or if I scared them one night--I was going out with the spotlight at strange hours & looking around...had hoped to catch them & see who it was! Or, maybe the police scared them off--I called the Mounties & asked for some patrols out here, and they have been out driving around--if the person was up to no good & saw the police out here more often, that might deter them. I hope. It's just WEIRD. I wish we didn't have our stupid gun control laws--I would be more than happy to meet up with our prowler(s) & have a gun in my hand at the time!! As it is, I have to make do with a pitchfork and a dog that isn't quite ferocious enough yet!!

So, that's how things have been going around here. Life has just been WEIRD!

 

[REO]

Holy crap Holly!

That is really strange, I was just thinking about that wooden box the other day and wanted to ask you if you'd had any more strange goings on.

Sounds like someone feels they can take your stuff any time they want to! We've had people browse through our stuff in the barn and even had a dog stollen off our front porch before, but nothing like that!

Any way you could put a hidden camera? Like they have for night critters? Is it a motion sensor cam I mean? I hope you can catch who this is! It's the same one stealing each time. Can you check pawn shops or places where they may be selling off your things? You may find out who that way!

 

[Katiean]

Thats what my big dog is for. Every time she barks at the front or back door at night I have her go out and check on what she is barking at. You might try something like that so if there is someone out there your dog can do her job.

 

[dreaminmini]

Holly, that is just creepy! I was just thinking, they have these alarms for kids that like to get out of bed in the middle of the night and wander outside. It sounds off if someone opens the door. You could probably rig your trailer. It would allow you to hear them and probably make them wet their pants. LOL They also have ones for pool gates for the same reason, alert parents to the kids going into the pool area. Either that or maybe a montion detector in the area. But you would only notice that after dark. Or just leave them a note inside the trailer that it was nice meeting them and to smile they are on candid camera. Keep them freaked out for awhile.

 

[Minimor]

I thought of leaving a note about being on candid camera, then decided that once the trailer is all padlocked, it won’t metter…motion lights would work, once I get hydro trenched over to the trailer!

There is no way either one of these Shepherds is staying in the house. If one of them moved into the house, Mom & I would both be moving out to the horse trailer. <VBG> THEN I could give a prowler a good scare when he opened the trailer door—if I jumped up & gave a screech he would wet his pants for sure. But no, definitely these dogs do not come in the house. They are farm dogs—when we are doing chores they are laying on the manure pile eating horse poo, or galloping around through our barnyard lake (it came back Friday night after we got a big dump of rain!) chasing butterflies & dragonflies…they are both very large dogs, and they smell VERY BAD—and I am not going to bath one of them daily to bring her into the house!!

Was talking to a friend today and she asked me who it was that I meant could be a possibility—the one fellow who did for sure know we have tack in the trailer, and who made me suspicious last fall when he was dealing on my old truck…long story, I won’t go into it, but at that time I did have to wonder if he was planning to try & steal the truck instead of buy it. Anyway, when I told her the name she told me to be careful—if it does happen to be him, that family is bad news, they do not play nice at all. I am not surprised.

But, it could just as easily be someone local—a neighbor? Maybe someone who wants tack, maybe someone who is just bored & pilfers things they don’t need or want, just for something to do.

This is a weird neighborhood.

Oh, I forgot to mention--a friend who lives a half mile cross country from here--has had things (clothing) stolen out of the LQ of their horse trailer a couple different times a year or two ago. After keeping the door locked for the longest time they got lax again this summer--and promptly had more clothing disappear out of the trailer! Also had swimsuits stolen out of their breezeway--just very bizarre why someone would steal some of this stuff!

 

[dreaminmini]

I don't think those door alarms need electricity. I believe they are battery operated. Trust me they are VERY loud. LOL

It's too bad when you can't keep your own things on your own property whereever you want to leave them. I hate stealing, it is just vile.

I hope these "people",and I use the term loosely, stop hanging around soon. One day they will pick the wrong person to nose around on their property and find themselves in the hospital or the morgue. A cop told my dad once that if you interrupt a burglary either you stay out of the burglar's way or kill him "in self defense" so he can't sue you. Nice that those become your only options.