I’ll definitely be showing. I showed at WEF all the way up until they closed the circuit down in March and had been accumulating points for indoors.
I’m a roll in roll out kind of horse shower anyway. I don’t have grooms and I’m not a socializer, so it wont be that great of a departure from my normal routine to follow the guidelines USEF has released.
I will not show in near future. Showing is supposed to be a fun, social time and I like to spend alot of time with friends and my horse, which will not be possible. Wondering how / if points will be dealt with. My horse was at top of Zone in division and that will fast disappear as others choose to show. HOTY award is trivial to me compared with health risks now. I have my priorities straight and am making my own decisions.
It doesn’t have to be an actual mask. A scarf, bandana, or gator type of face covering will do. Pull it up when you are around people. Keep it down when you are by ourself.
Do you breathe? If the answer is yes, then you need to wear a mask. Part of breathing is exhaling. Even out of doors, there are currents that take your exhalations, and blow them around, landing where they may. This puts other people at risk.
If you don’t breathe, well then no problem
I should add that I am a professional, I make/made a large portion of my income from horse shows, and I am, frankly, s**t scared of attitudes like this. This kind of thinking will keep the numbers up
The idea that people are at risk outdoors with airflow (unless very, very close together) has been debunked. There was a video getting passed around that showed airflow and transmission, and it suggested that joggers were virus spreading machines. This was reviewed by epidemiologists and public ally discounted.
The virus load needed to create infection is much higher than the few little genetic components that might flow your way while being disbursed outdoors at safe distance of 6 feet. If someone is breathing very heavily (which could happen while jogging), or if someone sneezes or coughs and you are directly and closely downstream from them, that could be an issue.
The aerosolized virus does not seem to have enough concentration, while droplets do. And of course contact with infected droplets that have landed on a suitable surface is also a problem.
I would be be much more worried about the contact transmission, and if I were to start showing, I would not set foot in a restroom or potapotty or any room in a building at all. I would certainly wear a mask if I was going to be standing near another human, but I’d go out of my way to not do that…I would have a hard time wrapping my head around wearing a mask while riding.
How likely are you to transmit or be infected by the virus outdoors?
From a NYT article:
“There is a lot of air space and air flow outside,” Dr. Chambers says. “Data suggests that people who are infectious and generating infectious droplets are of greatest contagion within 6 feet of you.” If you are outdoors and closely packed together at the start of a foot race, for example, there is a risk, he says. “If you are outdoors and appropriately distanced from other people, then it is highly unlikely you will be exposed,” he says. Research simulating the aerodynamics of contagious droplets that walkers and runners leave in their slipstream has been criticized for not taking into account how air can dilute the droplets, he says. Whether running or walking, you are breathing in a large volume of air that is distributed over a broad area. Every breath is over 10 feet of air space. “It’s highly unlikely you’ll come in contact with someone’s airflow unless you’re directly behind them,” he says.
Not exactly correct. Yes, we don’t know a lot of airborne transmission yet, yes there is a lower potential outside. Yes- we need to study how infectious viral particles in the air are- but it takes on 3 influenza particle to infect someone.
you need to look at collective evidence and science- not just the one who suits your argument. There are many unknowns. Yes- I am one of the scientist working in real time, real life on this virus.
Show if you are comfortable, but do so with real facts and not what fits the narrative you chose.
Horse showing was already a big if for me, Corona Virus aside. If I show this summer, it’ll just be at one or two local shows. They’ve already stated that they’re taking extra precautions post-Corona. We’ll see how it pans out.
If you really think through the average show day I think you would be shocked out often you come within 6 feet of people without even processing it. Two people grabbing tack out of a tack stall, waiting in line for the bathroom, grabbing a drink at concessions for a hardworking groom, holding a horse for an emergency appointment to tack a shoe back on, a groom wiping off boots before going into the ring, accepting a ribbon, going into the show office to check on something, etc.
While horse shows feel big and open, so much interaction happens in close proximity.
That is not an effective use of a mask/face covering. If you (collectively) are touching the mask and your face repeatedly you are defeating the purpose of using a mask.
Well don’t worry yourself about me, I will follow whatever rules are in place. Even if that means wearing a mask while I tack up at my trailer 20’ from anyone else. And if I really have that big of a problem with it I’ll stay home.
But just FYI, I do plan on breathing while mounted.
Honestly, I thought unless you’re wearing a medical grade mask then it’s not doing a whole lot to protect you. It’s more about protecting the people around you. And if they’re wearing masks, you’re more protected from them. Not that you should be touching surfaces and then touching your face, but I don’t think it defeats the purpose of protecting those around you.
