Our trailer is parked right in front of our barn and is in very plain view from the house so we always leave it unlocked.  That way if I need to get into it I can.  We also keep it hooked up with power for the frig.

Well a couple of weeks ago we were both sick with the flu and honestly so full of meds that it knocked us both out and we did not hear anything.  When my husband went out the door to feed the next morning he noticed the trailer door open.

We had been robbed......they trashed the trailer and took our TV and a gun, spit tobacco on everything and had a lot of other stuff bagged up to go.  He must have startled them and they ran.  They had cut a 4ft section out of our fence and come in through the back pasture.

They also trashed everything in my tack room and had boxed up all my headstalls and a lot of horse meds.  They took every bottle of iodine and all the matches and bottles of propane they could find.METHHEADS

So all of you be very careful because the cops told us that the MethHeads are hitting barns looking for chemicals to cook with.

You're right,sounded like methheads.

I think that a gun would be the last thing I'd leave in an unlocked horse trailer,however.

I'm sorry you had this happen!!

It does sound like meth heads, and just for that I went out to my barn and took all the iodine, SMZ's, and even the the iodine salve, into the locked freezer we use for storing the grain and horse cookies. ( yes, the horses have figured out the latch on the freezer! Soooo we lock it) I do agree the firearms should be also locked up except when readied to hunt. I guess I will have to sic my attack barn cat on them if they try my barn.

You're right about the pistol but it was 40 years old and hidden up in the gooseneck in one of the cabinets.  It's just one of those things that you don't think about since the trailer is right in front of our house and so very close.....

The said thing is I know I will never see it again and it was something that my dad had given me when I was a teenager.  They probably traded it for some meth or something.

There seems to be a rise in local meth once again from what the cops are telling us so everyone beware if they can't  get the ingredents from the store they will find it somewhere.

Do you think locking the trailer would have stopped them?

They already had cut your fence. I'll bet they would have broken a window or used a bar to bend the door frame to get in, even if it was locked.

I left some tools in a house I was building one night. The thieves had to break down 3 locked doors to get to them. Which they did. So I not only had to suffer the lose and expense of the the tools. But I had to replace 3 doors.

Locks only stop the honest people.

That's not necessarily true.Any law enforcement officer involved in crime stoppers,ect.will tell you that if they want in,they can get in. They will also say that Locks,however,DO slow thieves down.If a trailer is parked in that close a proximity to a house,breaking out a window or prying open the door is going to make some noise,vs.opening/closing a camper door.

Locks slow down the neighborhood kid who is just doing something stupid. Who still has some sense of morallity about breaking a window.

A methhead doesn't care what it cost you to fix what he tore apart while he stole your $7 bottle of iodine. Usually the damage is much worse than what they actually steal. And they can break a window and you won't hear it in the house.

You are better off with a loud dog or motion activated lights that flood the area around the trailer.

Well whatever.

I prefer to take every precaution available to me,including locks.We keep locks on our shed doors in our yard,and on any trailer sitting in our yard.ALso on our trailers that are located in an isolated tractor shed several miles away.

We are probably in "Methhead" capital here in Arkansas.We've never had anyone force their way into any of our locked stuff yet.I say "yet" because I"m not saying it won't or can't happen.I think that kind will take a look and if it's not quick,easy and without a lot of noise,they aren't going to bother.

an experienced  thief won't have to break into a lock,they'll just open it right up and walk on in without a key.

I'm still going to lock my things up.Including my vehicle which sits outside with my garage door opener in it.

The way these guys trashed everything and were so bold...they were on their own juice, they had to be.  They went to the trouble to take a 4ft section out of our fence and I really think if the trailer had been locked they would have done more damage trying to get in, so we are lucky in that sense.

We have since put up  4 sets of motion act lights on the barn and 3 on the house. As far as a dog, ours is so old he does not bark anymore.  We are thinking about getting another one and turning it loose inside the property at night.  But as you can see the crooks are still costing us money$$$$ lights, new dog, etc.

That's what makes me mad!

I am sorry to hear what you went through.  I remember hearing on the news that TN has one of the biggest meth problems in the country.  It sounds hard to believe when you consider the big cites like NY, LA etc...

Just curious, where in TN do you live?

