So this dropped into my email box today:
https://useventing.com/news-media/news/100-days-until-the-2020-aec
How do they expect people to qualify with most of the season being postponed/cancelled? (Unless they somehow already managed to qualify), thoughts?
Dr Doolittle,
Did you listen to the USEA/USEF Webinar? (I think there is link in that email. If not, there is a link on the USEA web site).
They said that they are thinking about extending the START of the qualifying period earlier. They are also thinking about reducing the number of top results needed to qualify, though not the number of clear rounds.
Ah, okay - will look for it.
I still think it will be challenging to fill and run with so many uncertainties in the months leading up to it. I DID notice that the MOC Pony Club is trying to get the go ahead to run the Middleburg HT at Great Meadow on June 6,7! Ć°ÅøĖĀÆ
Seems soon. I love this event (fantastic venue, 20 minutes from my barn), butā¦
Iām not sure I understand comments that having shows is ātoo soonā. What are you waiting for that will be the right time? Later on there will be more covid, not less. Right now there is less covid around to be spread than there will be at any moment from now until millions of people have been vaccinated.
I think some people are waiting for an announcement that āItās over! Go back to what you were doing before!ā
But that announcement is not coming. Not now, not a year from now. Not after the vaccine is out. We are living in a different world, and even after the disease is no longer the level of threat that it is now, it will still be around. Unless it mutates into something non-threatening.
Here is a great article that I hope the NY Times is allowing people to view for free, as they are most of their covid coverage.
āHow Pandemics Endā
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/hā¦wQFbTSg4DZ80lc
Two of the articleās main points about the history of pandemics are that 1) the disease doesnāt go away so much as human society just changes how they deal with it; and 2) many of the old pandemic diseases are still with us (including plague), but we have learned how to control them through avoiding infection and/or vaccination.
So anyway. IMO either we show or we just give it up altogether. That can be an individual decision. But for those who do intend to show, the decision is more about āhowā than āwhenā. IMO
None of my local states (MD/PA/VA/DE/NJ) are āopenā for gatherings of more than 25 at this time. Most are only open for 10 people or are still under stay at home orders. So yes, I think running a recognized event in early June with 100- 200 people present seems premature. I agree that things have to open up at some point before the vaccine is available but I havenāt been super impressed by the āplanningā Iāve seen either from USEF or from most of these venues. For example I would like to see a very well thought out, realistic limit to competitor numbers based on the available parking, warm-up etc., not just on the state requirements.
I am hoping to compete this summer (not at recognized events but that wasnāt the plan anyway) but I want more to change than just the number of portapotties. Iāve seen several unrecognized venues come up with innovative plans (a hunter/jumper show that will run over three days with each height being a different day and only a limited number of pre entered competitors and pre registered non riding attendees for example) that make me feel more confident that they have really thought through possibilities and come up with something they can manage.
Of course I agree with this very reasonable post ;), and yes - there is a āfrozen in placeā aspect to waiting indefinitely for things to completely open back up. Obviously we canāt wait forever to go back to normal life/activities, but there are many people who think itās still too early for ābusiness as usual.ā It wonāt actually be ābusiness as usualā for a long time - if ever.
Very interesting article, thanks for sharing! NY Times :yes:
The whole HOW to show, safely - that is the burning question.
Since there is no vaccine yet, avoiding infection becomes key to the whole reasonable precautions thing. Testing, also key to getting a handle on things. My pain Dr. is offering antibody tests through LabCorp - but I have heard that the results are unreliable - so I didnāt have it done when I was in there this morning.
In my state, they are now offering FREE Covid testing (nasal swab) County by County; my county can get tested this over the next week, so I am going to wait in line for that. I am (and have been) asymptomatic, but that of course means nothing.
There is a local venue thatās holding a āpractice competitionā at the beginning of June; itās about as safe as is feasible since they are having us ride dressage and have it videotaped and sent to a judge for evaluation, then do the jumping rounds (SJ and x-country) the following day with someone watching, but no āscoresā per se to count - this is being done during the week over 2-3 days. Itās a bit of a PITA, but the place is pretty close to me and they are trying to allow people to get out and school while still distancing by staggering ride times and having no close contact with anyone.
