June Shows

[monalisa]

I personally have no plans to show anytime soon. This virus is not going away until we can find a way to get a vaccine in 300 million people or more just in the US. It is nasty. It hits very healthy young people too. Is it worth the risk to horse show? And yes, entries will be down. Who wants to stay in a hotel, stop at busy gas stations on interstates? Where do you eat? How many times is the horse show office being cleaned? Will the judges and stewards want to travel to these shows too? Jump crew? It is just not worth it.

[Dana]

@H/Jrider22

Actually they can receive unemployment, as long as they’ve filed taxes with a 1099, they can receive unemployment during the pandemic plus an extra $600/wk for the next 4 months. Now if they didn’t file taxes or were under the table they’re sadly out of luck.

I know we’re eligible, but as of yesterday, I only know of one show secretary who is also a steward who has gotten approved for unemployment. We’ve all filed, but haven’t heard anything yet. Many of us have yet to receive our stimulus checks, either.

[TrotFence]

I received an email this weekend from Princeton Show Jumping (NJ) that they intend to run their June 7 and June 21 shows. The email included the rules that will be implemented at the shows including, one person per stable allowed in the show office, no VIP tents, no general public or spectators allowed on the show grounds.

Earlier last week, I received an email that Monmouth at the Team is cancelled in August. That makes sense to me as anyone who has shown there knows how much of a nightmare that schooling area can be generally and that the VIP tent gets packed. It would be virtually impossible to “social distance” there.

[OverandOnward]

@monalisa

I personally have no plans to show anytime soon. This virus is not going away until we can find a way to get a vaccine in 300 million people or more just in the US. It is nasty. It hits very healthy young people too. Is it worth the risk to horse show? And yes, entries will be down. Who wants to stay in a hotel, stop at busy gas stations on interstates? Where do you eat? How many times is the horse show office being cleaned? Will the judges and stewards want to travel to these shows too? Jump crew? It is just not worth it.

Some people think that it is worth it. Some people feel that the cost of not going ahead with life is more devastating than resuming activity and accepting the consequences. I see both sides, personally, and it is a tough decision.

[B]This is not a temporary situation.

We are not waiting for it to go away, because it is not going away.[/B]

We must learn to show in a covid environment, or stop showing.

There will eventually be changes in every aspect, including how overnight stays are handled, course are re-set, and so on and on and on.

Or showing will die. Because this virus is not going away.

@TrotFence

I received an email this weekend from Princeton Show Jumping (NJ) that they intend to run their June 7 and June 21 shows. The email included the rules that will be implemented at the shows including, one person per stable allowed in the show office, no VIP tents, no general public or spectators allowed on the show grounds.

Earlier last week, I received an email that Monmouth at the Team is cancelled in August. That makes sense to me as anyone who has shown there knows how much of a nightmare that schooling area can be generally and that the VIP tent gets packed. It would be virtually impossible to “social distance” there.

And this is how we can get to a ‘partial re-opening’. Modify what and how things are done, accept the restrictions, make it work.

A lot of showing may go back to a far more basic protocol that just focuses on horses and riders, and not so much on the all the frippery. The bring-your-own-lunch format, as it were. That would be far better than not showing at all, it might be an opportunity to think more about what showing should really be about.

[IPEsq]

This would probably be another good reason to get rid of the mileage rule.

[Midge]

@OverandOnward

Some people think that it is worth it. Some people feel that the cost of not going ahead with life is more devastating than resuming activity and accepting the consequences.

What I worry about though, are the health care workers. How long can we ask them to do this? Hospitalizations are expected to go up, not down.

[MHM]

The USEF webinar on the subject was quite interesting today. They said it will be posted on the USEF Network in the very near future. I highly recommend taking the hour to watch it, as they address many of these questions.

[vxf111]

As someone who has been to Princeton and stood many times in the line for the office, I don’t know what magic they’re going to use to make that run efficiently but I wonder why they never used that magic before There generally is only one person per stable in line and it still stretches way out the door and you wait for 30 minutes.

Certainly there is room to “social distance” on the property on the whole, but there are quite a few areas that can get somewhat congested. No spectators at all will help, if they can enforce it. You know everyone is going to show up with their crew and claim those people are grooms or something. People just CANNOT follow rules.

This doesn’t seem wise to me, but they’re going to do it and if people are intent on showing I guess they can decide if the risk is worth it for them.

[Mayaty02]

@vxf111

As someone who has been to Princeton and stood many times in the line for the office, I don’t know what magic they’re going to use to make that run efficiently but I wonder why they never used that magic before There generally is only one person per stable in line and it still stretches way out the door and you wait for 30 minutes.

Certainly there is room to “social distance” on the property on the whole, but there are quite a few areas that can get somewhat congested. No spectators at all will help, if they can enforce it. You know everyone is going to show up with their crew and claim those people are grooms or something. People just CANNOT follow rules.

