# Covid 19, Boarding Barn access



## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

Serbia: ours is closed as per government orders. We can sort of still come because the barn is very secluded but we all agreed that it is a bad idea because we might unintentionally infect the staff who live there - and who would feed the horses then?


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Ours is still open and running normally, despite us being under "shelter in place" and "no more than two people in a group" orders. The barn owner isn't the best at handling things like this. As far as I have heard, the only guidance she has issued is "don't share stuff."

As a precaution, I am washing hands before and after, and someone else had the suggestion of wiping down gates. Our horses live in the pasture, although they have reserved stalls. There are multiple barns on the property, and no one else uses the barn we use. We don't share horses or tack with anyone anyway. Our only point of contact with others is the gate.

Someone else on HF who boarded mention a two boarder at a time limit as well. But to me, since we have a very large (30+ acres) place, and we sort of have our own barn, this wouldn't really make sense. I hope we don't get to that. Going to see our horses is like our mental relaxation place. 

I guess, though, that two boarders at a time is better than being closed altogether.


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## NavigatorsMom (Jan 9, 2012)

As of right now I am still able to go to the barn, though we have a shelter in place order as well. Our barn is just super small, only personal horses of the BO and fam, and then two boarders including myself. I usually don't see or interact with anyone while I'm out there. I haven't heard from BO if they are wanting us to stay away or not, I will need to ask.

That said, I am hesitant to go just because the BO is older and I would hate to be the one who brought the virus to her barn, leaving it on a gate or something (I had not even thought of wiping down gates or stall doors). Not only that, but I also worry about what would happen should I get into a wreck on my way out there, ending up in a hospital that is already stretching to it's limit with people who are sick? Not to mention things like getting hurt while riding or at the barn. It's unlikely but I know it could happen, and I just can't justify that. There is no reason for me to do anything extra that could put me at risk for injury when we know we are low on medical resources. 

I haven't been out since Monday, and I don't know when I will go again. Thankfully I know Nav is being well cared for but it is very hard as he is super important to my mental health.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I'm lucky in the fact that I board at a private property (owners home). I go feed my girls, hang out with them a bit and leave. B/O was home today and we chatted but weren't on top of each other so to speak. Her elderly mom lives there too and she is sequestered to the cottage as B/O and her hubby are both ER nurses. Normally I love talking to her but lately we just yell hi and wave from across the property. There is one other boarder there but I normally never see her anyway as we come at different times and days. 

I swear I'm going to wash the skin off of my hands and I keep my hands out of my face. Finally got my hands on some alcohol based wipes so I use those too.


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## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

I've been apart from my horses for nearly a month - they are nine hours away. This weekend, I was supposed to move them to be 30 minutes away from me. The barn I am moving to closed to outside visitors and non-essential staff until atleast mid-April under state order. My horses moving to the new barn is postponed.

Am I sad? Of course.

But is this necessary? Of course it is.

I value the elderly community, the immuno-compromised community, and of course the under-insured community more than seeing my horses often as I would like. This is only temporary, where as the loss of life is not.


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## Jolly101 (Jul 2, 2018)

Mine was unaffected since I also board on a private property, but I've still been taking precautions. Recently, I've only been going down to fill up on feed bags (we make up our own instead of the BO having to put together the feed). I've also made sure that everything is there and written down in case I can't make it down anymore. However, I ride 2 horses regularly at another larger barn and they have taken measures to limit people. They have attempted to limit numbers at one time and everyone is required to wash hands before and after arriving. 

For a barn of 18, I can certainly respect that your barn manager is thinking of limiting boarders during this time, although I can also understand your frustration.


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## Aprilswissmiss (May 12, 2019)

Like @LoriF, I am fortunate enough to board on a private property with only two other boarder horses and the barn owner's horse. The BO and one boarder rarely ride their horses, so I don't need to worry about them. As for the boarder that does ride, she is almost always never there when I am there. Since we do not share anything, all I have to worry about is the gates and barn door handles I touch.

