Livery yards being closed, banned from seeing our horses

[Frumpoon]

I don't understand the logic on this. If the YO has stopped access to shield the vulnerable people on site, they won't stop being vulnerable if the government relaxes the restrictions in 3 weeks to prevent civil unrest. In some ways they will be more vulnerable as the virus will be still out there but people will more freedom so more likely to get it & spread it.

Exactly this!

The virus or one like it is here to stay

Those vulnerable to catching it will remain so

Those vulnerable to dying from it will remain so

These 2 groups of people are not necessarily the same individuals

 

[Winters100]

Exactly this!

The virus or one like it is here to stay

Those vulnerable to catching it will remain so

Those vulnerable to dying from it will remain so

These 2 groups of people are not necessarily the same individuals

I agree with this, which is why I believe that going forward we all need to limit what we do, including in many cases time with our horses. Although I could legally visit my horses now I do not, and I see from the comments here that many in the UK have made the same choice. Regardless of restrictions I am estimating that it will be September / October by the time that sufficient testing and contact tracing is in place to make it sensible for me to visit for anything other than an emergency. Sad not to see them for such a long time, but others are suffering worse. That having been said I totally support people who have welfare issues, horses in rehab, weight issues etc visiting them. We have a couple on our yard who fall into this category, and since mine are both uncomplicated I would hope that by staying away this helps them a little in leaving the yard empty for them to deal with essential care.

Regardless that YOs may feel under pressure to allow more access as restrictions are relaxed you are exactly right that the risks remain, so at that point it is up to everyone to try to do what they can to protect others. I know that my YO makes modest, if any, profit from the liveries, and I would hate it if he decided that the risk / trouble outweighed the benefits as so many have.

 

[Dave's Mam]

I am feeling very blessed. I am getting daily videos & photos of Dave enjoying his holidays.
I have been to see him twice since Lockdown & he's looking great & is not fat or feral. I'm not very popular as I wormed him on Saturday, MEAN MAM.
I am going again this week to take pics of his feet for my farrier to decide if he needs to come, or if he can manage another few weeks.
Our yard is working really well, the owners that need to attend have their times & all horses are looking great.

I hope you're all keeping well & safe.

 

[maya2008]

Long-term if this is here to stay, I guess some small yards will have to go back to being private and the owners back to a different job, if they have extremely vulnerable family members on site. You cannot expect people to stay away from their horses for 6 months/12 months/forever... Larger yards in that situation might be sold and the owners move maybe. You can’t run a business if you cannot allow your customers on site, and if we don’t find a treatment/cure/vaccine then that danger remains indefinitely.

Hopefully it won’t come to that.

 

[YorksG]

I think in the long run a lot of yards will close. Those who are currently complaining may well end up with a great deal more to complain about! There will be a large number of horses that people cannot afford and a reduced number of livery yards. Not a good outlook for the equine population?

 

[LC2013]

Those on DIY/assisted/part etc. who have been told to not go to the yard - are you going to be charged full livery prices?

Yes, enforced full livery at a ridiculous cost. We are now not allowed up at all until the horses are out for Sumer which she refuses to do because she "knows best" (AKA profiteering) I can cope with not riding but not seeing him is ridiculous. I'm not 100% trustworthy of the owners as they have not been very cooperative or nice about the situation. A couple have leftalready, I may be next

 

[YorksG]

Yes, enforced full livery at a ridiculous cost. We are now not allowed up at all until the horses are out for Sumer which she refuses to do because she "knows best" (AKA profiteering) I can cope with not riding but not seeing him is ridiculous. I'm not 100% trustworthy of the owners as they have not been very cooperative or nice about the situation. A couple have leftalready, I may be next

Tbf it is very early for horses to be out at full grass livery, ours are out but we are giving hay daily, as the grass is not through enough yet.

 

[paddy555]

Ours are still in at night so they can have hay. that is because I consider that is best for them.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Yes, enforced full livery at a ridiculous cost. We are now not allowed up at all until the horses are out for Sumer which she refuses to do because she "knows best" (AKA profiteering) I can cope with not riding but not seeing him is ridiculous. I'm not 100% trustworthy of the owners as they have not been very cooperative or nice about the situation. A couple have leftalready, I may be next

Mine are out but to be fair the grass isn't really growing much as it’s been so dry over the last month here. We’ve individual paddocks that we manage ourselves so it’s different to a shared field situation. i can understand why it may not be possible for full turn out at the moment. However I feel for you on the not seeing your horse and paying extra though.

