Before we delve into the details of this story, let me urge you to keep in mind that most thieves have little, if any, morals. So as you read how they even “stole the rugs off his horses’ backs” and you start saying to yourself “who could possibly….?” just remember who/what we’re dealing with.
James Adams, from a town called Darlington, in the U.K., is a top international event rider. Late last Saturday night or early Sunday morning (Nov 9th), burglars ransacked his yard and stole more than £25,000 (that’s close to 40,000 in U.S. dollars) worth of equipment. They stripped his tack room completely bare, taking dozens of expensive bridles, boots, saddles, competition rugs, a generator, first aid kits, body protectors, chaps, a dressage tailcoat, and a flat-screen television (ripped off the wall of his horsebox). Basically, they left him with the trash bin. But that wasn’t all. These heartless thieves also swiped the rugs off four of his horses’ backs. Adams was obviously livid, declaring “taking the rugs off the horses’ backs is just the lowest of the low. This is November when the horses have been clipped- they would have been freezing.”
But here’s the silver lining and why this story was worthy of mention: “The amount of support, help, and well wishes I have had from my friends, people in the equestrian industry, and even people who don’t know me has been unbelievable,” Adams said. “I have had people bringing me rugs for the horses, saddles, bridles, and boots. I have even had people baking me cakes.”
Who’s better than “horse people”? It never surprises me how the equestrian community will rally around each other. And when there are actual horses involved… forget it. I wouldn’t have been surprised if people had taken blankets off their own beds to give to those horses! Good for them, and hooray for ALL horse lovers! Stories like this make me proud to be one.
P.S. On another positive note, the town of Darlington isn’t exactly large. If these robbers try to fence all the equipment they just stole locally, they’ll probably get busted. Plus, among the items they stole were Adams’s cross country body protector. “Which is in my colors- sky blue and black- which are exclusive to me.” Sorry, I just got a visual of Adams watching the next cross country event on t.v. (the set in his house) and yelling (while pointing to the t.v.) “that’s my protector, that’s my protector”. Yea, yea, alright… that’s why I preempted with the “sorry”! But the point is, that won’t be easy to fence either, so that should be one less thing these tack room thieves will be able to sell.
Click here for a link to the full story
And if anyone is afraid of this type of thing happening to them, please see our post on Guard Horses for your yard 🙂
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