The only actual protocol the BO has announced is that we please all buy one extra bag of feed for our horses in case the feed stores close, or one of us gets sick and has to self-quarantine and can't buy their feed. It was a more of a "FYI, I'm not responsible if your horse runs out of feed" than it was "I'm panicking and need you guys to buy out the feed store."


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## Aprilswissmiss (May 12, 2019)

Whoops, multi-post.


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## Interstellar (Feb 15, 2020)

I keep my three at a medium sized show barn. A few weeks ago the head trainer closed down the entire lesson program and only boarders are allowed entry. We are to use only our things, and to not touch communal fly spray, grooming products, crops, etc. 
Two of the boarders were out of the country prior to all of this hitting the states, so their trunks and tack were moved to one of the trailers and they have to tack up there.
This is all so we can stay open as long as humanly possible.
My non-horse work is closed for the foreseeable future so I am helping out and riding lesson horses to keep them in shape. We are doing low impact gymnastics and cavelletti to get all of the show herd as beefed up as possible in case we are put on a lockdown and are not allowed to remain open. 

The guys have been bleaching everything whenever they aren't doing another chore. Cross ties, floors, handles, hoses, bathroom, doors.... everything gets sprayed with bleach from a roundup weed-killer sprayer. I feel confident and comfortable going to the barn right now with how many precautions we're taking to keep everyone healthy as well as keep our horses in shape!


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## Spanish Rider (May 1, 2014)

We are only allowed on the streets to go to the supermarket (1 person per vehicle), pharmacy or hospital.

Our barn has 4 grooms living on-site, so the horses are fed and cared for, but even BO and my trainer have not been to the barn.

700+ people per day are dying here, so riding is not a priority right now.


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## livelovelaughride (Sep 13, 2011)

Yes, these are not the best of times. Hopefully there will be better news in the future....curves lessening....greater awareness of safety and vigilance even after we are told better times ahead.

The virus is quite contagious, but, really, how many stall doors to you have to lick to get a viral load? (forgive me)


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

Spanish Rider said:


> We are only allowed on the streets to go to the supermarket (1 person per vehicle), pharmacy or hospital.
> 
> Our barn has 4 grooms living on-site, so the horses are fed and cared for, but even BO and my trainer have not been to the barn.
> 
> 700+ people per day are dying here, so riding is not a priority right now.


When this is over, I would love to hear more about your barn and four grooms living there. That sounds so fascinating!


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## Spanish Rider (May 1, 2014)

@Captain Evil , 
I much prefer smaller barns, and I really miss having good trails around. But, since I ride weekday mornings with just BO (international show jumper) and my trainer (competes in Dressage nationally), I avoid all the crowds and kids/newbie lessons and get to ride some exceptional horses (PRE in my photo is GP-trained former national youth champion). The Romanian grooms living on-site are necessary because of the large breeding program, and they are all related (3 generations of one family and cousins). 

Once the weather warms up, though, there is no pasture for the horses, so if supply chains are affected in coming weeks/month,... well, I'd rather not think about that.

Here's a link to some photos:
HÍPICA DE TOLEDO


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

I'm starting to think maybe it WOULD be better if our barn changed to only two people at a time, or something else that was reasonable. We keep getting people I've never seen before coming over. Everyone is bringing their relatives and the relatives' kids (they are bored at home) and running around everywhere. Today there was a group of 10 having a picnic! This can't be good for anyone...


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## HorseFriend88 (Mar 30, 2020)

*COVID 19 - Horse farms*



Horsef said:


> Serbia: ours is closed as per government orders. We can sort of still come because the barn is very secluded but we all agreed that it is a bad idea because we might unintentionally infect the staff who live there - and who would feed the horses then?


We are closed by law too. The horses are fine. Most lesson horses will be fine, with a good turnout every afternoon until morning. They socialize with each other, and with the family who lives on our farm and one farm hand. It is the only way to keep everyone safe - and to abide by the law.