I’ve been reading all the comments for the past couple of weeks. Honestly, with the heat, I live in the SE, I get hot wearing a mask in the grocery store. I’m not sure I could handle it at a horse show for a few hours.
i am an older adult and because of my age, am probably in the at risk category. Quite frankly, horse showing for me is the socialization and meeting up with friends, so while I won’t show, I have another younger one that will be showing with my trainer.
in our area, restaurants are open for outdoor dining and quite frankly, at the tables, no one is wearing a mask, only the servers.
i very much understand this is a serious situation, but only a small,percentage of those who are affected by Covid-19, get very sick and yes, some die.
i will pray that those who are young and healthy to stay vigilant with social distancing.
i just don’t know what is right or wrong, we each have to decide what we are comfortable doing.
i. Admit it Will be be very difficult to wear a mask outdoors, esp in the heat.im not sure it’s practical.
what about pools, do you see yourself, floating in the pool or sitting around the pool with a mask
.
I agree. I would love to show but I can’t because I don’t want to risk others since Im around it in the lab and possibly daily routine. If they go forward to show- people are accepting the risk for themselves, but need to be cognizant of precautions to protect others (masks are more for others being protected from you. Same with bandanas).
I look forward to seeing everyone again at shows. I’m relying heavily on watching my company- who has been a step ahead , we were told to work from home before anyone else- and has said we will be home for months. Our company is protecting the manufacturing people from being exposed to us.
Not directed at you- this is not about taking away rights- it is about protecting everyone until we know more about the virus.
The virus spreads in the same manner at a horse show that it does in a medical setting. If you are using a mask in the manner that you suggested, you are not protecting those around you. There is plenty of information available about the proper use of face coverings. Check the WHO or the CDC websites.
Proper use of face coverings is indeed a royal pain, more of a pain than many people are willing comply with. We just need to do it properly and get used to it.
I don’t really think that effective mask usage in a horse show environment is at all likely.
I’m not sure which manner I suggested? Someone else said to wrap a scarf around your face. I’ve been using a hand made cloth face mask for when I go in stores. I’m not messing with it between from the time I step out of the car to the time I’m back at the car and have used hand sanitizer. My understanding was that this protects other people more than it protects me, and I’m relying on other people to wear face masks properly in the stores. Which, btw, not even the employees are doing 100%. You’re right, the whole thing is going to get a lot more complicated at horse shows.
In general (not targeted at you) it would be nice if we could discuss this without jumping down each other’s throats. My comment earlier was that I thought wearing my mask at the trailer while tacking up a good 20-30’ from anyone else was overkill. I don’t think this makes me a terrible person who doesn’t care about the well-being of everyone else at the show. I think it acknowledges that the risk of spreading this virus is greatly decreased in open air spaces. Like I said to the person who inquired if I breathe, I will follow whatever rules are in place, and if I don’t want to follow them then I will stay home.
I apologize [USER][/USER] The post above is the one I was responding to, and it was not yours.
It’s unlikely that someone alone at their trailer outside a good distance away from the nearest other person isn’t in a situation where there is going to be much difference in any between wearing a mask and not. But I think the blanket rules are to keep them from being overcomplicated where there are a number of situations where management, USEF, other participants and staff might want people to wear a mask but there will be someone who thinks they are fine not wearing one because they’re only looking at the course board by themselves or they are yelling at the poor gate person from 8’ away. I don’t really have a lot of trust in other people conforming even with the rules. I mean, how many people think “no lunging” or “no dogs” or “no motorized vehicles / horses only” and “don’t litter” doesn’t apply to them already…
It’s good that USEF is making some of its own rules in case the local government happens to be less restrictive, but it’s also partially so they aren’t liable not just that they want to make things safer (so things don’t get completely shut down again).
I am a social scientist and tend to be quite cynical about our particular society anyway; given that we have 4.25% of the world’s population but almost 33% of the confirmed cases, I am even more so now. We are “re-opening” states where the cases continue to rise. This is typically dumb American hubris and selfishness but even I am chilled by it due to the nature of the dangers involved.
I almost always show out of my trailer and my “groom” is usually my friend and drinking buddy, but I don’t trust those around me. No showing for me until whatever nerves I have are due to the competition, not to wondering what the infection rate amongst those who were at the show will be two weeks afterward.
Like everyone I want us to get back to normal, but we haven’t begun to address the issues that would be necessary for this to happen, even just starting with adequate testing, much less development of a vaccine. We can’t move forward if we keep picking off the scab.
Quoting so I can like it twice.
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