Manitoba Horse Council

> The Manitoba Horse Council office is closed to personal visitors until further notice, however John Savard and Linda Hazelwood can be reached by phone and email during normal business hours.

> COVID-19 Update January 22, 2021

The update on January 22 does not change any restrictions on equestrian facilities and lessons.

Quoting from EngageMB (Provincial Government advice system): "Under the orders an equestrian facility is permitted to be open for the care of animals, this would include allowing owners who rent space to come onto the property to ride, feed or care for the horses. The facility is not permitted to provide lessons or training as section 75 is intended for educational type instructions, such as math or English tutoring." You may continue to offer training online or through other remote means, but for safety this does not include mounted lessons.

The chief provincial public health officer urges Manitobans to only leave their homes for essential purposes. Avoiding prolonged close contact with those outside your household is an important responsibility of all Manitobans at this time."

In the words of the old cowhand: "Git in, git 'er done, and git out!'

For advice on running a facility during Covid restrictions, the Return to Operations document is on the Competition page of this site.

We cannot stress strongly enough that the rules of conduct are mandated by the provincial government and they apply to all, regardless of affiliation. No one should think that because they are not members of MHC, that the rules don’t apply; they do. Furthermore, they’re not rules, they are laws - in the form of amendments to the Public Health Act of Manitoba. These requirements may be amended, but will remain in place for as long as the provincial government deems the measures necessary.

When the Code Red is lifted, and even if your equestrian activity is not linked to MHC, we encourage you to read and use the Return to Play/Return to Competition protocols as they are the guidelines approved by the Province of Manitoba, and are the standard to which your activity will be held.

Please note that provincial guidelines may be amended from time to time and it is the facility/event organizer's responsibility to be aware of any changes. The gov.mb.ca website link gives current information as of the day an Order is applied.

A number of provincial and federal grants are noted in this link. Please take the time to review them, as eligibility has changed for some of the programs.