If you're offered a cheap trailer ....

[Hazell B]

.... mine's just been stolen :(

Got to my yard this morning to find open gates and not only a 10 x 6 foot white box trailer gone, but all it's contents and worst of all both of my ponies.

They'd driven a Land Rover 90 or 110 into the gates (leaving brokwn lights and therefore proof of the vehicle) and smashed the locks, then done the same to the trailer compound's gate. The trailer contained all of my pet food stock ready for market tomorrow - about a thousand quid worth :(

Then they'd led the two ponies along my lane and tried loading them in another vehicle, which had failed. My Hunter pony Sovereign isn't stupid, he'd left plenty of hoof marks showing his efforts not to be loaded by strangers. In fact, it looked like a real fight had taken place! So, they'd just been let loose on a busy road by the heartless thugs.

We found the horses about two or three miles away snoozing on an off road lane safe and unharmed. They're tired and one's a bit nervous, but otherwise okay. I walked them home and just pray the thieves won't come back with more equipment and manpower.

So, although it's a long shot, if anyone sees a 10 x 6 foot white box trailer with old marks for 'Summersgills Auctioneers, Easingwold' stickers on each side, let me know ASAP. It's a 1984 trailer, galv chassis and it good condition. It will probably get the sides taken off to disguise it, and be sold as chassis only though.

Thanks :)

[GridGirl]

Sorry to hear about your theft Hazel but I doubt anyone here is going to come across the trailor. At least the aminals are OK. Were you insured?

I know its not on the same scale but I had the fog lights stolen on my car late last year which ended up costing me over £250 to replace which really peed me off. Why should you go to work all week to buy stuff just for some moron down the road to come and take it as they please. :mad:

[Dave B]

We found the horses about two or three miles away snoozing on an off road lane safe and unharmed. They're tired and one's a bit nervous, but otherwise okay.
Glad to read that particular paragraph, but bummer about the rest of it. As GridGirl says, hopefully insurance will cover the financial loss.

Have you looked into getting CCTV? It's not cheap, obviously, but you can get systems now which record on a PC rather than the speciallist video recorders of old. You may even find that your insurance premiums reduce if you've got it, offsetting the cost.

[Hazell B]

Insurance :laugh:

No insurance - it's actually more costly to pay the premiums than buy everything again in rural areas these days :(

An example is my £300 emergency horse/stone collection/tatty trailer's premiums for theft would be about £200 a year. And then they wouldn't pay me the £300 back, just the guesstimate value. The trailer that's gone was £900 but is worth about £1200 (I got a deal) plus has the stock, and I didn't even get a quote after my mates equally valued trailer cost her almost a thousand pounds to insure. The silly girl thought the monthly payment was the annual added cost when she upgraded trailers, but when they tried taking the full sum out of her account the following month she learned a valuable lesson :mark:

You simply do not insure for theft of trailers in the countryside, even with two large steel gates as security.

As for CCTV - no electric at the yard. If we had power it would have to be a generator or windmill - both of which would get stolen :(

[Eki]

Sorry about your loss, Hazell :(

On the lighter side: Does losing a "cheap" trailer mean you're not trailer trash anymore?

[Hazell B]

:laugh:

I might be trailer trash some day - we've decided to put in for planning permission to build a house on the fields we own to help avoid further thefts. It'll meaning living in a caravan until it's built, as renting my house out is how we'd fund the work.

But that's probably a year away as planning takes forever to organise :mark:

[Dave B]

But that's probably a year away as planning takes forever to organise :mark:
Apply to hold the British Grand Prix: you'll find that planning permission mysteriously just "happens". :p

[Mark]

Is this different to the trailer you were trying to weigh?

[Hazell B]

I don't want the British GP :(
Hosting MotoGP would be far more fun :p :

No Mark, I was trying to see how much a trough was to weigh in. The trailer's the one I bought last October and wondered how to paint to make it less stealable - which clearly didn't get done and wouldn't have worked anyway :rolleyes:

People keep turning up and telling me the thieves will return once they think my insurance has paid up, in about six weeks. That's stopping me sleep to be honest. The thought of them arriving better prepared to take the ponies is frightening :(

[leopard]

This remind me of life fifteen years backwards when the case of stealing were still rampant.

Thanks heaven we have a safer environment relatively. :)

[Drew]

I don't want the British GP :(
Hosting MotoGP would be far more fun :p :
(

Suzi Perry :kiss: Can I come please Hazell, pretty please with a cherry on top?

:p :

[Hazell B]

Drew, you're waving the chequered flag :)

(I'll speak to Suzi about the cherries ;) )