BHS requires riding lessons to stop

[historyrocks]

Anyone else seen this? I’m gutted and feel so sorry for the yard owner.

www.bhs.org.uk/our-charity/press-centre/news/2020/march/covid-centres-20320

That has now been corrected. Can give lessons, with certain restrictions, small groups - individual, flat rather than jumping, etc

DD volunteers at her yard and is beside herself with worry - no livery, so no other income stream. I have bought her 3 bags of carrots to take in today. 4 of them going in to exercise 20 quads.

I've been told that the government will be issuing more guidance tomorrow. Fingers crossed they still allow some private lessons.

I was thinking that, without people taking lessons, those horses are going to be hardly exercised. Surely this is going to be a problem whenever these restrictions are lifted? They're going to have unfit horses that are no longer used to being ridden multiple times a day? Obviously, this isn't a great concern at the moment, but it seems to be a problem later on.

Most riding schools will still have staff going in who can keep them ticking over.
Equally it’s probably not a bad thing for them to just get to have their shoes off and chucked out for some downtime. I feel very sorry for horses with inadequate turn out

That's the case at my riding school--there's no turn out October-April. Even during the summer it's a max of 4 hours. And the stables are tiny.

No turn out at all at my DD’s stables. She exercised 4 ponies yesterday and loose schooled another 3.

She officially has ‘PE’ on her online timetable this afternoon, so is heading in to exercise again.

She says their tack will be the shiniest it ever has been and the yard the most beautifully swept.

I'm in France where we've already in lockdown and the official advise is not to ride at all to avoid adding to the health care burden. I had come to that decision myself (I have the horses at home) just by seeing how every medical intervention that can be postponed has been postponed and decided it is not a good time to break a bone.

Our school is doing only private lessons with no pairs or group lessons, and flatwork only. All horses and ponies turned out during the day as well as at night now.

We've stopped to avoid the shame of turning up in A&E with a riding injury - it was on the way to becoming our second home, so they will be grateful.