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## HorseFriend88 (Mar 30, 2020)

That is insane. That needs to stop. Won't the owner do something about that ?


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Fortunately, I board at a private barn & there's only 2-3 of us who board. One of the boarders never ever comes to see her horses, so really just me and another girl, but anyway, it's not busy ever & it's usually just me there, the other boarder comes at a different time, so I hangout/ride my horse then leave. :lol: I am confident going to the barn knowing there aren't a lot of people in & out.

But the bigger boarding/show barns here have shut down or they are not letting people see their horses, and they have stopped lessons. :sad: It sucks, I am fortunate that I am able to still see my horse. I'd go insane if I couldn't, it's a great way for me to get fresh air! :lol:


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Our barn is still open to boarders. Most owners work off part of their board by feeding and cleaning stalls, so they have to be there. We don't have any full time, paid staff. All lessons have been canceled. I don't have to be there and have been trying to limit my visits to once or twice each week and if there are more than 2 or 3 people there I just turn around and go back home.


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## Queenofsomethinghopefully (Aug 31, 2018)

I just switched to a new barn and they're trying to bleach or otherwise sanitize stuff, avoid getting close to other people, but not completely shut down. Hopefully they don't have to shut down, but if it is needed they will, understandably. I don't know for certain if they have shut down their lessons, but I'm pretty sure that they have. Too bad we can't video chat with our horses from home... 

But actually... Don't those kind of things exist for dog owners? Like a baby monitor, but for your dog that you can also talk and show video through from your work?


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## Interstellar (Feb 15, 2020)

ACinATX said:


> I'm starting to think maybe it WOULD be better if our barn changed to only two people at a time, or something else that was reasonable. We keep getting people I've never seen before coming over. Everyone is bringing their relatives and the relatives' kids (they are bored at home) and running around everywhere. Today there was a group of 10 having a picnic! This can't be good for anyone...


Our barn has put out that we aren't allowed to bring anyone extra to the facility. That's probably needed at your place.

Now that we're under Stay at Home orders we are having to reevaluate our situation, but since the orders permit leaving to care for pets, we're pretty much okay until further notice or information comes out.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

The barn I stable at is closed to boarders per state guidelines since March 24. For the previous weeks, we had self-scheduled time slots to minimize traffic and maximize distancing.

While I understood it initially, it's now a month since I've been able to see my horse. I don't fault the barn owners--whom I really appreciate and enjoy. They are following state orders... Having said that, I'm now getting agitated. 

I work in healthcare (critical procedure area at a major trauma center) so I'm well aware of COVID and the importance of precautions but I just can't help but feel we all have a right to see/check in on our horses. I'm NOT suggesting we loiter around the barn and congregate in numbers...but I do believe we should all be able to spend 1-2 hours--even if it's once a week--to either spend that time grooming or riding/working our horses and do so without any person to person contact. As much as I truly appreciate the owners, its impossible to provide detailed care for all 40 horses at the barn with just the two of them. 

The barn I use, like many others I'm sure, has morning/noon/evening feedings. I could understand restricting boarders during those times. But, in my opinion, you still can schedule time slots and not impact those that live on the property.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

ACinATX said:


> I'm starting to think maybe it WOULD be better if our barn changed to only two people at a time, or something else that was reasonable. We keep getting people I've never seen before coming over. Everyone is bringing their relatives and the relatives' kids (they are bored at home) and running around everywhere. Today there was a group of 10 having a picnic! This can't be good for anyone...


Under normal circumstances I enjoy when people come over and are interested... but these aren't normal times and those people flocking because they are bored are the ones likely to ruin it for those of us with the actual horses (not to sound snobbish) as barn quarantine/closures might go on longer.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

@CajunCaine a month is a long time. Who is holding them for the farrier? Could you make the argument that you need to do that, as part of their necessary health care, and then go?

