Hacking out with others during covid

Abi90 said:
It’s the part where it says you can “gather” in public with one other person not from your household I think
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But when you are only allowed to leave your house for the specified reasonable excuses this becomes irrelevant, which is why the legislation does not entirely make sense. Okay you can ‘gather’ with up to one other person not from your household, but you are only allowed out for the specified reasonable excuses, which don’t include horse riding ??‍♀️ If you were horse riding alone or with members of your household you could say it’s your daily exercise, but not so if it’s with a friend.
 
You can only exercise with your own household. You can not rely on the “gathering” aspect because the exercising regulation already prohibits it. If you don’t consider having to be exercise so that you can “gather” you cannot do it. Just accept it is against the law and carry on regardless because that is what you want to do but don’t pretend it is allowed.
 
Ricotta said:
You can only exercise with your own household. You can not rely on the “gathering” aspect because the exercising regulation already prohibits it. If you don’t consider having to be exercise so that you can “gather” you cannot do it. Just accept it is against the law and carry on regardless because that is what you want to do but don’t pretend it is allowed.
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If by “you” you mean me, I haven’t seen my horse for 3 weeks or hacked it out with anyone else. But I can see why people are. I haven’t been riding because my job is potentially repeatedly exposing me to the virus and I don’t want to share it with the yard.

Would be interested to know how you feel about the submarine crew who had a BBQ in the dockyard in Portsmouth
 
Upthecreek said:
Absolutely right. The difference is that food shopping is on the list of reasonable excuses to leave the house.
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So is exercise so whether you go for a run, a cycle, A walk or a hack it’s still on the list of excuses to leave the house. So is tending to your horse.

I’m a key worker and the only thing saving my sanity is seeing my horse. I’m doing 50hr weeks so if I chose my hours exercise to be walking my two year old then that’s how I chose to use it. The police have passed me doing it and haven’t stopped me so it can’t be that illegal.
 
Cheeky Chestnut said:
So is exercise so whether you go for a run, a cycle, A walk or a hack it’s still on the list of excuses to leave the house. So is tending to your horse.

I’m a key worker and the only thing saving my sanity is seeing my horse. I’m doing 50hr weeks so if I chose my hours exercise to be walking my two year old then that’s how I chose to use it. The police have passed me doing it and haven’t stopped me so it can’t be that illegal.
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Yes exercise and tending your horse is a reasonable excuse for leaving your house and I haven’t said it isn’t. The OPs question was not about riding as exercise it was about hacking with a friend.
 
Upthecreek said:
Yes exercise and tending your horse is a reasonable excuse for leaving your house and I haven’t said it isn’t. The OPs question was not about riding as exercise it was about hacking with a friend.
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you are still exercising your horse. It is still a reasonable reason for leaving the house. If more than 2m apart then there is no difference from going alone or in a pair.

my point was that as another reason to leave the house you have more chance of catching Covid in the supermarket as you are touching things and people are closer and in an air enclosed space, than if you are hacking out more than 2m apart in the fresh air not touching anything the other has touched.

If people choose to do it then they choose to do it. If they minimise the risks to less of that than going to the supermarket then how is it worse? We have been social
Distancing at our yard of nearly 30 liveries for 4/5 weeks now. No reported cases as we are washing our hands, not touching one another’s things and staying 2m apart.

I would say going in a group hack wouldn’t be the best thing but two people can maintain distance and safety without compromising anyone. I am especially careful as I am working.
 
Cheeky Chestnut said:
you are still exercising your horse. It is still a reasonable reason for leaving the house. If more than 2m apart then there is no difference from going alone or in a pair.

my point was that as another reason to leave the house you have more chance of catching Covid in the supermarket as you are touching things and people are closer and in an air enclosed space, than if you are hacking out more than 2m apart in the fresh air not touching anything the other has touched.

If people choose to do it then they choose to do it. If they minimise the risks to less of that than going to the supermarket then how is it worse? We have been social
Distancing at our yard of nearly 30 liveries for 4/5 weeks now. No reported cases as we are washing our hands, not touching one another’s things and staying 2m apart.

I would say going in a group hack wouldn’t be the best thing but two people can maintain distance and safety without compromising anyone. I am especially careful as I am working.
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I don’t disagree with you and I haven’t given my personal opinion on what is right or wrong. Of course it’s down to individuals to decide what they do, but the fact is some of those will not be complying with the legislation. Whether you, I or they agree with it is another matter entirely. I don’t agree with some speed limits but if I don’t comply with them I am breaking the law.
 
And this it what it comes down to - complying with legislation. I would love to go riding with my friend from my yard and know that it is a minimal risk from catching it, but I just feel we should all be doing the right thing...and not sure this ‘gathering of 2 people’ rule really cuts it when it comes to riding out together sadly.
 
I went for a hack today, by myself, and as I rode through the village I saw one house with 5 cars outside and 7 adults in the garden, another horse with an elderly couple in the garden and another elderly couple getting out of the car to see them, about 8 adults doing some gardening on one house, and further down the road 2 women and 8 children out for a walk with the children touching it other.... all with far more contact than 2 people riding horses, so tbh I think people hacking in pairs is currently the least of our worries! Not using this to justify it but that’s the extent of people flouting rules quite significantly
 
Upthecreek said:
Yes exercise and tending your horse is a reasonable excuse for leaving your house and I haven’t said it isn’t. The OPs question was not about riding as exercise it was about hacking with a friend.
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If riding alone is excersise I suspect riding in proximity but 6m apart with another rider is exercise too!
 
I'm more amused that during a national emergency and a world pandemic people really think the government had time to think about horse riders! I agree that hacking with another is generally safer than alone and really quite low risk, but you are kidding yourselves if you think the government meant this to be allowed, they did not think about every person individual circumstances when coming up with legislation in a rush and at short notice. That said most people seem to be interpreting the rules to suit them and I wouldn't judge anyone for choosing to hack out with a friend, because it really is very low risk, especially if already at the yard together at the same time and for some it is helping maintain sanity at this difficult time. Going for a drive in your car alone puts you at zero risk of catching COVID 19 but that is not allowed!!!
 
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