10 Steps to Reduce the Risk of Horse Theft

Take These Steps To Reduce The Risk Of Having Your Horse Stolen.

Losing a horse to thieves is one of the most gut-wrenching experiences you can have. To safeguard against it—and to be best prepared to recover your horse in case the worst happens—follow these tips.

Brand or otherwise permanently mark your horses. Thieves are more likely to pass by a horse with an identifying mark of some sort. Plus, if your marked horse is ever stolen, it will be much easier to track and recover.

Options include freeze branding, hot-iron branding, and lip tattooing. An implanted microchip, though not necessarily a deterrent (because it can’t be seen), can still be an aid to recovering a stolen horse. Be sure to record brands or marks with the county clerk’s office in the county where the horses live; register a microchip with a national registry.

Create an identification/proof-of-ownership file containing essential information on your horses and keep it in a secure place. It should include:

Photos of both sides of each horse, with no distractions–including people–in the image. (For security reasons, you don’t want yourself or any member of your family in the pictures.) Also take front and rear shots, headshots, and close-ups of any unique or identifying characteristics–such as a brand, scar, whorl or white marking.
Registration papers, if the horse has them.
Dated bill of sale and/or breed association transfer-of-ownership paperwork.
Written descriptions of any brands or identifying marks and any other unique characteristics. (Also be sure to record each horse’s brand or mark with the county clerk’s office in the county where the horse lives.)

Secure your horses’ living space. Install a perimeter fence around your barn and/or pens to render them less accessible from the nearest road. Use only well-built gates that can be locked (keeping a mind toward fire safety).

Making the access to your horses more difficult can be a significant deterrent, as thieves predictably seek targets of easy opportunity. (In planning a horse enclosure, locate it beyond your house if possible, away from the road.)

Care for pastured horses in a way to deter theft.

Keep pasture gates locked (again, with a mind to fire safety).
Never leave horses’ halters on (this is a safety hazard as well as a significant aid to thieves looking to work quickly).
Don’t feed your horses close to the pasture gate or near the road. Though convenient for you, this practice is also convenient for thieves, as it encourages horses to hang out where they would be easiest to nab.
Check on your pastured horses regularly, varying the time of your trips to avoid predictability.
Checking on your horses frequently will deter thieves from trying to steal your pasture horses.

Don’t leave halters and lead ropes on stall fronts, pen or pasture gates, or anywhere in the open where they might help thieves make a quick catch. Ideally, keep halters in a locked tack or feed room.

Install motion-sensor lights to illuminate the areas where you keep your horses at night (making sure they won’t interfere with any lighting programs you might be using to influence broodmares’ heat cycles or show horses’ coats). Consider purchasing monitors or alarm systems.

Establish a horse owners’ watch program in your area to provide added surveillance of everyone’s animals. (This is especially useful to enable members to check on each other’s horses when owners are out of town.)

Display signs and warning posters where appropriate to signal to potential thieves that the owner is informed and actively protecting stock. Examples include:

“No trespassing” signs
Security-system signs;
Farm or livestock association membership signs;
Horse owners’ “watch” signs.

Ask local law enforcement and regional brand-inspection officials for other security tips that might be warranted in your particular area. Inform officials of any suspicious activities.

Be on guard at shows or other public-venue events. With the drop in the salvage value of horses, some thieves are stealing not for the animal’s slaughterhouse value but for its competitive ability for resale. Check with the event’s management to learn what security measures may be in force, and then add additional measures (such as extra supervision of your horse) as need be.

NOTE: Thanks to Pete Gibbs and Dennis Sigler, respectively the past and current extension horse specialists at Texas AgriLife Extension Service, for assistance with this article.

Horse & Rider Magazine - September 27, 2010 - Horse & Rider Editors

Stolen Horse? Here’s What to Do—Now!

Your Horse Has Been Stolen! Here’s A Detailed Action Plan To Jump-Start The Recovery Process.

by Jennifer Forsberg Meyer

A stolen horse is an owner’s nightmare. Should it ever happen to you, knowing what to do and doing it quickly can greatly increase the odds that you safely recover your horse.

Yikes—where’s your horse? The moment he or she turns up missing, jump into action.

Act immediately. The first 24 to 48 hours can be critical in leading to the recovery of your horse. Don’t delay.
Contact authorities. Report the theft first to the law-enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction in your area, obtaining a case number and a copy of the incident report. Then contact other law-
enforcement entities, including state livestock/brand inspectors, auction/sale yards, etc. (see “Authorities to Contact”).
Gather documents. Make a working file of the important papers and photos you’ll need to help identify your horse to authorities and prove ownership, including receipt of purchase, bill of sale, and/or canceled check; registration papers; brand and other identification certificates; health records/certificates; and the best, clearest color photos you have available.
Post fliers. Don’t neglect this “old school” method of getting the word out. To create a flier, use detailed color photos showing, if possible, all identifying markings, brands, or scars. (For security, neither you nor your family members should appear in the photos.) List your horse’s breed, sex, age, height, weight, and identifying marks. Include a contact name, phone number, and e-mail address (but, for security, don’t include your home address, unless it’s a post-office box). If you intend to offer a reward, talk to law enforcement about the correct wording to use and procedure to follow. Blanket a 500- to 600-mile radius; many thieves think you won’t look past a two-hour drive. Post the fliers anywhere people are: post offices, gas stations, grocery/convenience stores. (Always ask for permission before posting at a business.)
Branch out. Enlist family and friends to help send your flier to an even wider range of entities via mail, fax, and e-mail. Send to: livestock sales/auctions; breed registries and state horse groups; equine and large- animal veterinarians; farriers; tack/feed stores and farm-supply companies; horse magazines and farm publications; and showgrounds, rodeos, and racetracks.
Use the media. Ask radio and television stations to air public-service announcements about horse theft in general and your case in particular, with reward information. Contact daily newspapers to raise awareness of area horse thefts, again using your own situation and information as an example.
Attend auctions. Pinpoint sales that handle lower-price animals. Ask for the names of the regular buyers of these types of horses, which might be heading to slaughterhouses. Look in all pens, stalls and trailers, and check for unofficial “parking-lot sales.” Be alert for sellers who show up at the last minute before the sale begins.
Check classified ads. Scour horse classifieds in print and online for traces of relevant information. Although most ads are legitimate, unscrupulous horse traders also use them.
Don’t give up. There are horses that’ve been reunited with their owners even years after a theft.

AUTHORITIES TO CONTACT:

 City police, sheriff’s department. Politely insist that a report be filed, even if the information can only be taken by phone. If a “crime stoppers” type of program exists, ask if it can broadcast information about the theft.

Livestock/brand inspectors. These authorities know livestock and frequent the sales where stolen horses could wind up. In Texas, for example, the law-enforcement branch of the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers Association is the law-enforcement arm most effective at helping to recover any stolen livestock, including horses.

 Livestock auctions, horse sales. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Packers and Stockyards Administration has information on auctions in your area and throughout the country.

 Your breed association. If your horse is registered, alert the registry that he’s been stolen. An innocent buyer might look for registration information on him.

GO VIRAL!

Be sure also to make good use of social-networking media to search for your missing horse. In what was described as a “bloggers’ victory,” an enthusiastic Facebook campaign resulted in the speedy recovery of a child’s rope horse stolen from a Texas roping.

The website of Stolen Horse International, Inc. (netposse.com) can help by posting information through its networks.

NOTE: Thanks to Pete Gibbs and Dennis Sigler, respectively the past and current extension horse specialists at Texas AgriLife Extension Service, for assistance with this article.

Horse & Rider Magazine - September 27, 2010 - Horse & Rider Editors