I would be going nuts if I couldn't see my horses for a month. Although that's partially because I don't really trust the barn to be looking out for them.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

PoptartShop said:


> Fortunately, I board at a private barn & there's only 2-3 of us who board. One of the boarders never ever comes to see her horses, so really just me and another girl, but anyway, it's not busy ever & it's usually just me there, the other boarder comes at a different time, so I hangout/ride my horse then leave. :lol: I am confident going to the barn knowing there aren't a lot of people in & out.
> 
> But the bigger boarding/show barns here have shut down or they are not letting people see their horses, and they have stopped lessons. :sad: It sucks, I am fortunate that I am able to still see my horse. I'd go insane if I couldn't, it's a great way for me to get fresh air! :lol:


You are very fortunate, indeed. Unfortunately for me, 99% of the barns in my area are all show/jumper so they are heavy-lesson places. Obviously, no lessons the past month...

We have a 5 year old Arabian. I'm 42 and have zero interest in jumping but my daughter (she's 12) and I would like to do endurance racing (which our gelding has done remarkably well in in the past with 3 top-3 finishes in 10 starts). I would LOVE to have contacts to a private barn with access to trails or open land but I live in the Boston metro area so those places don't exist and I don't want to have to travel over an hour one-way to one that does. I sacrifice the less crowded place for the ability to drive 15 min from home and see him everyday (well...that was "everyday" before this quarantine). 

The stable I use is perfect location from home and sits on the border of a state park with over 22 miles of trails. I haven't taken him on the trails yet because they're quite rocky and he's not shod at the moment.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

ACinATX said:


> @CajunCaine a month is a long time. Who is holding them for the farrier? Could you make the argument that you need to do that, as part of their necessary health care, and then go?
> 
> I would be going nuts if I couldn't see my horses for a month. Although that's partially because I don't really trust the barn to be looking out for them.


Sadly, my horse is incredibly good with the farrier and they know it. He'll just stand there. Since the summer, I've only gotten him trimmed as I've just been working with him in the arena so he's not in shoes so he's pretty quick to trim.

The barn owners are really great people. I like them a lot. But 40 horses to care for is a TON for just the 2 of them. Despite their best intentions, I highly doubt they are able to get every horse there enough exercise and attention. Throw in the fact that I self-admit I'm rather OCD with his grooming (don't know who enjoys it more, him or me) and stall care that I've always cleaned his stall even after they did (even if it's "spot clean" and pick up recent droppings) not to mention the extra feeding I give him in addition to what my boarding fees cover.

I know many will agree that horsemanship is a two-way street. We take care of them, but they also care for us. I know this situation is unique in that horses aren't like cats/dogs that can live inside the home, but they ARE still a HUGE part of our family and I do feel like we have a right to see them. I'm not saying "at all costs" and say everyone should carry on as usual, but adhering to a visitation schedule that limits foot traffic can be effectively done. ...and if people don't adhere to their time or go repeatedly go over, then those are the ones you restrict.

I'm glad I found this forum as I'm sure I'll get some very useful tips moving forward, but I actually stubbled across this site searching to see what horse owners from other areas were experiencing and if any were in my same situation and if so, what could possibly be done.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

Horsef said:


> Serbia: ours is closed as per government orders. We can sort of still come because the barn is very secluded but we all agreed that it is a bad idea because we might unintentionally infect the staff who live there - and who would feed the horses then?


Out of curiosity, where are you located?


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

weeedlady said:


> Our barn is still open to boarders. Most owners work off part of their board by feeding and cleaning stalls, so they have to be there. We don't have any full time, paid staff. All lessons have been canceled. I don't have to be there and have been trying to limit my visits to once or twice each week and if there are more than 2 or 3 people there I just turn around and go back home.


At least you get the option of seeing your horse once or twice a week.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

CajunCaine said:


> The barn owners are really great people. I like them a lot. But 40 horses to care for is a TON for just the 2 of them. Despite their best intentions, I highly doubt they are able to get every horse there enough exercise and attention.


