I know I said I wouldn't post again, but hey ho, this is regarding trust.

As some of you know, we have a livery yard renting stables and grazing. A couple of years ago we had two vacancies and were contacted by a lovely family looking for stabling for the mothers horse and the childs pony. They visited, had a look, I explained the rules and routines, they also had all the yard info in writing, both parties had a think about it., ie., was our yard right for them (no two yards are the same!), and from our point of view did I think they would fit in with my existing clients. A few days later they phoned to say they would take up the stables and arrived with their horses a week later.

For approximately 9 months everything was fine, they looked after their horses to my standards, followed all the rules, got on well with all my existing clients, some of which have been with me for over 10 years. I allowed them to park their lorry on site, we went off to shows and met up for drinks and bbq's in the evenings, the lot.

Then things started to change, one of our 'rules' is that when you need hay you help yourself from the barn, record it on the list, and pay at the end of the month. Their horses were never without hay, but only half was ever recorded - and I know how much hay a horse will eat! Other clients were finding that their tack had been used, feed was being used up quicker than normal. Two ladies kept a record of these incidents as these things only happened when the 'new' family were alone on the yard. They came to me and I agreed to look at their 'evidence' and keep an eye on things for myself. After about 6 months, I had to agree with their findings.

Then things took a sinister turn. Their horses were moved from one field to another without my permission, breaking one of the golden rules you never ever move a horse without asking first. When I asked why they had done it the husband said it was because my horse had attacked their pony. I found this completely unbelievable, my horse just does not behave in that way. Their horse was not injured at all so I asked them to return their horses to the correct field and all went back to normal.
Then soon afterwards this happened again. This evening I was alone on the yard, it was late and dark. The husband turned up and I asked him why their horses had been moved. Well to say he scared the life out of me was an understatement - he stood right in my face, I mean nose to nose, and shouted 'I'll put my f*****g horses where the f***k I like' and so he went on and on, threatening, bullying, intimidating. He left me shaking and scared for my life - no joke. They had turned from the perfect horsie family to the customers from hell, with the intent of taking over the yard, and nobody - but nobody saw it coming.
My husband and his farming mates turned up the next morning and chucked them off the yard.

The point I'm making is that you may think that you're employing the nicest, most honest, trustworthy, genuine people in the world, but you just dont know what people are really like. It is impossible to know. From this experience I can see why, rightly or wrongly, employers do not trust staff no matter how nice they appear to be at the interview. Once bitten etc.