HOLY CRAP!!

[wildoak]

From what I heard this morning, it was actually parked at the Microtel - essentially on the fairgrounds, but probably beyond the perimeter of the grounds security. Wonder if they were after the contents or the truck itself - it may already be repainted and down the road by now.

I have a big lock on my trailer, but always worry about the dressing room locks. I lost my key one year up there, and someone else's trailer lock opened it right up...not very reassuring. I just leave very little in my trailer, nothing expensive or irreplaceable.

I heard a strange story here locally - a friend has had the mats stolen out of her stock trailer...THREE TIMES!! Just an everyday run of the mill trailer, nothing fancy, but they have been stolen when she was parked at Home Depot and other very ordinary places. She now has locks on the back doors.

Jan

 

[Jill]

Urgh!

I remember a couple years ago some members' trailers were stolen at Nationals.

We keep a gooseneck lock on our big trailer and it's in our fenced yard. We don't have a lock on our little bumper pull, had not ever thought of it, but the locks are about $25 or so if I remember right. So, now that it's on my mind, we'll get one for our little trailer, too.

Really bad news about Double Diamond's

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I heard a strange story here locally - a friend has had the mats stolen out of her stock trailer...THREE TIMES!! Just an everyday run of the mill trailer, nothing fancy, but they have been stolen when she was parked at Home Depot and other very ordinary places. She now has locks on the back doors.Jan

Not out of a trailer but in our stalls last year at the World Show in Fort Worth, we took Corona out of the stall he'd been in during the show (with a trainer) and brought him over to our stalls (just in the next row over) after his last class since he was coming home with us. We went back a couple of hours later to get the mats out of his stall - very thick, expensive ones we bought just for him - and they were gone!

Seriously??? So, all I had to do was ask some people standing by "Hey, did someone take some mats out of this stall?" And the reply was "Yeah, so-and-so training." Yep, sure enough, another TRAINER (that we all know of) had taken them out and had already put them in their trailer!!! I promptly went to their stalls and asked for my mats back. They were like "oh, we thought they'd been left behind." Right! It was a couple of hours people!!! Give me my freakin' mats back!

So now the joke between my hubby and me is whenever we see them come around we say "better nail everything down and not turn your back for a second!"

 

[MyBarakah]

Jeeze!!!!! Can't believe that... WELL....... I actually can for being Tulsa, OK...... that part/side of the state is the biggest theft place!! Luckily my trailer the last 2 years was in the RV park and is watched very closely over there! But I just hate that part of OK..... I use to go to college south east of Tulsa and had a very NICE NICE big horse that I had won allot of stuff with get stollen and still has haunted me to this day!! He was my 12th birthday present and I was the ONLY person who had ever rode that horse, my BEST FRIEND.........so I was MORE than crushed when he was stolen, and later to find out I was set up before I had even brought the horse down!!!!!! So needless to say... Oklahoma doesn't sit real well with me!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Leeana]

Jeeze!!!!! Can't believe that... WELL....... I actually can for being Tulsa, OK...... that part/side of the state is the biggest theft place!! Luckily my trailer the last 2 years was in the RV park and is watched very closely over there! But I just hate that part of OK..... I use to go to college south east of Tulsa and had a very NICE NICE big horse that I had won allot of stuff with get stollen and still has haunted me to this day!! He was my 12th birthday present and I was the ONLY person who had ever rode that horse, my BEST FRIEND.........so I was MORE than crushed when he was stolen, and later to find out I was set up before I had even brought the horse down!!!!!! So needless to say... Oklahoma doesn't sit real well with me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh

...that is so sad.

 

[hahler]

and people ask me why i still use my 1977 old white stock trailer lol

if im parked next to a $20,000 which one will go first

 

[Gena]

Just got a call from Karen. The Tractor Trailer full of stuff belonging to Double Diamond tack was just stolen from the Tulsa show grounds! I couldn't hear the cell phone well but she said something else about 7 trailers gone?
LOCK YOUR TRAILERS and watch your stuff!

We are heading up there now with ours and you bet I'll be watching it!

Unbelievable!! I hope they catch them!!

Be careful Robin!! Email me when you get back!

 

[Leeana]

I am so sorry this has happened and I sure hope they catch the THIEVES. I am sure it is probably a group.
Now, this may be a dumb question, but I am going to ask it anyway.

So, why doesn't AMHR either DEMAND more SECURITY from whomever they pay OR move Nationals to a different location?

I just think they either need to have a lot more SECURITY or MOVE NATIONALS.

Can someone tell me why this hasn't been done? Do you think after this time it will be done.

Because the security would have to question and keep track of everyone hooking up a trailer and how on earth would security know if someone is in someones tack stall that does not belong there.

