10 Equestrian Things to do During Lockdown
Magazine Reads :: Everything Horse
You may be a taskmaster and have already done a lot of what’s on our ’10 Equestrian Things to do During Lockdown’ list. Some, however, can get a little lost for things to do when out of routine, especially when stuck at home. So, with this in mind, here is a list of equestrian things to do to keep everyone busy over the following week.
Remember though …
No matter what you do, remember to stay safe and well. Social distancing from others by doing the below-listed tasks at home (where possible) will keep not only you safe but your fellow yard goers too.
- Take your tack home to clean – cleaning tack is also a good time to check for wear and tear too. Wash saddle pads and bandages where you can with an animal-friendly detergent and leave to dry outside.
- Clean your brushes – after a winter of brushing mud and dirt from your horse, they will be long overdue a good clean. Remove hair first! Otherwise, it gets unnecessarily messy, and remember to reduce the time those brushes with wooden backs are left to soak. Brush Therapy is a good product to use here.
- Dust, de-cobweb and disinfect the stable – standard, and normally boring but at times like these it may even seem a little more interesting (please do let us know!).
- Go back to the basics with your horse when riding in the school. Practice work without stirrups, circles, engagement and transactions. Write out a five-day plan of riding tasks to complete in a diary, then after completing follow up with a paragraph on how it went and areas you can work on. Take this with you into next week’s planning and go from there.
- Paint and repair jump wings and poles – you may even want to get creative and make your own set of cavaletti jumps (if of course you already have the tools and spare parts).
- Design, print and laminate a new set of letters for the arena. Get creative use images that represent letter on the paper.
- Give your trailer, or horsebox an M.O.T, ok not as in the motor trade type, but now is a good time to check the flooring (don’t forget to check underneath the mats for rot!) Test the ramp for security, top-up oil and water, give the cab a clean and give the horse stall area a good disinfecting.
- Take all your old, and unwanted tack etc home to clean and prepare for sale. Once social distancing has been lifted, advertise on platforms such as Everything Horse Classifieds.
- Speak to your coach, or instructor to see if they wouldn’t mind you sending a video of you riding over for their feedback.
- Catch up with your equestrian friends with a glass of wine on your laptop! It’s good to check in to see what everyone’s been up to.
No matter what you do, remember to stay safe and well. Social distancing from others by doing the above-listed tasks, where possible at home will keep not only you safe but your fellow yard goers too.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.