By now, you all are probably under quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this time has brought about a lot of fear and uneasiness as we all adjust to a new normal. In some places, you may not be allowed to go to your boarding barn, or leave the house at all. I’d like to tell you all it will end quickly, but I’m guessing it’ll take a while to return life to normal.
Some countries are even restricting whether or not you can ride your horse, due to the dangers it presents. If you are bucked off or injured, there may not be any available emergency responders to help you, nor available space in hospitals, and you would be taking care away from COVID-19 patients. You are an adult and can make that judgement call yourself, but it is something to consider (however it is not your choice if your country or state has mandated it…)
So what are some things you could be doing with your extra free time that so unexpectedly dropped into our laps? We are all adjusting to a new normal, but with change comes opportunity. Use your time wisely so you don’t regret this free time that was dropped in your lap.
Make a Training program
You can use this time to create a training program and plan for riding once you can return to it fully.
Decide what your goals are and how you are going to reach them. I find that writing things down really helps me solidify my goals and work toward them. Find a journal or notebook and write down your riding goals and the steps you are going to take to get there.
Check out this related post about equestrian bullet journaling (hint – you could do that during the quarantine too!)
Once you know what you are trying to accomplish, make a training plan to get there. Will you get lessons? Or perhaps work on a different part of your training each week?
Clean your Tack
Maybe this one is just a reminder to myself, because I am not good at cleaning my tack. But I have already pulled out both of my horse’s bridles and got those cleaned and conditioned. This is a great time to bring home your tack and clean it up!
You can watch TV while you do it, or listen to a book on your phone. You should have some free time, so use it spiff up your tack and give it a much needed conditioning.
Clean the Barn
Spring is a great time for cleaning anyway, but now you have the added bonus of being asked to stay home. So why not get to work on cleaning the dust and cobwebs from the barn or completing the next painting projects you had in mind?
Projects could include:
- Painting the barn/stalls/jumps/poles
- Clean the horse trailer
- Strip and deep clean stalls (think washing and disinfecting mats and walls as well)
- Clean your tack trunk or tack room
- Wash your horse’s blankets, sheets, fly masks, boots, etc
Related post: 9 Thing Every Horse Owner Should Do This Spring
Participate in an online horse show
If you are allowed to ride wherever you live, now is a great time to explore the world of online horse shows. I keep wanting to do this as well!
There are several different online horse shows. Here are a couple to check out:
Online Horse Showing – An online horse show based in the UK, but worldwide entries are welcome. If you win something and want the prize, you will probably need to pay for shipping.
Global Showing – Another UK based show, but anyone is welcome to enter. There are ribbons and prizes as well.
S&P Online Horse Showing – this is only available on Facebook. Great ribbons as well!
You can practice your showing without the pressure and cost of going to an actual horse show! And, you are staying at home like you are supposed to. I know it doesn’t replace the real thing, but you are doing your part by social distancing and you get a little bit of friendly competition.
Catch up on your reading.
I am not referring to the latest novel you’ve opened (although you can do that too). But rather, why not read some horse books that you’ve been meaning to? Or re-read some you already have but really enjoyed. I know I have purchased a couple different horse books that I just haven’t had the time to read. Now is a great time to read a training or philosophy book in your discipline of choice.
Here is my reading list for the quarantine:
- Beyond the Track: Retraining the Thoroughbred from Racehorse to Riding Horse
- Jane Savoie’s Dressage 101: The Ultimate Source of Dressage Basics in a Language You Can Understand
- The Dressage Chronicles (A work of fiction)
- 101 Ground Training Exercises for Every Horse and Handler
Related Post: The Top 14 Horse Training Books
You can use this time to learn something new by reading some new horse books (or re-reading old ones). How often will we be presented with the opportunity to stay home and have the spare time to read? Not very often, so don’t mess it up!
Bake some horse treats
You have the free time, so why not bake some horse treats! There are quite a few varieties of home made horse treats out there, so you could even try a few different recipes to see what your horse likes the most. Make sure you are using horse safe ingredients and aren’t overloading your horse with sugar, especially if they are Insulin Resistant.
The Original Book of Horse Treats: Recipes You Can Make at Home for Your Horse! This is a link to a recipe book for horse treats in case you want to have a book to keep track of your horse treat recipes.
Here are a few recipes you can try:
KV Supply 6 Easy Homemade Horse Treat Recipes
The Budget Equestrian Horse Treat Recipe
Thehorse.com Horse approved Homemade Horse treats
And in case you don’t want to bake horse treats, these are my favorite treats you can purchase right now:
Enjoy Yums Horse Treats – I love these because they are small and horses love all the flavors. They are even easy to break in half, doubling the number of treats you’ll get out of a bag.
Pony Donuts Horse Treats – These treats are handcrafted by the Little Horse Bakery. They are cute, colorful and horses and ponies love them!
Good Juju Horse Treats – Homemade all natural horse treats.
Sort and Clean your tack and Apparel
You know how you always think, “I should go through my stuff and sell what I don’t use?”, yeah well now is a great time!
Take some of your free time to sort through everything and only keep what you actually use. This includes your horse’s apparel (think blankets, sheets, books, tack, etc) and your apparel as well (breeches, show clothes, boots and more). I’m sure you have extra stuff sitting around.
Wash or clean up the tack and apparel you do not need and take pictures of them, so they are easier to sell. You can list them for sale whenever you have the time to do this. The most commonly used places to sell horse stuff include: Facebook Marketplace and horse groups, Ebay, or Craigslist.
Keep in mind that you’ll need to pack and ship your items, so make sure you have packing materials available. *Tip – You can have the post office or UPS simply pick up your packages, so you don’t even need to go out to the post office. Go to their websites to learn more about pick up options.
So what are you trying to accomplish during the pandemic? Perhaps your work schedule is completely un-disrupted and if so, that is great because you can keep going on with life as normal. But if you find yourself with some spare time, then I hope you can enjoy completing some of the items on this list to keep you busy.
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