Travelling from Tier 4 to Tier 3 for horse care & exercise

[Upthecreek]

Asking for a friend...... she lives in Tier 4 but her horse is on full livery in Tier 3 - is she allowed to travel to the yard to exercise her horse? (exercise not included in livery and no staff that could ride the horse). I know if horse was also in Tier 4 she would be allowed to travel as animal care/exercise is one of the permitted exemptions for leaving home, but I can’t find anything about whether it’s allowed between tiers, particularly from a higher one to a lower one ?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Animal care has always been permitted

 

[Upthecreek]

I know and it would be straightforward if she and horse were living in the same tier. Someone at her yard has made a fuss and said she shouldn’t be allowed from a higher tier to a lower one and I can’t find anything in the rules specific to that scenario.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

No that’s fine. For some people their supermarket etc is in a different tier. You just have to stick to the rules of your tier even when not in it.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

As far as I'm aware you can cross tiers for animal care. Have you had a look on the BHS website or similar?

 

[Tiddlypom]

No that’s fine. For some people their supermarket etc is in a different tier. You just have to stick to the rules of your tier even when not in it.

You should not travel out of tier 4 to shop.

We are tier 4, but our nearest supermarkets are in tier 3. We travel the other way to another town slightly further away to stay in tier 4.

 

[Upthecreek]

As far as I'm aware you can cross tiers for animal care. Have you had a look on the BHS website or similar?

I have but it doesn’t answer that question. I will suggest she calls them on Monday to ask. There must be a lot of people in this situation.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

You should not travel out of tier 4 to shop.

We are tier 4, but our nearest supermarkets are in tier 3. We travel the other way to another town slightly further away to stay in tier 4.

I thought I’d read somewhere that it was ok but maybe I’m wrong!

 

[Tiddlypom]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-4-stay-at-home

 

[Upthecreek]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-4-stay-at-home

I’ve read it all and the regulations. Horse care/exercise is a permitted exemption to the stay at home rules in all tiers, but it does not make reference to travelling between tiers for horse care/exercise. She lives in Tier 4 and the yard she keeps her horse at is 3 miles away in Tier 3.

 

[Wishfilly]

I would guess, if it came down to it, she would have to justify how essential the exercise is for the welfare of her horse.

I don't think I could justify it for mine, but I'm sure others could justify it for theirs.

 

[Winters100]

My understanding is that it is OK if it is for essential care - so only if the horse has to be exercised for its welfare, cannot just be turned out instead, and there is absolutely no other way for it to be done, for example lunged by someone else. If other liveries are complaining then perhaps the horse does not fall into this category. With more than 57k cases yesterday in the UK, and hospitals in dire straits, I would imagine that everyone would want to do their bit and stay well within the regulations rather than push the boundaries to be doing the maximum allowed.

 

[lannerch]

I have to do the opposite tier 3 to 4 to exercise my horse, oddly enough no one complains. Can’t believe someone complained the other way though as common sense says long as you all social distance one person is no more at risk than the other , when they all life in the same area with just a postcode boundary.

Horses do need exercising as does the owner . All outside all as safe as it gets in Covid terms . Far more worrying is the lack of social distancing we see on a day to day basis some people just do not get it, they are the rules being broken that put us all at risk.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-4-stay-at-home

That guidance doesn't really address the issue of moving between tiers to shop. It says 'stay local', local might mean shop in a different tier, if the shop is nearer to you. It says that animal welfare is a 'reasonable excuse' for travel. The only person whose opinion counts on a livery yard is the YO, who worries about what other liveries think?

 

[Upthecreek]

I just want to be clear and say she is not trying to circumvent the rules and I certainly wouldn’t be helping her to do that. We just need clarification on what the rules are and we cannot find it either on the government website, in the supporting legislation or in the BHS guidance.

Pas of course what YO says goes, but she is leaning towards not allowing liveries who live in Tier 4 on the yard as although the exemptions for leaving the home are clear, the information on when that is between different tiers is not.

Winters her horse cannot be lunged and they are currently on very limited turnout due to the weather. For this reason she rides him every day. Unfortunately at this time of year it’s not an option for him to just be turned out like he was during the first lockdown.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

In that case OP, your friend needs to talk to YO, stress that the horse *needs* exercise and ask how YO intends to provide that essential exercise if she stops people from Tier 4 entering the yard. If YO can't provide adequate exercise, your friend will need to look for a better yard. I misunderstood your OP which I took to mean that a fellow livery had commented, not the YO.

 

[lannerch]

It’s no help and doesn’t answer your question but I suspect most areas currently in tier 3 will be in tier 4 soon especially when the schools go back ( where tiers mix with no social distancing) . Unfortunately this strain is very virulent.

 

[TheOldTrout]

I was told I could travel from home in tier 4 to yard where mare lives (was tier 2, think it might be 3 now) but she's on d-i-y livery so slightly different.

 

[Upthecreek]

Thanks all. In the absence of being able to find a definitive yes or no on this YO has agreed to her going every day at 6 to ride and told the other liveries to be off the yard by then if they have any issue with her coming from Tier 4. YO has said she will ensure he has a few hours turnout in the mornings, even if only in the arena, so sounds like a workable plan. It’s a genuine welfare issue rather than her wanting to ride unnecessarily.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

YO sounds very sensible.

 

[Winters100]

Sounds like all parties have been reasonable. Since it is a genuine requirement for the horse to be ridden hopefully other liveries will work around it to allow her to be more or less alone at that time.