The problem with testing is that it is good for a moment in time. A clean test today doesn’t mean that you don’t pick it up when you randomly itch your eye or nose tomorrow after going to the market or touching the frequently used broom at the barn.
The stay at home order is intended to flatten the curve not prevent the spread. In a graph of the disease, the area under the curve represents those who get COVID19. It is the same area with lockdown, just spread over a greater amount of time. We will have to return to doing business with the virus still extant. Barns are going to have to form strategies for dealing with it, knowing that certain people whether out of fear or vulnerability will opt to stay home for some time.
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Peace, Angela. I see you’re suffering a bit from the lockdown. I hope you can find your equilibrium soon. 
Stay safe.
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I’m not in NY, but I’m based in NJ, which has the second highest number of cases in the U.S. My barn has been closed for more than a month. It’s a large lesson barn-type situation, with many different riders of various ages, abilities, and to be honest, levels of carefulness. So the closure was clearly quite necessary (even if it hadn’t been mandated by the state.)
I admit one of my concerns is that when bigger barns reopen (whenever that might be, I don’t think it’s going to be for a long, long time) that safety concerns will be forgotten in the moment, when more immediate concerns arise. For example, it’s easy to make a rule about wiping down surfaces and keeping six feet of distance, but when a horse is sick or someone has a minor fall, or a pony is fresh coming back from turnout, barn workers (especially young ones) can easily forget such restrictions. And I also wonder if cash-strapped facilities (especially after a long closure) will have the resources to properly disinfect things. Even under the best of circumstances, barn bathrooms and surfaces aren’t exactly the most sanitary of places (except at perhaps very high-end facilities).
Of course, horses are never risk free, even for the most casual and safety-conscious of riders, but the risks posed by COVID-19 amp up the risk of even the most minor interactions in the barn, especially large ones. I agree that all riders must take responsibility for themselves, but depending on the barn, it’s going to be a judgement call for every rider if the protocols are adequate enough to enable even a careful rider to protect herself (and also protect those around her).
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One testing protocol that has been suggested for people who are regularly in workplaces or otherwise frequently around people not in their household is to be tested once a week, or once every two weeks.
And of course the antibody test has its place. Although it has to be renewed periodically, as it is believed that the antibodies may last a year or less.
The temperature check is unlikely to work. The human body is not put together like a standard product, and there is a considerable variation in the ‘normal’ range of temperature from one individual to another. And of course there are people with a normal temperature who are shedding the virus.
If we could count on everyone to be diligent about protocol for not spreading the virus, it probably wouldn’t be much of a concern to re-open, especially in the areas that haven’t seen many cases. But counting on large numbers of people to all do the right thing is a fantasy. Unless we want to go from one shutdown to the next, and/or one outbreak to the next, we’ll have to do some sort of community control
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This. The virus is here, forever.
We need to do better at protecting ourselves as individuals. And with some cooperation we can re-open and day-by-day make better personal decisions for self-protection, at the same time – and we have to do that, regardless of where and when.
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I am going to start to reopen my barn, but I am very fortunate with having a very small, private facility. Although I don’t have many boarders, with my barn being small, I have had to be creative in moving forward. My boarders will have to tack up outside, in individual areas. I have provided two areas for them to work from. All tack/brushes/grooming supplies will unfortunately have to be kept in separate areas. Some will take them home and temporarily bring them back and forth. A wash rack will be set up for them to use with their own hoses and spray nozzles. I am allowing 2-3 sessions per week, and appts will need to be made to have a rotating schedule. No one will be allowed in my tack room/feed rooms, all gates will be open leading into and out of arenas. Clients will even use different halters/leads/brooms/muck buckets/etc. I will be able to keep us socially distant from each other, without having a huge amount of sanitizing. Unfortunately they will have to deal with weather, so I will be giving them better/nicer days to come out on. The indoor will still be able to be used as well. I did loose one client, but it was ok. All of my other clients have been very understanding.
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Not everyone has the means to do these same things, but some potential suggestions for those barns that are open/considering opening:
I moved all of my tack and equipment into my horse trailer so that I do not need to enter the barn, and I tack up tied to the trailer. An alternative was to keep items in my vehicle and tack up in the paddock/shelter.
The only shared touch items are my horse’s halter, leadrope and the latch of her paddock or field gate; there is hand sanitizer available and if my barn manager requested, I would happily provide a separate halter to use.
Our outdoor arena isn’t fenced so there’s no touching of gates there. Other barns may find it useful to keep their arena gates permanently open to reduce touch points.
We as owners provide our own grain so we do have to occasionally enter the feed room, but most of us stocked up so as to reduce the need to pass through. I go in once per week to fill supplement baggies, but am in the process of adjusting her diet so that I can do away with the baggies completely.
I will disclaim that my situation is not comparable to a busy boarding facility, as our barn is very private with only ~5 people boarding and relatively spread over 20 acres; I might see another owner there twice a month and I can’t remember the last time I was riding at the same time as anyone else since almost half of the horses are retired.
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One option is two halters and two leadropes for each horse, provided by the owner. You as the owner owner keep a halter and leadrope with you in the car, and only you use them, no one else. And you don’t touch the “barn” halter/leadrope, only barn staff touch those.
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Don’t live in the USA. Board at a private facility where the own of the facility owns a lot of the horses, and the rest of the boarders have more than one horse so there really is only 5 boarders. Our grooms live on the property (and owner does not allow them to leave the property and if they need anything there is a driver who will go and get whatever they need) the barn itself is not in a public area and is a bit out the way. We have had a full lockdown ( we had to get a pass to go out ) and there was police on every street checking cars and if you do not have said permit you would be fined and made to go home. So no seeing the ponies now for nearly a month. Those restrictions have been lifted but we are only allowed out for max 2 hours a day now so probably won’t be able to go to the barn for a little longer. But what the owner has done is everyone of the grooms are with masks and gloves. Each groom is not allowed to touch anything that belongs to another groom. If boarders will come we have to be in masks and gloves. We have to wash our hands and he has put sanitizer everywhere around the stable. No cars are allowed to be parked in the stable but we have to leave them outside the gates (2 second walk so no big deal) he has some denfectant spray from the municipality (animal safe) that he sprays around the property 2 times per day. We are not allowed to sit in the common areas. We are lucky we have 3 bathrooms on the property and each bathroom that is used will be sanitized. Lucky as it’s not a big establishment. Not sure how the other big places like the last place I boarded at will handle it.
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Curious the country where this barn is located. I’ve heard of the police checks and the paperwork necessary to leave one’s own property now required in some countries.
Arab Emirates. Now we have Ramadan they have relaxed the rules slightly. But still can’t go to the barn. They are thinking if we have an increase of cases/ deaths we will again go back to full 24/7 lock down.
This link is to a document outlining a framework for reopening equestrian facilities that was just posted by Equestrian Canada today. Each province in Canada will likely use this as a guide when they reopen. My province has not eased restrictions that would allow me to see my horses yet, hopefully soon. I found this document interesting, it’s making me think about how things may be when restrictions are eased.
There are some details that I never would have considered.
https://www.equestrian.ca/cdn/storage/resources_v2/cRSrWCZPbutzEN8Qg/original/cRSrWCZPbutzEN8Qg.pdf
