A social media campaign has helped re-unite a young dressage rider with her lorry after it was stolen.
The 3.5-ton lorry was stolen in the early hours of last Wednesday morning (10 September), complete with Chloe Allen’s precious Stubben dressage saddle, rugs and all her other riding kit inside.
Chloe’s mother Marie had returned home late the night before from the British Riding Club championships at Lincoln, where 17-year-old Chloe (pictured right) had been competing.
On realising the lorry was missing, the Allens immediately launched a social media campaign joining local horse groups linked to Facebook, including Chit Chat and Worcester Horsewatch.
Friends helped by tweeting. “We had over 1,000 retweets on Twitter in a couple of hours. The whole community pulled together. It was amazing,” said Marie.
The day after the lorry was stolen, Chloe had a message from someone saying they had seen it parked two miles away. The police were called and the lorry was found intact with the prized dressage saddle still inside.
The Allen’s lorry was 24 years old, had no power steering and had done 180,000 miles.
“The thieves either realised they couldn’t sell it, or it was too hot,” said Marie, who said she will ensure all their tack and kit is taken out of the vehicle after every outing in future.