 

[The Jokers Girl]

Tbf it is very early for horses to be out at full grass livery, ours are out but we are giving hay daily, as the grass is not through enough yet.

Not early particularly at all. Ours are out for last 2 weeks, they always start summer grazing early April, as do a lot of yards in the area and further afield. My old yard also turned out onto 20 acres around end of March early April. They are on the land that has been rested over winter so plenty for the horses to eat without hay top up and we are not over grazed, enough land to sustain the number of horses and make hay with both summer and winter turnout.

 

[Bernster]

I agree with the above posts. It’s about risk management and obv I’m very aware of that. But not seeing a horse on livery for months is not sustainable for owners or YOs. If that were happening, it would likely be part of other restrictions which would be tanking the economy.

I’m being ultra careful and for me the risk level would be very low (petrol stop and time at yard) which I think is manageable with the proper precautions. I appreciate that, if we all do the same, it has a multiplier effect but of all activities which could be eased, heading up to a yard to ride solo must be one of the easiest.

 

[Frumpoon]

I think in the long run a lot of yards will close. Those who are currently complaining may well end up with a great deal more to complain about! There will be a large number of horses that people cannot afford and a reduced number of livery yards. Not a good outlook for the equine population?

I don't know, I think this sounds like a good thing

 

[sport horse]

Yes, enforced full livery at a ridiculous cost. We are now not allowed up at all until the horses are out for Sumer which she refuses to do because she "knows best" (AKA profiteering) I can cope with not riding but not seeing him is ridiculous. I'm not 100% trustworthy of the owners as they have not been very cooperative or nice about the situation. A couple have leftalready, I may be next

Perhaps she who 'knows best' knows a little more about grassland management than you do.

 

[Gingerwitch]

Perhaps she who 'knows best' knows a little more about grassland management than you do.

Turning out to grass is a problem under normal circumstances, with people saying their is either to much grass, not enough grass, some want hay, some don't, who will fill the waters, who will put the rugs on, rugs off etc.

I am glad that my yard is keeping horses in the in at night routine as we now have a settled rota.

 

[Muddywellies]

Thank goodness my yard doesn't really have any restrictions other than third parties (except farrier and vet) not being allowed on the yard at the moment. That's it. YO is the wrong side if 80 and has medical conditions, but is taking responsibility for herself re coronavirus. I assume when she's been out on the yard she washes her hands as soon as she goes indoors. The yard is separate from her house, tho once a week we have to pop rent through her letterbox. We are fairly rural, with a low number of CV cases. Saw my farrier today as horse was shod, and he's carrying on as normal, just keeping a safe distance from people. I think we all just need to take a few extra precautions (as we all are) without going too far.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Tbf it is very early for horses to be out at full grass livery, ours are out but we are giving hay daily, as the grass is not through enough yet.

Ours went out the first day of lockdown.

 

[Abi90]

CMO has said that social restrictions likely to go into next year. Yards will really need to thing about implementing Rotas and DIY yards that have enforced full livery on everyone will really need to think again. As much as I sympathise with their standpoint banning people from their horses for what looks like up to 12 months and more is unfair, especially for those who can’t afford DIY and have it imposed upon them

 

[Tiddlypom]

Agree, Abi90, something will have to give. I have full empathy for those yards that went into full lockdown when national lockdown was announced, but that is not going to be a feasible long term strategy. Yards will have to work out a system whereby owners can still access their horses, or be prepared to close down to liveries.

There will be a big shake up in the equine world during and post Covid19, which IMHO will result in fewer people able to afford to keep horses, and fewer yards available for them to keep them at. Horses are a luxury item.

 

[SO1]

I agree. I am lucky enough to have access to my yard. We can have 45 minutes a day but we have been asked not to come unless absolutely necessary. Most of us are respecting this & are not going.

I went this week for 1st time since lockdown. It was wonderful to see my pony, be on the yard, see the yard staff. Social distancing was easy, as it was just me & the staff. If I was on a no access yard I would be looking to move now.

Now that I think the restrictions will go on for rest of year I am now going to go once a week. I feel this enables me to see my pony, have a quick ride, but still massively reducing my contact with others. I live on my own & am wfh.

From what I can see reducing your contact with other people by at least 75% is needed to help stop the spread. I used to go to yard 5 times a week so going once has reduced my time there by 80%.

Wfh & no socialising in the pub has reduced my contact with people by 100% in those areas of my life.

