What remains of the latch on the door of Joni Nelson's trailer. All photos courtesy of Joni Nelson.
AQHA horse trainer, Joni Nelson, is undergoing quite an ordeal this morning, as she and her friends begin to sift through the contents of her trailer. They are trying to determine exactly what thieves stole on January 7th, while she was at an AQHA show in Denver, CO.
Unfortunately, Nelson estimates that up to $80,000 in show and work tack, belonging to both she and her clients, were taken, by what appears to be someone who was involved in the horse industry. Nelson had actually parked the trailer at a hotel overnight to prepare for the drive home the next day.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she says. “I live in Iowa, so we were on our way home from the show when we discovered what was missing.”
“We left at about 4:30 in the morning, and at that time, there was no reason for me to get in the show tack side of our trailer. I did get into the show tack side, when we got to Lincoln, Nebraska, when I had to drop off a client. We went in to get all of her stuff in our dressing room. I saw the latch for the show tack room door and thought, how did I run into something to tear that off? Then, I knew exactly what had happened.”
“I opened up the door and eight saddles were gone. Two were brand new work saddles, that we had just purchased at the Congress. It’s pretty devastating. We had a hunt seat saddle taken and four or five bits with reins that were on Harris headstalls, all stolen.”
Judging from the high quality of the items that were taken, as compared to the quality of similar items that were left behind, Nelson is confident that the thieves are individuals, who are involved in the horse industry and have knowledge of the item’s worth.
“They did a pretty professional job on my lock, which is sad,” she says. “Also, we just found a pocket knife in here that doesn’t belong to me or anyone we know. I don’t know if they can do some sort of CSI job on that!”
Although Nelson is still in the process of determining exactly what was stolen, she was able to provide us with a preliminary list, including descriptions and photographs of the items that were taken. She also provided us with a photo of the pocket-knife that she discovered in her trailer just moments ago.
If you have any knowledge relating to this theft, please contact Joni Nelson at jonin2007@aol.com or on her Facebook page.
Description of stolen saddles:
- One blue ribbon 17″, silver horn, squared off corners, single concho on plates, bought new at 2011 Congress.
- 16″ Blue Ribbon exactly the same as above saddle, but a different size.
- 16″ Blue Ribbon, Blue Ribbon tree, three diamonds on each corner plate, leather horn, used, but great condition, 2008 model
- 15.5″ Blue Ribbon, Blue Ribbon tree, leather horn, triple cloud concho corner plate, along with fancy D ring, used but very good condition, 2005 model
- 16″ black Bob’s show saddle, Andrea Fappani seat, no silver but on pommel and fancy D ring, silver stirrups, very new condition, 2009 model
- 16″ Blue Ribbon, Dowdy tree, silver horn, triple cloud corner plate, used but great condition, 2005 model
- 17″ NEW Blue Ribbon, Blue Ribbon tree, basket weave, work saddle, used once, 2011 model
- 16″ Blue Ribbon, Blue Ribbon tree, rough out, work saddle, bought new at 2012 Congress, used but almost new condition
- HUS saddle, 17″ Bates all purpose, dark brown for oiling, knee rolls, Bates leathers, black plastic irons that bend with cheese graters for your feet, Courbette matching girth size 52″, no gullet system in it, was in a black bag with the NQH logo and name on it.
Serial numbers for the saddles:
- 17″ show BR saddle- BR11229
- 17″ BR work saddle- BR11163
- 16″ Show BR saddle, silver horn with br tree squared corners- BR11284
- 16″ show BR, Silver horn dowdy tree- BR05320
- 16″ leather horn BR tree, diamond pattern conchos- BR08191
- 16″ BR roughout work saddle- BR11139
Three show halters were stolen.
- 2 were Kathy’s brand, one of the two has a leather crown with a stamp of “IQHA 2010″ on it with clear stones.
- The other has blue stones on it. Both in great condition. The other has Dot Porter on the crown in silver. An older halter but great condition.
Four hunt seat bridles with braided reins and snaffles on them were stolen. Some had name plates.
Two of the saddles stolen look like this. One is a 16″ and one is a 17″.
Blue Ribbon headstall and Letchworth bit
Harris headstall and Maheu bit
