I second this. For maximum protection, you should put the mask on once and then not touch it or fiddle with it. Taking it off or halfway off then putting it back defeats the purpose.
Treat the barn like the grocery store. Itās germy but manageable. Mask (cloth or surgical, not 95 as no aerosols at the barn 6 ft apart) and gloves to groom, tack up in common areas. I think a mask to ride in open air is unneeded based on the transmission of the virus but doesnāt hurt anything. Same to untack. Wash hands well before going home or sanitize/wipes if thatās not possible. I am not immune compromised but my husband is a transplant patient. Our area has been low/moderate prevalence.
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I agree with you. The reason, though, that I know I am not infected, is that I am completely isolated for 14+ days at a time. No take out, no people stopping by, no nothing. Every time I have gone out for groceries in the 14-21 day range itās been with an N95 mask and I decontaminate and also closely monitor my health after. By the time I go out again Iām quite confident Iām not infected. I recognize you canāt know that about me, of course.
Also, you can totally remove your mask at the barn. It can be considered reasonably safe if you wash your hands as youāre leaving the barn, only touch the ties/elastic/not the front to pull it down or remove it, donāt touch your face while youāre maskless, then do a quick rewash/only touch the ties/elastic/not the front to put it back on (and Iām the sort of paranoid who rewashes my hands after, because why not - theyāre already dried out by now). Nurses and doctors are eating and drinking in the middle of their day. It just takes care and not just ripping your mask off without thinking about certain surfaces as contaminated. So, if you really need some extra air to fully work your horse and you can get out and be really, truly socially distanced to do it, thereās an option for you that doesnāt involve a valve.
I agree but that means you have to have a safe place to put it and I think thatās a problem at the barn. In addition, the situation described by the OP is one where people around her are careless such that I would worry about her in the transition time where she got off her horse and was getting to a secured point where the horse was tied or confined and she could return the mask. Most barns donāt have quality handwashing convenient to this task, either. Of course, this is where the specific setup is a factor. If you have a tack locker in a stall and can dismount immediately outside it, itās a different situation than if you have communal cross ties and had to walk between them and a tack room or locker. It matters how busy the barn is.
I completely agree that the valved mask does not protect other people from her, but Iām explicitly in this specific case not worried about that. She will also be avoiding them as best she can, and adding a cloth mask over the valved mask when around those people is another path to keeping her safe and keeping others safe as well.
I think your point about us being graded as a group and that several people are doing miserably is 100% right. And I thank you for pointing out that what I wrote isnāt so much an appropriate choice for the general public.
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Sorry, like you noted, I wasnāt intending to be talking about you specifically (mostly about OP/general groupās situation) or even necessarily to just you. This is a forum, so I usually intend my information to be more generalized and for future readers beyond OP, cause I certainly search the site history on a weekly basis! Your personal experience might make you someone who could safely wear a valved mask, but honestly, I think the two weeks thing is a guess at best. My symptomatic friends and co-workers have been sick for 4-6 weeks at a time. Since we have almost no handle on what the existence of an asymptomatic carrier looks like, I take all time points with a heapinā scoop of salt until we start diagnosing them early and follow a whole lot of them all the way out to negative testing. OP, and most/a lot of people on this board, are also likely considering leaving their house multiple times a week to go to the barn, which means never hitting a 14-day quarantine, and once youāre out, mask or not, 14 days has to start again, so if you head out to the barn again, the count starts all over again until you may be āclear.ā I was personally at the barn twice today because my lovely horse has managed to damage himself yet again. Likely no more 14-day quarantines for me for a bit. Joy.
I donāt remember any reference to a cloth mask over the valved. I do remember statements about difficulty breathing, the valve helping etc., which would indicate a clothed mask puts us right back to difficulty breathing? But Iām wayyyy to damn lazy after two one-hour round trips to the barn to go look. 
Yes, wearing a cloth mask over a valve (whatever letter)95 would help, and thatās what the experts are recommending for that type of mask (or taping the valve which seems difficult as far as getting tape to stick), but thatās a lot of layers and I think most of us outside of a hospital setting would find that too bulky/our fears allayed too much by separation from the perceived threat, to keep that up. Still, probably as close as OP could get to an N95, so helpful if OP could bear it?
