North Yorkshire Police‘s Horsewatch Scheme has been relaunched by the force’s Rural Taskforce, and is now using property marking machines to protect tack from criminals.
PC Hannah McPeake, of the Rural Taskforce, said: “As a horse owner myself, I know important and valuable your horse and all its equipment is. This is why I am involved in the scheme – I am passionate about promoting equine security across the whole of North Yorkshire. Fortunately, levels of equestrian crime are very low in North Yorkshire, but you can never be too careful. Preventing crime and deterring criminals is very important, and we are encouraging all equestrian businesses and horse owners to check their yard security, and think carefully about how how to protect their property.”
The most recent tack marking event, at a livery yard in York, saw 16 saddles and five bridles security marked. Leather items of tack were marked with a visible, permanent unique number with a hi-tech ‘dot peen’ property marking machine. The service was provided free by the force. Synthetic tack or padded bridles cannot be marked using dot peen. The product used has been from Devon-based Telesis Marking Systems.
Dot peen marking involves using a tungsten carbide-tipped pin to indent an object with dots to create a visible, permanent unique number. The unique number sill be entered onto the national Immobilise property register database, vastly increasing the chances that it will be reunited with its owner if it is lost or stolen. While other methods of property marking, such as UV marker pens or forensically-coded liquid, can also be very effective, the visual deterrent of a permanently marked serial number alone could be enough to deter would-be thieves.
PC McPeake added: “Tack marking is very important as it deters criminals, and if police recover any tack it can be traced back to the owner. We are in the process of organising future events at livery yards, feed stores and equestrian shops across North Yorkshire.”
To get in touch with the scheme, email [email protected].
