First up, this is my opinion. I do not expect everyone to
agree, wholly or partly, with it, and I do not criticise, berate, thinking
negative, or anything similar, to those who have a different opinion to my own.
Secondly, this was written between 26th & 28th March,
so any reference to restrictions, advice or recommendations, be will reflective
of what was correct at that point in time. I don’t intend to keep the post up
to date retrospectively. Finally, this is my thoughts of Covid-19 in the equestrian
world – it is not my opinion on the way in which any authority has acted,
decisions that have been taken at a national level, nor does it represent my
professional views or views of my employer. That’s critical to consider, given
I work in a very heavily affected travel sector…
So, with a deep breath, here we go…
Towards the middle of January, I heard rumbling of a
flu-like virus sweeping China, causing high numbers of people to take ill and
with a low percentage sadly losing their life. It was a relatively low level of
public concern, and there were a few memes kicking about that reference the popular
beer, Corona… Soon after, travel in & around the epicentre of the outbreak
(Wuhan) was “locked down” – not transport in or out of the city. It sounded
outrageous to some. Next came the quarantines of those travelling from affected
areas, and very quickly after came airline commercial decisions to suspend
flights to/from China, with rescue flights reported at scale in the press.
Flash forward four or five weeks later. That same story was
unfolding in Italy, and slowly seeping out into other countries across Europe,
including the UK. In what seemed like a matter of moment, there were severe
travel restrictions and social distancing measures became a thing of how to go
about life. On the 17th March, our UK Prime Minister gave his
recommendation to stay home to save lives, and soon after came the lockdown of
pretty much everything.
And that’s when the equestrian world began to really feel
the effects. Most affiliated and governing bodies had already postponed
competitions and group training events, but the reality for many was starting
to become clear – looking after livestock (including horses) was an essential
action & riding is to be a carefully considered individual choice.
A quick scan of social media showed varying degrees of how
this was being interpreted. There are some yards that are completely shut down,
with a small group of staff looking after all horses, others remain open, operating
strict social distancing and a timetabled approach to people coming to the
yard. The yard when I stable Louie is the latter – open with essential visits
and strict social distancing & sanitising in place.
I am very fortunate that the yard is still open – horses give
most of us a little oasis in a world of chaos (& that’s before Covid-19 came
to visit). I am under no misillusion that horses are a luxury and that some key
essential workers aren’t even able to see their families right now, in fact,
none of us are when we live separately. However, it would be unrealistic to ask
two people, one of which who is 70+ years old to look after 20 horses, daily
& indefinitely. I’m not stabled at a professional yard with staff on-hand
to help manage it and look after horses. I’m on a lovely family-based farm,
where the farmer lives on site, and where they are able to help out when you’re
stuck (usually when I’m away with work).
Right away, social distancing measures were put in place –
keep at least 2 meters away from each other. Not more than one person at the
hay & straw, no more than 1 person in the feed and tack room, horses not to
be tied up outside to keep the aisles and yard a roomy as possible, and you
must not share tools. All things that are totally within the guideline. They’re
also provide disinfectant sprays for wheelbarrow handle, gates and anything
else that you touch, as well as soap by each of the taps.
While some people see the measures that are in place as a
bit of a pain and inconvenience, they aren’t. Firstly, they are what we are
told to do to save lives. And secondly, they are so we can still attend to our
horses, not to inconvenience us or to be over the top. I’m personally very appreciative
of the measure our yards owners have taken. I’m really hoping that everyone
sticks to the rules outlined, not only for the health of everyone right now,
but also out of respect when being essentially in someone’s private land during
a time like this.
In terms of a timetable, I feel it naturally works quite well
without too much enforcement, simply due to people’s lives all being different.
Monday to Sunday, I am at the yard at 6.30am. Week days I
have to be away by 7am so I can be ready to work at 8am, as even though I’m
working from home, I still often have sessions in as early as 8am. Weekends are
a little different as I go for a ride as soon as I get there, arriving back on
the yard for 8.15am/8.30am, so miss most who have just set off, or haven’t yet
arrived. If the yard is busy when I get back, I put Louie in the field and
leave, saving my yard jobs for the evening.
Weekend nights, I often just bring Louie in, do a quick rug
change, feed and leave, but during the week, I ride after work. I’ve been
trying to leave home at 4pm/4.30pm so as not to get in the way of those coming
earlier. I suspect this will get harder as summer comes, but all I can do is
stay consistent, so everyone knows what I’m doing. I don’t mean that
arrogantly, but I mean so people won’t wonder when I turn up. Of course, there’s
been times with work over the last 4-5 weeks that I’ve not got there until 7pm/7.30pm,
but hopefully that won’t happen too often. I usually leave the yard about
6.30pm/7pm, and there’s usually only 1, maybe 2, others left.
I’m sure there will be times, especially as we head into summer
that people come out of routine, meaning that stricter timetabling will be
needed. It will be frustrating to disrupt those who are consistent with their
times and stick to them, so hopefully it won’t happen, and everyone will
remember to be considerate, no matter what the temptation.