This doesn’t seem wise to me, but they’re going to do it and if people are intent on showing I guess they can decide if the risk is worth it for them.

They need to give out armbands. Each exhibitor gets one for themselves, one for their trainer (unless trainer has multiple riders), one for a groom (again unless trainer has multiple horses), and juniors get one parent. That is IT. Everyone wears an arm band so it can be readily seen, given out with numbers, and if you don’t have one, then you are asked to leave by the show steward. I would literally announce on the loudspeaker if there is someone walking around without a band and ask them to leave or put a band on (the goal being to embarrass them and whomever they are there to watch).

Braiders should get a different color and they should limit the number. I’d like to suggest no braiding but I know braiders need $ too. Show staff would have still a third different color.

No food vending. Bring your own.

[vxf111]

ce

@Mayaty02

They need to give out armbands. Each exhibitor gets one for themselves, one for their trainer (unless trainer has multiple riders), one for a groom (again unless trainer has multiple horses), and juniors get one parent. That is IT. Everyone wears an arm band so it can be readily seen, given out with numbers, and if you don’t have one, then you are asked to leave by the show steward. I would literally announce on the loudspeaker if there is someone walking around without a band and ask them to leave or put a band on (the goal being to embarrass them and whomever they are there to watch).

Braiders should get a different color and they should limit the number. I’d like to suggest no braiding but I know braiders need $ too. Show staff would have still a third different color.

No food vending. Bring your own.

I don’t know if you’ve been to Princeton to show or not. On one hand, plenty of room to spread out (in theory, right near some rings can be congested). On the other hand… it would be pretty hard to police who is there. As noted, it’s not exactly… staffed to the gills (seriously, the fact that they had to make a note about the line at the office tells you something). I love the folks there and I love the showgrounds… but I don’t see how they’re going to control much of anything unless they have hired a wide cadre of new staff specifically tasked with enforcing social distancing. I kind of doubt it. I hope people would just follow the rules but folks around here weren’t amazing at that before.

How are they going to clean the porta-potties? The surfaces in the office (it’s a small travel trailer)? Etc.

Also, it’s not clear to me that this complies with the governor’s current order, but then again that could change by June.

[Mayaty02]

@vxf111

ce

I don’t know if you’ve been to Princeton to show or not. On one hand, plenty of room to spread out (in theory, right near some rings can be congested). On the other hand… it would be pretty hard to police who is there. As noted, it’s not exactly… staffed to the gills (seriously, the fact that they had to make a note about the line at the office tells you something). I love the folks there and I love the showgrounds… but I don’t see how they’re going to control much of anything unless they have hired a wide cadre of new staff specifically tasked with enforcing social distancing. I kind of doubt it. I hope people would just follow the rules but folks around here weren’t amazing at that before.

How are they going to clean the porta-potties? The surfaces in the office (it’s a small travel trailer)? Etc.

Also, it’s not clear to me that this complies with the governor’s current order, but then again that could change by June.

oh no, sorry I have not been there nor was I specifically discussing any particular location, just in general horse showing.

with regard to bathrooms, these shows will need to put big jugs of hand sanitizer outside the portapotties and bathrooms.

[poltroon]

In our area, hotels are not open and will not be for quite some time. I can see small local shows as feasible this summer, but not anything that requires travel.

The secondary issue is that a lot of people will be staying home, either because they want to be safe medically or because they need to be safe financially. I don’t envy show managers trying to make safe and financially sound choices for themselves and their competitors.

[TrotFence]

@vxf111

As someone who has been to Princeton and stood many times in the line for the office, I don’t know what magic they’re going to use to make that run efficiently but I wonder why they never used that magic before There generally is only one person per stable in line and it still stretches way out the door and you wait for 30 minutes.

Certainly there is room to “social distance” on the property on the whole, but there are quite a few areas that can get somewhat congested. No spectators at all will help, if they can enforce it. You know everyone is going to show up with their crew and claim those people are grooms or something. People just CANNOT follow rules.

This doesn’t seem wise to me, but they’re going to do it and if people are intent on showing I guess they can decide if the risk is worth it for them.

Haha fair point!!

It will be difficult to enforce this at any show. The email also indicates that “We ask that you not gather anywhere on the show grounds except with people you have been quarantined with”. I guess that means no barn buddies hanging together near the trailers as they get ready? The barn where I ride does not have grooms but typically there are enough people showing (or spectating) so that we can help each other at ship-in shows. That construct will have to change.

[H_Jrider22]

@Dana

I know we’re eligible, but as of yesterday, I only know of one show secretary who is also a steward who has gotten approved for unemployment. We’ve all filed, but haven’t heard anything yet. Many of us have yet to receive our stimulus checks, either.