Still cannot believe someone would do that

 

[bingo]

With so many people coming and going at all hours of the day and night it would be pretty difficult. Not only exhibitors but spectators as well.

There is just no way to know if I sent someone I know to run back to my tack stall for something I forgot or if it was someone who is not supposed to be there.

Security is there and can usually easily be seen on a regular basis but with all the normal comings and goings and it not being unusual for people to be walking the barn aisles at all hours of the day and night I am not sure what more they can do.

 

[REO]

We're home. We only ran up there and back. I've been in a sad funk all day thinking of the folks at DD that lost all their tack, trailer & everything.

My thoughts are there's a team that go in and do it fast. And they have a nearby place to stash trailers in before the help call can even go out. I don't know but it makes me SICK.

It isn't just trailers or lack of locks. I heard a few years ago of people unloading or loading...they're only gone for a few min in between upacking and in that few min stuff gets stolen. Unless someone can stand guard while the other unpacks, your stuff isn't safe.

It's a mean, greedy world

I'll email you soon Gena!

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Thieves are well organized unfortunately - think what they could do if they utilized all that energy for good! My husbands car/wallet was stolen while he was at the gym once - they knew how long he'd be busy and boy did that gang go to town! He called me less than 2 hours later and I was cancelling cards. Already they had charged literally thousands of dollars in saleable merchandise - a gang of 18-21 chinese guys (they were caught later). Only one store asked for any ID - like when do teens carry platinum cards? (This was a few years go when they were rare!). Fortunately they had ditched the car close by (apparently common practice as most people don't look) and it was recoved intact.

I digress there - but as for Tulsa I can really understand security not being able to monitor tack rooms, etc., but the comings and goings of trailers I still find disturbing. We were at an auction in Dallas and coming in empty was no problem, but leaving with a trailer they looked at the trailer and made sure we had a right to be exiting with the horses. That's what I don't understand, how exiting a place like that, especially a known security risk area, the Expo can't enforce checking on the way out at least.

Poor DD - what an awful thing to have happen.

 

[JanBKS]

That has to be the lowest thing a person can do or people, My Heart goes out for all those invilved, DD Tack and the other owners of the trailers that got stolen.

Sure sounds like a planned theft that's for sure, Hugs to all involved.

Jan

 

[Boinky]

they could indeed up their security practices..YES it's a large parking lot but if they have a designated trailer parking lot and they had everyone check in and give them a "permit" and have a couple of security guards patrol with security camera's in that area and check 'permits' on anyone coming and going to the trailers i think you'd see a lot less trailer theft (or stuff in trailers). yes it might be inconvient if you have to park a million miles from your stall but we have almost every year and it's not bad once your unloaded..they let you drive up to the barns to load and unload anyways.

i'm sure the barns might be a bit harder to patrol BUT that's where we as the competitors need to do a "neighborhood watch" and set it up with your neighbors and hope you can trust. If you set up with your neighbors when your not going to be around just ask them "will you be around and kind of keep an eye on things" and you do the same for them.

I do feel more things could be done to keep it more secure. The barns could have a few security camera's strategically placed to help monitor "suspicious" activities and catch anyone who may have done something wrong. Anyone in the barns after "hours" should have some sort of permit to be in the barns.

I like the tulsa fairgrounds in the fact that it's well mantained BUT theft is a real issue that needs to be addressed.

 

[coopermini]

I have never been to Tulsa but am guessing stealing trailers happens at many events there not just AMHR Nationals. At some point the facility should have stepped up and changed what ever they are doing to prevent more of this. I do not remember the facility we were at but to get a trailer in you needed proof you belonged there and to leave with a trailer you needed proof your have paid all your tabs with show and I think we showed trailer registration as well before they open the gate. No paper work, no get out the gate. Lets say there were more than one trailer backing out of the line to leave.

Mark

 

[Riverdance]

This seems to go on year after year after year after year at the AMHR Nationals. Not only trailers, but horses, tack, peoples cars and trucks, wallets etc. Anything that anyone can get their hands on. So why does AMHR still have their Nationals there? Why does not the facility do something more about it? Why does not AMHR do something more about it?

How about fencing around all of the parking lots and show grounds where one needs a pass to get in and out? Police set up in the only areas that someone can get on the grounds? Police in the parking lots around the clock. AMHR has quite a few entries, pay the money it takes to make sure that everyone as well as their belongings are safe. This stealing has been going on for years, what if it gets worse and becomes more than just stealing? I myself went to the first Nationals they had there and never went back again. Not a safe or comfortable place to be.

At the AMHA World show you can not get on the show grounds without going past the police. They are set up in a booth right in the middle of the only two entries that are open to the show. One can not take a horse off the grounds without getting a pass from the show office. You need to tell them how many horses you are taking off the grounds in your trailer, they give you that pass, and you need to hand the pass to the police who then check your trailer.

