So take responsibility for your own belongings. Along with using a lock and painting identification on your trailer, check on your trailer often if you have it parked in a remote location. Then if it does go missing, you will have a narrower timeframe to identify when it was taken. Most places you haul your horse to won't even have security, so don't rely on it.
5. Make a Police Report
If, despite all your precautions, your trailer is stolen, the first thing you want to do is contact the police and file a report. This may be a frustrating thing. Since our trailer was stolen in an urban area, the police officer had no idea what terms such as "slant load," "bumper hitch," "tack room," or "drop down feed doors" meant. And because our trailer was stolen in a large urban area, the police officer (who was very kind) pretty much kissed it off as gone, leaving with the remark "Don't call us, we'll call you."
I made several calls to the police department after the trailer was stolen and was told the same thing. After all, a stolen trailer is going to rate pretty low when compared to shootings, domestic disturbances, and human safety concerns.
6. Keep Your Trailer Registration with You
As it turned out, I had a copy of the trailer registration in my purse, which in turn, had the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on it. This proved to be very important and needed information for the police report. And while it seems extreme, it would have also have been helpful to have pictures of the trailer. We could have used this for the police, as well as when we made up stolen trailer flyers, and contacted area trailer sale companies.
7. Call Your Insurance Company
If your trailer is stolen, after contacting the police and filling out a report, you then need to call your insurance company. Amongst other things, your agent will ask for the police report number, and the VIN. If your trailer is not recovered after a length of time, you will likely be asked to send the title (signed) and original sales information to the insurance company.
After several weeks, our insurance company then used a subcontractor company to determine the replacement cost of our trailer, using regional sale information based on used trailers similar to ours. We then received a settlement check about a month after our trailer was stolen, for about 70% of the original purchase price of our trailer. (Our trailer was 6 years old and purchased new.)
In talking with people who learned of our trailer theft, I was constantly struck by the simple fact that strange things happen all the time, and there are bad people out there that think nothing of stealing from others. One person told me about friends that had their truck and trailer stolen-while they were sleeping inside the living quarters of the trailer. I also learned of a semi rig and the attached eight-horse trailer that were stolen at a truck stop, along with the horses and tack on board.
In the end, several months after having our trailer stolen, I again remind myself that the trailer and all of its contents were just "things"-not family or beloved animals. So for that, I am thankful.