I’m so sorry. The system is broken and can’t handle any of this, I get it.

[Bearx2]

@APirateLooksAtForty

I have to pose a question to those of you opposing a horse show running soon with well-enforces social distancing. Are you prepared for many of our historic horse shows to go under? For many of our show mangers to lose their entire businesses? For numerous trainer to lose their farms, their houses, their livelihoods? Because we are not too far from an entire industry collapse and nobody seems to be talking about the elephant in the room.

I think we can have that even if shows do run. There is no guarantee that people will want to show this summer if they don’t feel comfortable being out in public or haven’t ridden much. You can offer all the shows you want, it doesn’t mean that enough people will come to make shows a finical success.

ETA: I think it stinks that people are suffering right now and I honestly don’t know what a good solution would be. Right now a lot of people are in a darned if you do, darned if you don’t position,

[Trekkie]

As a healthcare provider and someone who shows–a couple observations. First, I don’t think the Covid 19 risk is going to go away for awhile. Like, maybe over a year. Maybe even a couple years. So, if we want to continue to have equestrian events, we must learn to adapt to a new normal of having them that helps mitigate risk while allowing people to continue to function within the sport. Now, as someone pointed out earlier, that may mean that all the social hoopla that surrounds the shows goes away for awhile. It becomes an opportunity to go do your best in front of a judge on that day and that’s it. Points, no points, no matter. We do it with skeleton crew, no spectators and safe guidelines for the love of our horses and our goals. Will there be folks who break the rules? Sure. But they exist in every aspect of every society. And so, after much thought, when state and local municipalities decide to give the go ahead, I will show, precautions in place. If I have to ship in and show and go, I will. I will gladly pay online and I would even be ok with a prescheduled ride time. If folks don’t feel comfortable showing at this time, I get it. It’s ok for people to have different approaches and comfort levels.

[Bearx2]

@Trekkie

As a healthcare provider and someone who shows–a couple observations. First, I don’t think the Covid 19 risk is going to go away for awhile. Like, maybe over a year. Maybe even a couple years. So, if we want to continue to have equestrian events, we must learn to adapt to a new normal of having them that helps mitigate risk while allowing people to continue to function within the sport. Now, as someone pointed out earlier, that may mean that all the social hoopla that surrounds the shows goes away for awhile. It becomes an opportunity to go do your best in front of a judge on that day and that’s it. Points, no points, no matter. We do it with skeleton crew, no spectators and safe guidelines for the love of our horses and our goals. Will there be folks who break the rules? Sure. But they exist in every aspect of every society. And so, after much thought, when state and local municipalities decide to give the go ahead, I will show, precautions in place. If I have to ship in and show and go, I will. I will gladly pay online and I would even be ok with a prescheduled ride time. If folks don’t feel comfortable showing at this time, I get it. It’s ok for people to have different approaches and comfort levels.

I think you make some excellent points and at the end of the day it’s going to be up to each person to do what is best for them. For some people that might be to go out and show and for others it might be to stay home.

[MHM]

@Trekkie

As a healthcare provider and someone who shows–a couple observations. First, I don’t think the Covid 19 risk is going to go away for awhile. Like, maybe over a year. Maybe even a couple years. So, if we want to continue to have equestrian events, we must learn to adapt to a new normal of having them that helps mitigate risk while allowing people to continue to function within the sport.

That’s a very valid observation. It will be hard enough for horse shows to survive following the current economic downturn. Much less if shows are put on hold indefinitely.

Obviously nobody has to show. The people who want to show can do so. The people who don’t want to show have that option as well.

[OverandOnward]

@Midge

What I worry about though, are the health care workers. How long can we ask them to do this? Hospitalizations are expected to go up, not down.

“We” are not asking the health care workers to do this. No one asked for this. This is the world as it is.

Showing or not showing is not going to lessen their burden.

Not showing will not make covid go away.

I heard one medical journalist say simply, “We live in a more dangerous world now.”. That’s true for all of us, and particularly for health care workers, in all settings.

[tagsalong]

@OverandOnward

“We” are not asking the health care workers to do this. No one asked for this. This is the world as it is.

Showing or not showing is not going to lessen their burden.

Not showing will not make covid go away.

I heard one medical journalist say simply, “We live in a more dangerous world now.”. That’s true for all of us, and particularly for health care workers, in all settings.

Not showing definitely can lessen the burden. It may not be an exact uptick in hospital visits around a horse show, but figure there are a large group of people congregating in an area which can encourage spreading of the disease. (not to mention potential accidents of people falling off and needing medical attention, but that happens when there isn’t a pandemic as well).

I’m all for horse shows starting back up and I feel for those whose livelihood’s are connected to horse showing, but we will need to be smart about it and likely be more cautious than we would like to be.