JacciB

So sorry to hear about your break-n.  About 18 years ago the condo I was living in at the time was broken into.  He took a duffle bag and stuffed it with stereo equipment & watches that belonged to my live in boyfriend.  I only knew someone had been in when I found something on the floor that had been under the bed.  He didn't take anything that was out in the open, but hunted for stuff in the closet, under the bed, etc.  He pried open a window to get in/out.  But he left a fingerprint and was caught.  He lived nearby, father was a weathly accountant and the kid had a drug habit.

    He was charged with about 10 burlgaries in all and confessed to the crimes.  I went to the court hearing and he had all these character witnesses that said he was a good boy...  I was the only victim who bothered to show up in court.  He was ordered to repay my boyfriend $4,000 but after repaying $400, he was thrown back in jail for almost strangling his girlfriend.   (nice guy)  He became a carrer crimminal and is probably still in jail. 

    I know all this as I work for a City and asked the dectectives about him.  They all know him well.

The real kicker is a couple years later I met his mother while I was at work.  She was literally covered in jewelry - diamond tennis bracelets, earings, rings, etc  I was just so pissed to see her sitting there in all that jewelry and my boyfriend losing his stuff.  I looked at her and said  "your son burglarized my home and stole things from us"  She stammered how they had disowned him, etc  I just couldn't be in her presense, so I walked away. 

I have an alarm on my home, but everytime I unlock the door, I wonder if anyone's been there that shouldn't have been.  That feeling will probably stay with me forever as you feel so violated. 

This kinda of stuff goes on every day, yet I have to show my drivers license to buy a bottle of sudafed!! Does the law really think having to show a state issued ID is going to slow down methheads? It hasn't.

I'm thankful your whole trailer wasn't stolen and most your tack is still with you. We weren't so lucky in 2005. Entire trailer fully packed for our next weekend ride was taken in broad daylight infront of the house. I too had alarms put on the house after this incident. But if the SOBs want your stuff, nothing is going to stop them. Locks help slow the theft down, but if someone wants something bad enough, there is not much you can do. Hopefully your insurance will pay for any damages.

Our crooks were caught, but trailer has not been found yet. They just spent a short time in jail and are back out on the streets. And they were methheads too!There is an epedimic in this country.

If they come for my trailer,or break into my home,they'd darn well better be 110% POSITIVE I am not at home.

Me,and Mr."Browning" will greet them if they break into my home.And "Mr.Browning" will give them the scare of their lives if they're trying to take any of my things outside and I know about it.

and I will come help her!!!

Our trailers have locks on the hitches, and the big trailer has a lock on the lock nuts on the hitch as well.  This thread is so weird as I had a dream (nightmare) that I opened the barn and the tack, saddle racks, everything was gone, clean as a whistle. 

We have three dogs, 1 yapper=pup, and an aussie female and heeler female who will put ya back in the truck.  Not that a  perp can't deal with that too, but when the alarm has been raised, there is some backup from  Smith and Wesson headed their way.  If we are not home it is another story, but our hours are very unpredictable.  Should I place a call to neighbors , the escape routes are all covered by some serious country folks... so that may be our best deterrent.  LE does say that a serious looking, acting, or sounding dog is a very good deterrent, that most times they will go elsewhere looking for easier prey.  Lighting, and a motion detector that sounds an exterior siren is  great thing as well.

I was reading all the information and I think that if you could track the footprints back.  You might find they are closer than you think.  I have 4 kids and most want to stay close to where they live or their friends.  They will raide places around where they live before venturing out.  I know what my children are willing to do and have done.  If they cut the fencing and just walked in your trailer, packed up your belongings.  I would be looking where they left the dirt and where they walked the road or across the road.  I get very upset and get the family to trace where they walked.  It might find your stuff.  It is only a suggestion since I do not know your place.  Once again, sorry for such your loss of belongings and security.   

That's the reason cutter was talking about stumbling up on someone with drug activity while riding.We have had that happen before,and,we're almost positive that is what was going on.We were in a remote area,and there were just the 4 of us.We were polite to them,but kept on going and talking as if we had no idea in the world that drugs even exist! I think that's the best bet,act normal as possible,be civil,and KEEP ON GOING until you are at a distance then I'd probably take off running.