Ontario Equestrian Coronavirus Updates

Updated:

March 17, 2020

Dear Ontario Equestrians,

Ontario Equestrian (OE), in conjunction with Equestrian Canada and the other Equestrian Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations across the country, is closely monitoring news from the World Health Organization, national and provincial sport system partners and provincial and local authorities, to help minimize the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we endeavour to provide the best possible level of service while simultaneously protecting the health and wellbeing of our community and employees.

Office Operations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the senior leadership team at Ontario Equestrian, in consultation with the President of the Board of Directors, has made the decision to suspend operation at the OE office as of March 17, 2020.

OE staff will work remotely until further notice.

The OE team can be reached Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 pm via the following:

Tracey McCague-McElrea, Executive Director: t.mccague@ontarioequestrian.ca
Toyin Fambegbe, Director of Finance: toyin@ontarioequestrian.ca
Brandon Hall, Director of Marketing & Communications: b.hall@ontarioequestrian.ca
Charlayne Szafranski, Coaching Coordinator: c.szafranski@ontarioequestrian.ca
Kelly Griffiths, Membership & Operations Coordinator: k.griffiths@ontarioequestrian.ca
Hilary Gregory, Program Coordinator: h.gregory@ontarioequestrian.ca

Membership renewals will still be available online by clicking below:

Join/Renew

If you have any questions during the process please contact us:

Toll Free: 1-877-441-7112 ext. 13

Email: info@ontarioequestrian.ca

Events/Clinics/Competitions

Effective March 16, all OE events/clinics/sanctioned competitions will be required to be cancelled or postponed until at least April 12, 2020.

This includes the following:

Events/Clinics - March

March 19 - Coach Licensing Session
March 22 - OE Lunging Clinic @ Quantum Farm
March 23 - NCCP EC Competition Coach Equestrian Specific Training Workshop
March 25 - Coach Licensing Session
March 27 - Hope Haven Rookie Riders Clinic @ OE
March 29 - English Evaluation @ Pickering Horse Centre
March 30 - NCCP/EC Competition Coach Equestrian Specific Workshop @ OE

Events/Clinics - April

April 4 - English Instructor and Competition Coach Evaluation @ JAK Innovations Equestrian Centre
April 5 - English Competition Coach Specialist Evaluation Preparation Clinic @ Quantum Farm

The OE Team will work to reschedule the clinics and events over the coming months.

Sanctioned Competitions

OE sanctioned competitions between March 16 and April 12, 2020.

To the competition organizers, we will refund your sanctioning fees or credit your re-scheduled competition.

Biosecurity

We encourage the continued use of biosecurity best practices to ensure the health and safety of humans and equines alike.

Biosecurity refers to the set of principles and practices used to reduce the risks posed by pathogens. The National Farm and Facility Level Biosecurity Standard for the Equine Sector provides measures that horse owners and custodians may take to minimize the introduction of pathogens onto a property, contain the spread of pathogens within the property and/or limit their spread off the property.

It is important for facility owners, managers and custodians to review their farm- and facility-specific biosecurity plan for both humans and equines (see Section 3 of the National Farm and Facility Level Biosecurity Standard for the Equine Sector), including the potential for a farm or facility owner, manager or caretaker to fall ill or become quarantined.

Consider the following recommendations should key persons within a facility fall ill or become quarantined:

Update current daily routines and management procedures in an available format should the central facility management person be unavailable and to ensure all information is readily available for temporary replacement person(s);
Review current essential needs inventory for a two- to three-week period, including hay, shavings, feed and equine medication;
Establish a communication system for all owners, riders, and third-party service providers to understand daily prevention and biosecurity procedures; including signage; and,
Consider a contingency plan for the delivery of essential goods should the facility or household be quarantined (identification of a neutral drop off point).

For information on COVID-19 as it relates to equines and recommended practices for biosecurity, please visit following resources:

We know that this is a difficult time and we will provide updates as they are necessary and available.

Stay safe everyone.

The Board and Staff of Ontario Equestrian

Photo: Canstock/Zabava