Everything You Need To Know About Horses

How To Keep Your Horse Rugs From Being Stolen

A simple way to keep your horse’s rugs where they should be…..

Rugs are expensive. Particularly when one isn’t enough for your horse. Buying second hand rugs can make things easier, as it is a popular way to save some money, but BEWARE ! It’s happened before and will happen again, rugs have known to have been stolen right off your horse’s back !

This crime mostly happens at agistment centres with lots of horses, or on road side properties. Theives drive in, take rugs off as many horses as they can find, and leave, while horses stand out in the chill for the remainder of the night. If you are lucky enough to have your own paddocks, make it as difficult as possible for theives to access your land and your horses. If you don’t have control over this, the easiest way to discourage would-be rug theives is to clearly mark your horse’s rugs with paint, markers, whatever you can find. Sure, it’s not all that pretty, but it might mean the difference between your horse all rugged up at night, or standing in the cold after a visit from a rug thief.

So what should you write ? Firstly, a phone number is a great idea,, nice and big and bold. You can also write your horse’s name on there, the more writing, the more the thief will be discouraged. Would you want to buy a rug that had been written all over with someone else’s details? Having both your horse’s name and your phone number can also mean that in an emergency, if something were to happen to your horse he can be easily identified, and you can be contacted as soon as possible.

Another popular idea is to mark your rug with your (or your parents) car registration number. That way, if it turns up, or is reported as stolen property, it can be easily identified, or traced back by the car registration number.

Also, if a thief is showing a prospective buyer a rug with a huge phone number written on it, all you have to do is call the phone number to ensure that the rug isn’t stolen. Helping fight rug theft goes both ways, do your best to prevent your rugs from being stolen, and always be careful when buying second hand rugs. If it looks dodgy, or is too cheap (yes we all love a bargain, but keep your guard up) then look elsewhere. As long as we keep supporting rug theives by buying rugs from them, they’ll keep stealing them !. So be wary. If you purchase stolen property knowingly, you are breaking the law, and you can get into serious trouble.