I made getting my hay supply replenished priority No. 1 when news broke of COVID-19 reaching Seattle. | Photo: Michelle N. Anderson/The Horse

We at The Horse are used to disease outbreaks of the equine variety. We post content continuously about preventing disease spread and how to effectively quarantine sick horses. We have a plan for that. But what about outbreaks of the human variety? I personally hadn’t considered an instance where I could be the quarantined one.

As news about the novel coronavirus affecting humans (SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease now known as COVID-19) started to circulate, it caught my attention. I’ve sat through enough equine epidemiology lectures to know that respiratory diseases spread rapidly and exponentially. My sister, who works as a nurse in public schools, kept me up to date on information she had before the media picked it up and encouraged me to prepare for the worst-case scenario. With my busy work and personal schedules, I didn’t have time to panic about a potential pandemic, but I did text my hay guy to come replenish my inventory, which was running low. With two more tons in the barn, I went about my life.

Then Northern Italy went on lockdown and my husband noted we were almost out of coffee. I considered what a caffeine-free 14-day quarantine would mean and decided we should probably do some prepping. Off to Costco we went (and, yes, our Costco was out of toilet paper, too)