Could you get them to take you on as a "volunteer helper", but basically you'd just be taking care of your own horse? 40 horses is a ton of horses for just two people. Especially if they are stalled.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

CajunCaine said:


> I live in the Boston metro


Has Boston hit peak for cases yet? I thought your area was a couple weeks behind us in terms of the curve (I am in NE Pa). We hopefully just hit peak over the weekend.

The problem with opening up large boarding barns is that you know some people won't abide by the rules and therefore put the owners and staff at risk. As usual, its awful that the stupidity of a few ruins things for everyone else. Hopefully as your area hits peak and starts coming down the other side, your BO will start allowing visitation again.

Hope to see you on trail at some point this season, assuming we get any rides at all. Maybe things will have settled down for NEATO (which is probably the closest ride to you).


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

ACinATX said:


> Could you get them to take you on as a "volunteer helper", but basically you'd just be taking care of your own horse? 40 horses is a ton of horses for just two people. Especially if they are stalled.


I did make that offer. ...but so did every other boarder. Additionally, there's probably a couple of boarders that are personal friends of the owners and have multiple horses and have been boarders there for a number of years. I'm the "newbie" as I've only boarded with them since July of last year.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

phantomhorse13 said:


> Has Boston hit peak for cases yet? I thought your area was a couple weeks behind us in terms of the curve (I am in NE Pa). We hopefully just hit peak over the weekend.
> 
> The problem with opening up large boarding barns is that you know some people won't abide by the rules and therefore put the owners and staff at risk. As usual, its awful that the stupidity of a few ruins things for everyone else. Hopefully as your area hits peak and starts coming down the other side, your BO will start allowing visitation again.
> 
> Hope to see you on trail at some point this season, assuming we get any rides at all. Maybe things will have settled down for NEATO (which is probably the closest ride to you).


I honestly don't know if we hit our peak for cases yet. One issue I have with all of these projections is the inaccuracies of them.

I hadn't heard of NEATO. All the events my horse has be in were down in Texas before we got him. I've only owned him since last June.


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## Dixiesmom (May 26, 2013)

Mine is self care, and most of the barns (4 horse shed rows) are shared by 2owners, so we were already separating AM &PM chores. When we ride, we are very careful about social distancing.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

_You said it beautifully phantomhorse._



CajunCaine said:


> As much as I truly appreciate the owners, its impossible to provide detailed care for all 40 horses at the barn with just the two of them.
> 
> The barn I use, like many others I'm sure, has morning/noon/evening feedings. I could understand restricting boarders during those times. But, in my opinion, you still can schedule time slots and not impact those that live on the property.



_Please do not take this the wrong way or negatively, it is not meant as such...
_

I'm surprised as you said you work in "critical care procedure area" that you not equate the same applies to the horses as to humans...
_When your critical care census is down so is your workload..._
I don't think you realize how much interruption of a day occurs when boarders are around... :|
I know when Triage, ER, ICU/CCU are busy and filled so is the staff running busy and ragged..

I have worked in barns and can tell you the difference having to work around, change up what my plan was to now distance myself from you, from the next boarder, then the next is going to add hours to my days work.
40 horses...detailed care _*is*_ absolutely possible when the interruptions no longer exist.
The chance of someone strolling in to see their horse being a silent carrier is just to great a threat for the barn staff.
Boston is still in the hotspot of the tri-state area..huge numbers of walking sick everywhere yet.

