Under Covid-19 Alert Level 4:
You should be staying within your own bubble and only having contact with those who live with you. You can travel to your horses if they don’t live at your address (if the landowner allows it) and ride on the property that your horse/s is kept.
Coaches and trainers should work from home and use online and video conferencing facilities to deliver their coaching and training. The exception to this rule is if the coach/trainer is providing services to a rider/s already within their self-isolation group or “bubble”.
Under Covid-19 Alert Level 3:
Under Alert Level 3, businesses and services (this includes equestrian coaches) can operate unless they are unable to comply with the requirements relevant to the kind of the business/service. Under the Order, businesses and services must have systems and processes in place to comply with Clause 35 of the Order.
The current Health Order can be found here and it’s important that everyone reads and understands the conditions in the Order fully.
Coaches can travel short distances to coach but their clients can’t come to their business premise, as per the Order.
Coaches and trainers will need a Covid worksafe plan.
Under Covid-19 Alert Level 2:
Horse-riding lessons can take place as long as public health measures are followed. Any group lessons are restricted to a maximum of 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Coaches and trainers will need a Covid worksafe plan.
https://worksafe.govt.nz/managing-health-and-safety/novel-coronavirus-covid/
Under Covid-19 Alert Level 1:
Equestrian coaches can teach, including travelling within the country. There are no restrictions around group size.
You should have a Covid-19 Worksafe plan in place, which would be on top of your regular health and safety plan. And keep records of who you coach and when, for contact tracing purposes.
Yes, a lot of equestrian coaches are giving advice by video – you can either do this live or have your student send you a pre-recorded session of them riding, for you to give advice on. They will need a support person on the ground to video them. Please ensure they stay safe and don’t attempt anything that will put them at more risk.
https://covid19.govt.nz/ is the go-to page for up to date information about Covid-19.
Yes, provided you have a Covid-19 Worksafe plan in place, additional to your regular health and safety plan.
(only under Levels 1-3)
No. ESNZ’s insurance for registered coaches only covers public liability and statutory.
First Aid Certificates are valid for two years. In person first aid courses are not available under Alert Level 4 but you should have an extension if your renewals falls in this period. Online courses are being offered in some instances. Check with your usual provider, otherwise both the Red Cross (https://www.redcross.org.nz/) and St John’s (https://buy.stjohn.org.nz/first-aid/first-aid-courses/) cover most of NZ.
NZ Police are still running their police checking at this time so this can still be completed for you. You still need to allow at least 20 working days for this.
Please complete the form as best as you can (an updated one will be listed on the Coach page of the website shortly), with what ongoing development you have done to date. Allowances will be made for those who may be short on this requirement.
You must have a Covid-19 Worksafe plan in place to be operating as an equestrian coach in Level 1-3.
Your plan, which will be additional to your regular health and safety plan, must include the following:
- How will you manage the risks of restarting part or all of your operations at the Alert Level?
- How will you ensure all students/riders are able to keep themselves safe from exposure to COVID-19?
- How will you gather information on your students’ wellness to ensure they are safe and well to ride?
- How will you operate your business in a way that keeps students and other people safe from exposure to COVID-19?
- How will you manage an exposure or suspected exposure to COVID-19?
- How will you check to see if your work processes and risk controls are effective?
- How do any changes impact on the risks of the work you do?