CMO has said that social restrictions likely to go into next year. Yards will really need to thing about implementing Rotas and DIY yards that have enforced full livery on everyone will really need to think again. As much as I sympathise with their standpoint banning people from their horses for what looks like up to 12 months and more is unfair, especially for those who can’t afford DIY and have it imposed upon them

 

[Michen]

I agree. I am lucky enough to have access to my yard. We can have 45 minutes a day but we have been asked not to come unless absolutely necessary. Most of us are respecting this & are not going.

I went this week for 1st time since lockdown. It was wonderful to see my pony, be on the yard, see the yard staff. Social distancing was easy, as it was just me & the staff. If I was on a no access yard I would be looking to move now.

Now that I think the restrictions will go on for rest of year I am now going to go once a week. I feel this enables me to see my pony, have a quick ride, but still massively reducing my contact with others. I live on my own & am wfh.

From what I can see reducing your contact with other people by at least 75% is needed to help stop the spread. I used to go to yard 5 times a week so going once has reduced my time there by 80%.

Wfh & no socialising in the pub has reduced my contact with people by 100% in those areas of my life.

Are you ok with seeing your horse once a week for the rest of the year!?

 

[SO1]

Of course not. This is not yard enforcement. I could go every day if need be, but I am trying to respect social distancing guidelines. I actually don't need to go as yard is doing all care for him. He is on box rest & controlled walking due to ligament damage. This can be done on horse walker & water treadmill but once he needs to start daily hacking in 4 weeks time then I will need to go to the yard more often. Long term I can't afford to pay the yard to exercise him every day but at the moment it is fine.

Are you ok with seeing your horse once a week for the rest of the year!?

 

[Misty 2020]

Until we get a vaccine there will be constant full lockdown and yards will close. Every country is handing into a strict lockdown because the numbers are raising.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I’ve never not been at my yard daily. We are pretty much business as usual but hand washing and social Distancing. Many people will have had it by now and not shown any symptoms, many have had it and gotten over it but the numbers up here are reducing so it’s all just about being smart and responsible.

 

[Green Bean]

I was horrified to find out that 2 people in our yard had it during the lock down and we weren't told anything, we are all restricted on going to the yard and what we can do when there, but the lack of information is ridiculous. I would have thought that there would have needed to be a period of self isolation for those at the yard when these people had been to see their horses

 

[Gingerwitch]

I was horrified to find out that 2 people in our yard had it during the lock down and we weren't told anything, we are all restricted on going to the yard and what we can do when there, but the lack of information is ridiculous. I would have thought that there would have needed to be a period of self isolation for those at the yard when these people had been to see their horses

are you still being restricted ?

 

[SO1]

So as we go into the second lockdown I will be waiting to see what access we will get to the yard. Hopefully some as pony needs daily exercise to control weight. In the first lockdown he was on box rest for a suspensory injury and only going on the walker so weight control was less of an issue - grass is what makes him fat he is already on soaked hay.

 

[Chianti]

So as we go into the second lockdown I will be waiting to see what access we will get to the yard. Hopefully some as pony needs daily exercise to control weight. In the first lockdown he was on box rest for a suspensory injury and only going on the walker so weight control was less of an issue - grass is what makes him fat he is already on soaked hay.

I feel your pain. I know it's hardly going to make the news headlines but the thought of another four weeks with no contact with my pony is very stressful. Mine is also on a diet again. At the moment I'm weighing out his hay to ensure he only has his ration. I know the yard won't do this.

 

[chaps89]

I was speaking to a lady who is still at a yard I was on last year.
They have been under restrictions since the start of first lockdown.
They got slightly longer timeslots over summer but even before tonight's announcement they were told their time slots would be being reduced from Monday.
I really feel for her.

 

[Griffin]

I was speaking to a lady who is still at a yard I was on last year.
They have been under restrictions since the start of first lockdown.
They got slightly longer timeslots over summer but even before tonight's announcement they were told their time slots would be being reduced from Monday.
I really feel for her.

That's awful. In her shoes I would move my horse of able to do so (I know it's not always an option).

 

[Sossigpoker]

Our yard has done something similar. The horses have all been turned all out 24/7 and we are not allowed on the yard save in exceptional circumstances (i.e. my lad is still coming off box rest so will need seeing to twice a day for the next week or two).
My anxiety is through the roof about my other horses, but luckily there is a lane and footpath that runs behind our field so at least we can still check on them from there.
It's going to be hard but we will get through this. Fingers crossed we will be able to enjoy some of the summer with our horses

This seems really over the top.
If it's safe for you to attend to your horse on Weds it will be safe on Thursday. Not allowing anyone even in the fields is just ridiculous. This virus isn't radio active or anything. There's cautious and there's ridiculous.