Actually, I applaud your B/O for following law and protocol telling you no admittance so the horses can get the very best of care you expect and they need...these are trying times for everyone. 
_*It only takes one germ*_...from a shoe no less to be passed by someone to have a disaster.
We are all housebound and agitated...
You are on the front-lines with medical care given, so yes you face a danger of exposure but you also are out and interacting with colleagues at work...we at home interact in the same walls, same faces and attitudes and it is monotonous boring and everyone is testy.
I'm very surprised your not dealing hands-on with Covid patients since most at some point are in those critical care procedure units..at least from your posts I took you to not having Covids on your unit area.
If you are in elective surgery/procedures area, they _are_ closed down since all electives have been cancelled... Then you too are going stir-crazy. But emergent is emergent, period.
If you do work with Covids my thoughts were off-duty you were to self-isolate as much as humanly possible cause the risk of you carrying, being infected is great.... = no barn.

I'm not trying to be negative,_ absolutely not_... but yes between 2 people 40 horses can be very well cared for on a daily basis when there are no interruptions of humans walking around.
_I've done it _so know from experience and first hand I can clean, bed, t/o, groom, feed and replenish foods as long as you let me work at my pace and with no one in my way. 
20 stalls per person, 20 animals fed and card for..._it works_ and can be done with animals cared for better than you think.
Unless your horse is on paid board with B/O riding & exercising then they have no permission to do such. T/O is far different than riding/exercising care.
I can only imagine just 4 boarders at a time on premise the disruption to a well-oiled machine chugging along..with someone running over their time limit a few minutes....oh heck no! :frown_color:

:runninghorse2:...


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## SEAmom (Jan 8, 2011)

In Ohio (USA), all outside lessons are cancelled. Many are still having lessons for leasers and owners. Some are restricting access times and scheduling leasers/boarders for certain time chunks. Everyone is recommending keeping distance from other boarders - some are doing so better than others. 

Where I board has been pretty lax, but there's a lot of space to move around and it's not very busy with outside lessons cancelled. Any remaining lessons are 2 people max as far as I've seen. 

Where my daughter takes her lessons, there's less space, more close interaction with others, and some boarders with health issues that warrant extra care in coming into contact with others, so she has a schedule for boarders/leasers to minimize the number of people on the property at a time and is limiting boarder/leaser lessons to a max of 2 riders per with most lessons being single person.


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

horselovinguy said:


> _You said it beautifully phantomhorse._
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No offense taken.

I work in a cardiac Cath lab and we rotate days off so no one is there every day. Elective cases are cancelled but heart attacks happen and we still see those every day (5 yesterday). Some have been COVID +.

Am I concerned my horse won't get fed or his stall neglected? No. (I happen to have a horse that is virtually litter box trained--only poops in one corner. Every time. LOL!)

Do I think he's getting out as much as he needs? Gets the same detail in his feeding regiment? Gets groomed as much? This is where I'll respectfully disagree with you. I know he hasn't (they've even said as much).

Again, I'm not blaming them and I'm not even trying to criticize them. I could be mistaken, but I believe there's approximately 12-14 boarders. Even they allowed 2 boarders to come in each day (one after AM feeding and before lunch and the other after lunch before PM) there would be no overlap and everyone could at least see their horse once a week (again, I haven't seen my horse since March 23). 

There are 4 sets of barns on the property (my horse is stalled in the biggest). If I'm there, I could clean and tend to my own, do our thing and leave and not ever have to come in contact with anyone.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

CajunCaine said:


> I honestly don't know if we hit our peak for cases yet. One issue I have with all of these projections is the inaccuracies of them.
> 
> I hadn't heard of NEATO. All the events my horse has be in were down in Texas before we got him. I've only owned him since last June.


 I think the projections are the best guess.. but there is just so much that isn't known.


Did your gelding come from Devon H? It's not that gorgeous chestnut she was advertising it is? Feel free to PM me as it doesn't have anything to do with covid-19, but I am quite nosy. :smile:


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## CajunCaine (Apr 21, 2020)

phantomhorse13 said:


> Did your gelding come from Devon H? It's not that gorgeous chestnut she was advertising it is? Feel free to PM me as it doesn't have anything to do with covid-19, but I am quite nosy. :smile:


LOL! No worries! He came from Welcome Arabians outside San Antonio.


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