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Community Corner

Don't Let Thieves Ruin Your Next Ride

Stuff gets stolen, even far from the city. Follow a few tips to keep in mind before you hit the trail.

With all of our wonderful weather and many of us taking time off from work and riding more, I feel the need to remind all of you about safety when horse camping, or even going on a trail ride for a few hours.

Being honest folk, we never really think about people in the world stealing from us. We tend to feel safe in our equine world and are trusting. Horse people are just honest, so we don’t worry about our animals or our stuff when we leave our truck and trailer at camp or in a staging area. 

Unfortunately, not everyone is a horse person, and not everyone is an honest person. With the economy getting as bad as it is, theft is on the rise, even in and around Poway. I get emails from gal pals all over the county that report vehicles broken into and contents taken. Some of them have had their entire rig disappear during a long ride.

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I have even heard tale of horses being taken right out of corrals at camp in the middle of the night! On the rare occasion, folks have come back from a ride to find extra horses left in or tied to their trailer – imagine that! 

Some good pieces of advice:

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  • Never take your purse with you and leave it in the vehicle or trailer. Just take your ID and some cash, maybe lipstick or Blistex if you feel the need and keep it in your pocket or saddle bag.
  • Include pepper spray in case you encounter any aggressive animals and know how to use it.
  • Never leave the keys to your truck or trailer anywhere in or near your rig. Always lock every single door on your rig and close all the windows so they are latched.
  • Horse trailers often contain more tack than is used at one time and most thieves know that, so if you don’t need it, leave it at home.
  • Never have anything of any value (think from someone else’s point of view here) in your vehicle, even if it can’t be seen from outside.
  • Take a chain and a lock for your corral stall if you are camping, especially in a smaller group. This is a good idea anyway, especially if your horse is an escape artist like so many, including mine.
  • Have your cell phone with you if at all possible and keep it in your pocket. It doesn’t do you any good if you get dumped from your horse and your phone is in the saddle bag and it’s running away from you at 35 mph. 

These may seem like common sense, but I also know many of you are like me and trust that nothing will happen. It happens all the time. Think about it, you pull into the staging area or camp and once you saddle up, you head out on the trail for hours at a time.

Gives the creeps of the world the opportunity to see what you’ve got.

It’s not the next rider pulling in that you should worry about, it’s the thieves in the thicket that you never even see. While we can’t keep the bad guys from breaking our windows in their search for stuff to steal, we can give them nothing to take.

Next time you head for camp or even a trail ride close to home, think about crime prevention before you even put your pony pal in the trailer, and you’ll end each ride on a good note.

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