Because you have to go past the police to get on and off the show grounds, theifs do not bother to come into the grounds. The whole grounds are surrounded by high fencing and AMHA pays quite a few police to watch the grounds, shows and trailer parking lots.

I feel it is the responsiblilities of the clubs to make sure their members are as safe as can be while at the shows. Use some of the entry fees to hire the number of police needed to make sure everyone and their equipment are safe. Better yet, find a safer facility for the Nationals!!

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I did notice that last year at the KY State Fair they did require a form signed by the exhibitor giving a driver permission to remove horses, and the number of horses they were leaving with. Security checked for passes at the gate. Entering wasn't a big deal, but leaving was a little more difficult.

 

[wildoak]

At the AMHA World show you can not get on the show grounds without going past the police

I love the Will Rogers facility. No place is 100% safe, but for the most part I think they do a great job of keeping exhibitors protected. Tulsa does have a huge problem. I like the facility, but the theft seems to get worse every year. At some point it isn't going to be worth the risk of going unless they can shore up the security considerably.

Jan

 

[sfmini]

As I recall, they did catch the last group, so either this is a new group or the old one is out again.

Please know, it isn't just tack and trailers. A friend of ours had her van broken into and a very, very nice tv and her credit cards were stolen. This van was parked right outside the barn during the day with all kinds of activitiy going on! Nothing is safe anywhere but on your body. Locking tack stalls isn't fool proof, heck, you can just pop off the stall wall, or climb over.

As for finding a new facility, just where would this new miracle facility be? With that many open days? Affordable? This is a very tough thing to pull off, trust me. AMHA looks every year, but it is just about impossible to find a place that is better than Fort Worth money wise, and finding a place that is available over two weekends, enough stabling, air conditioned arena, good location, etc, etc, etc is difficult.

I know someone suggested trying to move to Tulsa so we could just transition from one big mini show to the other, but I will vote no on that because of the lack of security. Not saying Worlds is great, but better. I do just go in when we leave and say, I am taking x number of horses home. That's it, not what horses, whose horses, but policing to that level of detail would be a nightmare. At least I am not aware of horse thefts.

Theft is not new to the horse shows, Kentucky Horse Park is terrible for that. We had $500 stolen from a purse that was buried at the bottom of a tack trunk inside a tack stall in broad daylight. I have to say, Tulsa seems to be the only place I have been to where trailer theft is so bad.

 

[txminipinto]

It isn't just AMHR Nationals. This sort of thing happens at Pinto World in June as well. I'm sorry but this isn't "home". We can't expect AMHR or the EXPO to be resonsible for thieves. Everyone is well aware of the thefts that happen year after year and it's highly recommended that you don't leave vaulables unattended. It comes down to personal safety and awareness. I haul by myself, as do many others and you just have to be aware.

The first thing I do when I get to Tulsa is unload what has to be unloaded. Buckets, feed, stall decorations, groom supplies, and the cart if needed. It all goes straight into the tack stall and then I lock it. I leave my show halters and clippers in the trailer until I need them. I take the trailer to the RV park, park it, plug it in, and put the hitch lock on it. I also have padlocks on every single door. I then return to the barn, finish setting up, relock the tack stall, and then go to the office to deal with paper work. It's not fool proof, but I don't take anything for granted. I only leave out what is easy to replace and keep the stuff that I can't afford to replace in the trailer. If they want it, they'll take it and there's nothing you can do.

Also, don't be afraid to ask someone who they're with or what they are doing. I've run off several questionable individuals and one night, got the security guards involved with someone I had been watching. Unfortunately, most venues like this, are in a "bad" part of town. We just all have to watch each other's back. Now, theft from within the show I can't stand and those individuals should be reported immediately.

 

[Belinda]

Hi

We are in Tulsa , Double Diamond is the only truck and trailer that has been stolen , and it was AT THE HOTEL when this happened, Not saying things don't come up missing at the show it self . But they are parking the Trailer in area that is surrounded by concrete barriers and two security people showing you where to park.. So maybe they are going to be better .

Stealing at shows is just the nature of the beast so to speak. Most Fairgrounds and Areana sorry to say are in area's where crime seems to be at the highest , no matter where you go..

And believe me Fort Worth is not any better , ( as I lived there over half my life ) they just are lucky to have the police that Will Rodgers Pays to watch the streets , but stealing STILL HAPPENS THERE , so al we can do is try and protect ourselves as much as we can.. Leave large sums of money Locked in your car or Motor home , etc.. I hope all that are still fixing to make the trip have safe journey , it is raining here but should be better by the weekend..