Working a timetable, even a natural one like I think ours
will be, is the most natural way to support minimising contact and number of people
at the yard. If everyone sticks to their routine, even if there are off work or
furloughed, adjustments that others have to make will be minimum.
Now onto riding, and there’s been a real divide of opinion
as to whether to ride during Covid-19 due to the risks that it holds and
whether it results in a trip to doctors or hospital. Not only does this increase
the spread factor, but also places extra strain on the NHS during a time when
they are already stretched.
The BHS guideline is to make an individual considered choice
with regards to riding. I’ve considered all sorted of scenarios before arriving
at continuing to ride.
I considered asking whether we can turn out 24/7 as a way to
minimise handling Louie and thus minimising the risk of injury, and while the
spring grass isn’t in full flush, it would be fine with his weight and actually
even help him to lose a bit extra by being out overnight. I sort of already
knew this wouldn’t be an option, so I never asked, but also come to a few weeks
down the line in April when the grass starts to become more lush, he’d need
some sort of good exercise to manage his weight, so it only offered a very short
term solution.
I considered what I could do without actually getting in the
saddle – lunging. I’ve never long reined and although over the last few days, I’ve
seen many videos on Facebook about how to long rein and exercises to do when
long reining, again it’s something totally new, and to me that carries risk.
Standing behind a horse doing something new and trying to get to grips with it
carries a higher risk to me. Lunging was an option. But I did this last May
when my saddle was away for reflocking for a huge SIX WEEKS. Louie got very bored,
very naughty and very fat! Like so fat when the vets saw him, I was given a
good telling off! Lunging wasn’t therefore the only option for us over the long
term.
So, riding it was. However, I won’t be taking any
unnecessary risks – on the days Louie is afraid of his own body, I won’t ride.
I won’t ride when it’s crazy windy. I won’t ride unless it’s for Louie’s
exercise for weight and temperament management. When Louie has a few weeks off,
he becomes a bit forgetful and often knocks into me, pulls me, and is a bit clumsy
staying out of my space. When he is consistent, even just steady, work, he is
much easier. Plus, since coming back from Morris at the end of January, I wanted
to get him a bit fitter and get some weight off him, so I’ve spent the best
part of 6 weeks getting him fit. I don’t mind that going to waste so to speak,
but it does mean he’s needs a bit more to stimulate him than normal.
I’ll continue to work on our flatwork in the arena, continue
to keep his fitness up on hacks, will use lunging in the arena as a non-riding day
a week, will use polework to help him work a bit harder, and will jump very
basic uprights every 2-3 weeks just to keep him ticking over.
I know that my view on riding might not be the same as yours
as you read this, but I don’t think differently of anyone making their own
decisions around it. Everyone has to make their own decision for their own reasons
and be comfortable living through that decision. I’m never going to sit and say
it is essential to ride, because I don’t believe at all that it is, but if it
is about weighing up the risk of injury, I believe my horse will be less of a
risk with sensible exercise levels.
Moving away from that and onto shopping…the bit that all of
us equestrians enjoy indulging in! Well, many feed stores and other equestrian
retailers with a physical presence have acted remarkably I think and are enabling
us to get our fix for all things new when it comes to our four-legged friends.
I’ve needed a couple of bags of feed, a new sweeping brush,
and a solo comb. All of which I’ve picked up from my regular local store, using
their new phone, pay and collect. Others with established websites are offering
click & collect style approaches too.
All the online retailers also look to be continuing their
services – I know Laura at Boudica Equestrian is still in action. However, you need to
check with the individual retailer as some aren’t offering refunds/returns
during this time, simply due to contact with others on items. I’m sure most will
be appreciative and allow you to extend to when things return to normal, but it
is worth checking, especially with items such as clothing that you’re more likely
to need those services.
There’s also adjustments with those professionals we come
into contact with frequently in our daily equestrian life – coaches, farriers, vets,
dentists, saddle fitters, physios, etc… Most of these have also been restricted
to work unless it is an emergency or essential. It’s good to see farriers have
been included on that list as prolonging the periods before shoeing or trimming
some horses’ feet can really have an impact on their overall wellbeing, with
some showing discomfort and mild lameness if they go beyond a usual 4/5/6 week
cycle.
Only a few days before the stricter government restrictions,
we had our yard saddle fitting, which actually Louie needed nothing doing, but
at least I now know his saddle fits for the coming months. However, as soon as
things begin to return to normal and the restrictions to support stopping the
spread of Coronavirus are removed, Louie will be due a visit from the physio. I’ve
not booked anything in, and although I know it will be a mad scramble when
things go back to normal, there’s no point even trying to predict when we can
get booked in right now.
Overall, everyone is in a very restricted situation. You are
not alone. We must listen to the advice being given to us from those experts in
the know. We need to make the decision we do based on our own individual
factors & not be influenced by others so that we are comfortable with our own
resulting actions.
Most of all…stay safe and stay strong. We will have happy
times to enjoy again in the not too distant future.
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