I 100% agree on the danger of putting the mask down/finding a safe place to store. I was brain storming today on how to deal with that if my horse ever became rideable again (My barn does not have a mask rule. I will be wearing one anyway.) and I came up with two solutions: mask goes to my car - loops/ties around antenna or under windshield wiper where I can grab it, such that it canāt blow around and contaminate itself, or two masks, one for before riding, one for after riding. Like you said, weāre all really limited in what we can do based on our barnās set up. My barn has a wash basin outside the bathroom, near the front door, so I could literally take about six steps inside with the reins looped over my arm, wash my hands and walk right back out to retrieve my mask/second mask, without touching anything. (The pony backs with a cluck, so I donāt even have to touch him.) I used to board at a barn where the only sink was in the bathroom, and the door closed automatically behind you so you couldnāt maintain air flow with much ease. Fine for pre-COVID-19, not ideal now. There were about 60 boarders using that one bathroom. COVID-19 spreads fecal-oral and there is going to be some level of droplet spray every time you flush the toilet. At that barn, Iād be stuck trying to work a hose in the wash stall to wash my hands. My mask would have to stay on there. Too many hands, too hard for people to wash up properly.
I think in general we all have to look at our personal set up and decide whatās doable. If I had an immune disorder and everyone was out at my barn like usual, even my barnās very friendly set up would not be enough for me. Iād be sticking to feeding my horse treats through the fence and then going home. My barn is doing social distancing, limiting the number of people there, limiting where people can go, asking people to wipe everything down before they leave, etc., so I have some buffers that will hopefully be enough to slow it/prevent its spread should it breach our little barn bubble.
Thanks for the thoughts @poltroon! Stay safe!
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Unfortunately, OP, I think in the circumstances you have described, you need to stay away. I feel very blessed to be at the barn I am at. Most of the local barns are not letting boarders in to see their horses unless there is an emergency. Where I keep my boy, they have limited how many boarders at one time, we have to sign up for a time. We have 1/2 hour to groom (and this must be done in a stall), one hour to ride, and 1/2 hour to untack. If we are in the barn we have to wear a mask. It may not be perfect but they are doing their best to keep everyone safe while allowing us access to our horses.
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This is my thinking as well. If you donāt have to frequent the populated areas that all the other boarders are using your risk may be very low. Can you have the horse moved to an end stall at the front of the barn so if it is stalled you donāt have to go to far in?
Or maybe your trainer can have the horse out already when you are planning to be there?
I would just bring wipes and wipe handles, latches and anything else I had to touch to get the horse in and out.
Hi friends, I apologize for the long silence after receiving so many thoughtful responses. We lost a beloved pet shortly after I asked this question, and Iāve been a little out of sorts.
I texted with a barn friend today who confirmed that apart from a bottle of hand sanitizer sitting outside the tack room, nothingās changed. She described it as ābusiness as usual, like itās faded from peopleās minds.ā No one masks up in close quarters, no one social-distances, and the 80+ yo barn ownerās mom (who herself has several high-risk health factors) is still going around talking closely to people, touching them, etc. And most of these folks arenāt social distancing or using masks outside the barn either, based on their social feeds ā which Iāve now unfollowed for sanity.
I think it is possible that I could reduce my risk a lot by keeping my tack in the car, if I can manage it (we only have one vehicle, so itās a bit of a pain if I turn it into my mobile tack locker ). The risk would still be higher than my daily life is now, but maybe Iād manage it. However, I think about the other places that I still have to handle ā the plastic guards on the hotwire fence that I need to open when I get the horse out, the tie rings, the latch to the arena gateā¦if I were 100% on-point 100% of the time, I could likely mitigate all of the issues. But at that point, Iām going to be thinking more about possible exposure than I am about enjoying my ride. The drug that I take means that I have no b-cells.
And frankly, the laissez-faire attitude makes me not WANT to go back right now. Iām honestly really angry at the way itās being handled, and while I recognize that my emotions are coming from all the swirling stress of the world these days, itās still how I feel.
Itās sad. Iāve come further, faster, with my instructor than ever before. I found the first horse Iāve loved since losing one who was very dear to me seven years ago. Any other barn is at least twice the distance away and wonāt have some of the things I enjoy hereā¦but I just canāt do this right now. Iām ending my lease in June and will ask to stay on their wait list for whenever itās safe to come out, but I wonder if Iāll want to go back to this specific place at all.
Thanks for everything youāve shared. Itās helpful. I appreciate knowing how many horse people are taking this seriously. It makes me feel less alone.
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Are you putting every aspect of your daily life on hold till there is a vaccine or you are guaranteed their so called" herd immunity" ? I would think you have more risk of contracting the virus by shopping or working or from family members who do work outside the home.
If you are wanting to ride then do it. Do the best you can to protect yourself, but live a life worth living. Just my take on this whole thing. I would rather actually live my life and take my chances, then be shut up in my house for eternity.
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<shrug> Iād rather be alive.