I really want to support this particular venue because they have a history of exceptional accommodation and CS, the husband and wife who own and run it are lovely people and are incredibly kind and generous to the local riders.
So, The Middleburg HT. They ācloseā today - and the reason I put that in quotes is because they are officially accepting entries through XEntry, but not expecting payment with the entry; they are waiting for the official go ahead.
Middleburg Horse Trials Organizing Committee
At this time we are making the following changes regarding the entry process:
Most organizers that Iāve spoken with have very detailed plans. Limits on parking. Limits on number of riders that will be allowed in warm ups. Expect a time to be given for your for warm ups. I think most will try and get a horse in and done very fastā¦so you may run all three phases within an hour or so. With the ideal that they will run a limited number of horses. I canāt see them able to run 100 horses in a day but it depends on the facilityā¦and that will make most events not economical to run.
Your last sentence - that was my thought too Ć°ÅøĖā¢
The volunteers partā¦ they definitely will not be showing up for the āgood times.ā Some will come bc they know of the duty to keep eventing strong, but many enjoyed the party atmosphere. Myself I wear a mask in town for my errands but sitting at an xc fence all day in August wearing a hot mask all day will be problematic. Theyād be calling the medics for me. Iām being realistic. Horse and rider arenāt going to get that close. Even if the events reduce entries it takes the same number of volunteers. Minus the score runners? A lot of logisticsā¦
It is time for eventing to get into the modern era considering jump judges etc. There are quite a few courses where clusters of jumps can be judged by one or two people. At one event here, we figured 6 people can cover the entire course. Jump scores will need to be collated real time, e.g. radio or direct computer entry.
I hope that the USEA/USEF will relax the officials rules to allow the use of more local officials and not require so many recognized officials, e.g. let local small r dressage and jump judges judge training and below (let some of the local jumper judges play in the eventing world). The same can be applied for course designers.
At some point, it will be time to integrate RFID into riders and fences, requiring no XC jump judges and real time scoring.
Honestly, my biggest concern is the total radio silence from the organizers who are planning on running in June. I see the updated Omnibus, which has some information regarding the payment via online only, sometimes holding payments until a certain date, and sometimes not. Some have cancellation policies listed as closer to the event, some do not. I for sure would not be entering an event that didnāt offer refunds for COVID cancellation. Things went south in like 5 days, closing date is a much too early window for refunds for these times. Iād rather enter very late and pay a late fee and risk not getting into the event than try to guess what regions might have ok infection numbers two weeks out.
None of the Omnibus pages have anything posted about how these events plan on implementing the COVID rules and regulations. I just went to the FB pages for Plantation Field, Surefire, Waredaca, Middleburg, Loudoun, and Horse Park of New Jersey. None of their social medias say anything real. Middleburg talks about how they are hoping to get an exception from the governor to even run but no information about what competing/volunteering will look like. HP of NJ states that Advanced will be run on one day only instead of over two days which at least is clearly one mitigation measure, but nothing else.
I totally get if they are still trying to formulate a plan but it would be nice to see some communication from the organizers to the public that they are working on it and the full logistics will be posted on X date. Iām not entering anything until I see how the event plans to handle thingsā¦if they want people entering as early as possible to get an idea of numbers, it would behoove them to post the plan as early as possible as well.
British eventing has issued their protocalsā¦I was wondering if the US and Canada are waiting for others to go first and then maybe follow suit?
I guess the British are not impressed dogs have to stay at home and only person allowed to go with you to the event.
Some stuff is going to be specific to each event though. Like how much warmup space they haveā¦if they have huge fields more can warm up, perhaps even just like normal but those with one small ring might limit numbers. Or they might choose to try to relocate the dressage so warmup is in a big field. Stabling is another huge question mark that USEF hasnāt remotely gotten into and rightly I think, as every facility will be different in how they manage social distancing in the stabling area.
I think the organizers are assuming that knowing they will be following local codes and USEF guidelines is sufficient but the devil is in the details. Iām going to be much more inclined to attend an event that seems really on the ball about thinking through these matters, even if they arenāt perfect or ideal, than an event who doesnāt seem (to the the public at least) to be putting any thought into their implementation at all.
