cold_feet
Well-Known Member
High risk nutter described my boy. But now he’s turned out 24/7 he’s more chilled. Still won’t ride though. I’m not normally risk averse, but it’s not about me, it’s about potential strain on the NHS.
I am assuming that I won't see mine until at least September. Where I am there is nothing to stop me going, but since they are not complicated and I can arrange the necessary care from on site staff, I don't feel that visiting the yard is the right thing to do in the middle of a public health crisis. Of course I miss them every day, but there are so many people suffering, and so many people on the front line risking their own health every day, so I really feel that if not seeing my horses for a while is the worst that happens to me then I will have been very fortunate indeed.
I haven’t seen my horses in 3 weeks now, as they’re on livery and the yard is on lockdown. I’m utterly miserable and miss them like crazy. That said even if I were allowed to ride I’m not sure I would just in case.
People are interpreting 'essential' as broadly as possible. It's tedious and inconvenient to have to sacrifice any hobby or pleasure so we have people riding horses, throwing parties, sunbathing together in the park, and shopping three times a day.It is interesting in that there are so many interpretations of the guidance, I am not in the UK, but looking at the gov.uk website:
"You may leave your house to exercise once a day and you should combine this with leaving your house to provide care for your horse or livestock.
It is essential that you minimise the time spent outside of the home"
So does the part about it being essential that you minimise time spent outside the home mean that one should not ride unless essential for welfare issues? I would assume so. Of course it is only guidance, but I suppose with almost 1000 deaths a day in the UK there is some obligation to follow any government guidance, or am I missing a point?
It is interesting in that there are so many interpretations of the guidance, I am not in the UK, but looking at the gov.uk website:
"You may leave your house to exercise once a day and you should combine this with leaving your house to provide care for your horse or livestock.
It is essential that you minimise the time spent outside of the home"
It is interesting in that there are so many interpretations of the guidance, I am not in the UK, but looking at the gov.uk website:
"You may leave your house to exercise once a day and you should combine this with leaving your house to provide care for your horse or livestock.
It is essential that you minimise the time spent outside of the home"
So does the part about it being essential that you minimise time spent outside the home mean that one should not ride unless essential for welfare issues? I would assume so.
For everybody worrying about riding and suggesting people don't do it as it puts unnecessary pressure on the nhs can I let you all know I had a horse rear and come down on my foot 2 weeks ago and break a bone. I've never had a serious injury riding but leading one out of its stable I was injured and needed NHS assistance recently. I've lost track of the number of inflammatory threads created on this forum that keep going over this issue. I think we all need to make our own choices based on our yard rules and our horses personal exercise needs (that only the owner/loaner is qualified in making a decision on, as some horses are downright dangerous if they are not exercised regularly and some have EMS, laminitis, rehab needs etc so riding is a must) without all this awful judgemental attitude that the horse world is so famous for. Ride, don't ride, I couldn't care less, but stop using the pointless argument that riding is wrong as it puts extra pressure on nhs. You are more likely to be injured handling on the ground so maybe if you think riding is dangerous put your horse on full livery and stay at home if you are so bothered.
I miss Dave too. I saw him on Monday for 15 minutes, just so I could give him a check over. It was emotional.
Anyone who has been to A&E recently will tell you its deathly quiet, so that's not a valid argument. I'm also getting very sick of the judgy comments and posts from people who are still drinking. Alcohol is the biggest cause of admissions to A&E. If people were genuinely interested in reducing risk the first thing they would do is stop drinking.