Specifically, Iād rather be alive and not struggling with some of the fallout that this disease can inflict on anyone including healthy young people ā I donāt need to spend months and months trying to get my lung function back, or rehabbing from a stroke, or any of the other myriad shitty things that are happening to people. And Iām not keen to surround myself with other folks who donāt find it worthwhile to take basic measures to protect each other. What kind community is that?
I take issue with your likely unintended contention that my life isnāt worth living because I need to be careful right now. My life is pretty great. Iām fortunate: I have a supportive workplace ā we are all WFH thru summer anyway ā and good company in the house, lots of hobbies, and friends who understand (and who wouldnāt hang out with me right now if I begged them to because they care about my health ).
I know that other people feel differently. Maybe itās because I work for a university and have been deeply involved in our pandemic response; I hear most days from our medical leadership and public health experts, all of whom are begging people to treat this with the seriousness it deserves. Of course Iām sad to stop riding for awhile. But Iād rather put it on pause until I find a situation thatās being managed correctly than have to stop longer because I decided to be cavalier about it. YMMV.
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I didnāt say your life wasnāt worth living. You came here wanting to ride and asked for opinions. Life is dangerous on a daily basis and people die every day from random and unexpected happening we canāt control.
I know this virus is dangerous but we ( as a country) canāt live in fear of it for the unforeseeable future. There are views all over the map from medical experts, so it depends on who you are getting information from. You have to do what you feel is best but in the long run people are going to have to start living a normal life again.
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Understood, and I respect your opinion. For my own, I think our definition of ānormalā needs to change for awhile. Itās not about living in fear; itās about living with a situation that sucks and finding ways to adjust that donāt put our loved ones and community members at risk. There are pretty consistent views about basic precautions, despite whatās floating around in the media and online. Iād be happy to ride if folks were taking basic precautions at our barn. Absent that, well, it signals a disregard for each other that doesnāt work for me. My two cents only, of course. I donāt want to turn this thread into arguing about the science of COVID-19 since that probably isnāt helpful for anyone.
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Is it possible to arrange for your horse to be in a particular paddock where you could slip between the rails, tack up and ride within the paddock, or take your horse out from the paddock? Obviously you would have to keep your tack and grooming supplies in the car, but you would be outside, away from others and itās not likely that many people are running their hands along the fencing.
It sounds as though the only other option would be for you to move your horse to a different barn. One where they take Covid19 seriously, or one where it costs you less to board since you wonāt need as many amenities (Iām guessing an indoor). Finding a barn that takes this seriously and insists on boarders taking precautions to minimize the risk may be too much to hope for from the sound of it.
There are plenty of people who are at higher risk if they get this disease, but they donāt know it. Wearing a mask is such a polite precaution, you would think it wouldnāt be such a hard sell, but here we are.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/americas/flu-america-1918-masks-intl-hnk/index.html,
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The CDC has information for āoutsideā facilities. The regular cleaning process for a barn is usually sufficient and most areas donāt need sanitizing. Surfaces that are touched frequently by many people should be sanitized: door knobs, light switches, etc. Iāve heard experts say that the risk of becoming infected when you are outside is very low to infinitesimal. The CDC says that some surfaces shouldnāt be sanitized including sidewalks and similar outdoor areas. Wood playground equipment shouldnāt be sanitized. It is not a good use of the sanitizing product and doesnāt affect the transmission of the virus.
How many people are normally there? Are you on a regular schedule? Can you maintain the distancing mandate and 10 person limit on groups? Some people might need a reminder about masking. Another option would be to tape off an area on the floor that keeps everyone 6 or more feet away. You arenāt asking for anything out of the ordinary. I think that people would be willing to help you continue to ride if you can maintain the distancing. Transmission is person to person of the droplets. The virus doesnāt go through your skin, itās the mucous membranes. Itās a function of what the dose of active viruses is and how long you have contact. That hasnāt been determined yet.
Another barn might give you similar challenges. If you know the people at your current barn it should be easier to figure out a routine that meets your needs. If it is too crowded to maintain the 6 foot distance you probably will have to decide about quitting riding. The virus isnāt going anywhere for quite a while.
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Are you going to the grocery store ?
going to office vs working from home ? Wjat
does your doctor say? what are the stats for the virus in your area? I think riding is doable if youāre at a smallish barn and can arrange to ride/lesson during nonpeak hours.
If youāre at a larger busier barn Iād see of some accommodation could be made -where you could groom and tack up in a more secluded area of the barn and get in riding when there are fewer people.
i would discuss all of this with your doctor - and get their opinion - if the barn can help accomodafe you and doctor agrees go for it; If the doctor disagrees then stay put. I wouldnāt do anything without discussing your risks with your doctor
