Horse riders in England, Wales and Scotland are being told that they can get back in the saddle and start riding their horses again, this comes after changes announced by the UK government surrounding Coronavirus.
PM Boris Johnson announced on the 10th May 2020 that certain lockdown restrictions would be eased, and following from this the British Horse Society has sent out a statement;
“We are encouraging our members and the wider equestrian community in England, Scotland and Wales to resume riding whilst maintaining social distancing and staying alert to control the virus. This is with immediate effect in Scotland and Wales (please check your nation’s advice) and with effect from Wednesday 13th May in England.
Northern Ireland will remain in lock-down and riding is not advised. The Republic of Ireland will remain in lock-down until Monday 18th May and further guidance will follow.
The UK Government amended the COVID-19 lock-down restrictions for England as of Wednesday 13th May and, today, has produced its COVID-19 Recovery Strategy which provides further information and guidance which includes advice on:
Taking unlimited outdoor exercise with members of your household
Meeting up or taking exercise with one person maximum from outside your household in an outdoor setting whilst maintaining social distancing
Returning to work if you cannot work from home
We have prepared the BHS’s guidance as to how best to adopt this guidance for all our equestrian stakeholders. However, we have been made aware that Sport England will be producing equestrian specific guidance within the next 48 hours and as such we have decided to review this information before we release our guidance to ensure that we are aligned with Sport England and the BEF Member Bodies.
Following a review of our guidance that we hope to share later in the week, a range of risk assessments and FAQs will be released to assist all our stakeholder groups through their return to riding and business.”
