Due to COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing, some boarding barns have put strict schedules in place, allowing boarders to visit and ride their horses individually. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse

Sheltering in place was easy. Sonny and I don’t travel much, even to local horse shows. Weekend activities are generally limited to a handful of barnmates who gather at our boarding barn, gossip, and plan lunch at a local burger joint.

Then COVID-19 began its march across the country. Suddenly, the barn was no longer the linchpin of my equestrian social life.

Suddenly there were rules: social distancing, self-isolation, and prescribed personal hygiene