Any events have to run within the protocols issued and disclosed to all of us via the USEF and USEAā¦as well as what is required by the local jurisdiction. They all have been looking at those protocols and discussing them and making sure they can comply and seeking clarifications from the USEA and USEFā¦and it depends on each venue. I donāt think you will see a lot of communication until just before the event is going to run. Some of these events do NOT know yet if they can run and they will communicate when they doā¦it is also why most have said they are not accepting payment. They are testing a new contactless scoring system this weekend at Loch Moyā¦they have ALL been working hard to understand what is required, what is smartā¦and what will work practically.
Well thatās not terribly fair is it? Not if they donāt issue their COVID protocols until after payment is received. If they even choose to issue them publicly at all.
While I recognize they are asking people to send in entries without payment, most of them plan on running the payment on closing date. And then the Omnibus entries continue to say no refunds after closing date (in the original fees section usually), with zero word on if they will be issuing refunds in case of COVID cancellation.
As competitors (and volunteers!), we should have the right of choosing which events to attend based also on their COVID policies. If an event is posting publicly the ideas that they have to create the social distancing required, Iām going to feel much better about attending that event because I can see that they are taking it seriously early on. Even if not all of those policies are implemented in the end, or if different ones are implemented, I can see how they plan on doing that and decide if it meet my own personal level of risk or not.
If they say nothing until just before the event, or if they suddenly cancel after running everyoneās payment and no one gets refunded, then Iām just not interested. Again, maybe Iāll be able to get late entries after the COVID policies of that specific event are announced. Maybe I wonāt. It is what it is.
And fair enough if others are fine with that financial risk. I just think a little bit of transparency about what is going on behind the scenes at these events would go a LONG way in increasing the comfort level of competitors and therefore might help them fill their events to break even at least or encourage people to enter earlier.
My issue right now is that some events are in clear Covid-19 hotspots with increasing numbers of cases. I am not necessarily concerned about the event proper but all the places I usually stop at to fuel truck and humans, not to mention the state of the accommodations off site. In one place, even though the absolute numbers are not high, the relative numbers of cases is as great as NYC at its height and has even been in the news. What is also worrisome is the management is presenting boilerplate protocols.
They are all still working on things. That is what I said. Lookā¦many of these events may not be running (Their local areas may not open yet). They are working on their protocols and how many competitors they will be safely able to run. And for some venuesā¦they may not run if their local areas limit their entries etc. If the COVID protocols are very important to youā¦they are to meā¦then I suggest you wait. And not enter these earlier June events. Let some events run and see what they do. What is practical or notā¦and make a decision if it is worth you competing. Many havenāt posted anything because they JUST got the USEF/USEA guidelines and are still working through it allā¦plus many are still seeing what will be the requirements of their local jurisdictions. My point is they are ALL working hard at how (and whether) they can hold their events. And what is done with one venue may or may not be viable for anotherā¦as most have to be specific to the venue. I would expect there to be more and more publications of information over the next week or so.
But we all as riders and competitors ALSO have to make the best decisions for ourselvesā¦individually. I am a higher risk individualā¦given I have asthma and an aged parent in my household. So my decision metrics will be different from someone elseā¦and honestly, my livelihood doesnāt depend on a show. Now a pro with my horseā¦they may decide to go to a competition and I will not be there in personā¦their decision factors are different from mine. Iām fine with that.
You can also reach out to an organizer and just askā¦and use that to help you with your decision.
Got an email today from the Carolina Horse Park saying they have gotten permission to run recognized Bn, N , and maybe T divisions (sorry, just skimmed the email) in conjunction w their unrecognized schooling series. Interesting and reasonable accommodation, I thought. Details on their website for folks looking for qualifying runs. Itās an excellent series of schooling shows.
I was never squeamish about Port-a-potties. But that is a tough one with this Virus. How are events going to manage those with the protocols in place?
If a state like PA is still in yellow phase ( moderate restrictions but not lockdown) , can events and horse shows still be held?
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