Qualified Professional Independent Saddle Fitting

• Freedom Saddlery is located at Whitegate Farm Livery and Training Centre, near Chester. Appointments are available at the premises which enjoys an indoor and outdoor arena, wash box, stabling and large secure parking area. Appointments are available during evenings and weekends, as well as during the week. Please familiarise yourself with the Terms and Conditions for attending Whitegate Farm.

• Appointments are also available at clients' preferred location, although please note there will be a far longer lead time for this type of appointment. Pleas note there is minimum number of five horses are required to be booked in for an offsite appointment. - bookings to be pre agreed and booked.

• Pony saddle appointments will only be conducted at Freedom Saddlery's premises.

• All clients must read and agree to the Terms and Conditions for Freedom Saddlery

• Cancellations must be within 48 hours - appointment fee not refunded unless slot can be filled. This is particularly important for clinics where a minimum number of clients are required.

Location click here - Whitegate Farm Livery & Training Centre, Lower Mountain Road, Hope , Flintshire, LL12 9RW 

Cost

Consultations at Whitegate Farm are £65.

Additional saddles are £25 as this involves extra appointment time. Additional riders no extra charge.

• Local - mileage at 75p one way from Whitegate Farm
• Ireland - additional £25 to cover expenses (minimum number of clients required per visit)
• Channel Islands - price by negotiation (minimum number of clients required per visit)
• Wilts/Gloucester/Bolney - £25 fixed diesel as long as more than 5 clients seen
• Anglesey - £10 fixed diesel for one location clinic of 7 or more.

Saddle Fitting Consultation

• Full saddle evaluation (this can be existing or new potential saddle)
• Horse evaluation (including back profiles taken)
• Riderless Saddle Evaluation*
• Mounted Saddle Evaluation*
• A saddle report to keep with your horse's records.
• All advice is based on the measurements taken on the day and fully documented.

*If you need a further follow up appointment this appointment fee is chargeable each time as it is payable per appointment

*Mounted evaluations will NOT take place where saddles clearly do not fit and cannot be altered, but should always take place to confirm a saddle fits. If the client is unwilling to have the saddle mounted for the check, a waiver will need to be signed.

COVID-19 update

We are now operating fully with Covid protocols.

Indoor equestrian arena air quality levels are hygienically harmless.

By Steph Bradley

In a recent article in Smart Buildings Magazine, it was shown that monitoring levels of carbon dioxide was of clear benefit when assessing the risk of coronavirus being passed through aerosol transmission.

The abridged article is copied below to provide background to my own simple study, linking this to indoor equestrian arenas, proving they are risk free environments subject to usual social distancing as one would do if outside.

Carbon Dioxide monitoring to lower the coronavirus threat

Published 2nd November, 2020 by John Hatcher

There is evidence that carbon dioxide levels in buildings correlate strongly with the airborne spread of infection. Consequently, CO2 monitors could act as the “canary in the coalmine” to mitigate the coronavirus threat.

Carbon dioxide is generated by the exhaled air of people who stay indoors. Each person in a building will exhale approximately eight litres of air per minute: air that has been in close contact with the lung tissue (1). Alongside CO2 at a concentration around 40,000 parts per million (ppm), the exhalation also contains tiny liquid droplets (aerosols) which, due to their size, can float in the air for a long time. These droplets will contain any virus particles present in the lungs. Research shows a method to mitigate infection can be implemented with CO2 monitors on site.

There is some consensus that sinking speeds of such aerosols are typically a few meters per hour and a decrease in biological virus infection activity has a half-life of approximately three hours in laboratory conditions (2). This means that the room air remains polluted for a long time. If a healthy person inhales these contaminated droplets, and if the number of virus particles they contain exceeds a minimum infectious dose, the disease is transmitted. Whilst it is difficult to measure the viral load directly, energy harvesting wireless sensors are the ideal way to monitor CO2 levels and hence prevent the build-up of reused air.

If we are in a room with several people, the measurement of the CO2 concentration provides a measure of what percentage of the air we inhale which consists of air that has already been exhaled by other people. The mass balance shows that a measured CO2 concentration of approx. 1200 ppm means that almost 2% of the air in the room has already had lung contact at least once. At this level, every 50th breath that a person takes in this room consists of air that has already been exhaled. It is clear that CO2 measurement offers a cost-effective solution for classifying the current risk from potentially infectious aerosols.

Putting the research into practice, the Federal Environment Agency has drawn up general guidelines for health assessment of carbon dioxide in indoor air, which includes advice regarding SARS-CoV-2 – advice that is also relevant to COVID-19. Accordingly, a concentration of <1000 ppm is hygienically harmless. The guideline classifies a concentration between 1000 and 2000 ppm as questionable and anything above it as unacceptable. CO2 is also an important indicator in the DGHK (Deutsche Gesellschaft für das hochbegabte Kind - German society for gifted children) statement on prevention in schools.

Similarly, the UBA (Umweltbundesamt - German Environment Agency) ventilation working group recommends the use of CO2 traffic lights for this purpose. The DGVU (Unfallkasse) goes even further and advocates a target value of 700 ppm in classrooms in times of epidemic. The latest findings are summarized in the UBA guide "Ventilation in schools" (15.10.20), which was created for the KMK (Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland).

What level is safe?

Elsewhere, Prof John Wenger, director of the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry in UCC suggests a target of 1,000 ppm if CO2 is being used as a proxy for COVID-19 in classrooms, and argues that room level transmission is “the key. It’s in the air, and it can fill a room. The amount of the virus in the air can accumulate, and we get an increased exposure. If you’re indoors, in a poorly ventilated room for a long time, then you’re at quite a high risk even if you’re distanced, because the air moves around.”

Indoor CO2 measurements using easy and low-cost to install sensors hold promise for mass monitoring of indoor aerosol transmission risk for Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases. Different CO2 level targets should be set based on the environment and activity type, since infection risk level has been shown to vary by a factor of 100 or more depending on the situation and activity type. Factors such as the number of infected people in a region, and measures such as mask-wearing or air filtration may reduce presence of the airborne virus without reducing CO2 levels. Certain activities increase virus emission far more than CO2 levels, such as talking, singing and shouting. Both CO2 and the virus are diluted by ventilation with outdoor air. They are not, however removed by recirculating the air, for example through heat exchangers.

Summary of levels

CO2 levels <1000ppm are classed as “hygienically harmless” for aerosol spread of coronavirus infection

>1000ppm but <2000ppm questionable risk

>2000ppm unacceptable risk

Indoor Arena Study

Given the above, I have measured the levels of CO2 in my 20mx40m indoor riding arena using and the centre’s own horses and staff. The arena has four walls with a corrugated roof allowing air circulation and a large door.

The C02 levels were measured as follows:

No persons inside - 402ppm (outside CO2 in a rural area 400ppm)

After 45 minutes of 4 ridden horses working in a 20x40 covered arena with one person on foot - CO2 : 580ppm.

This was all with the large door open.

A 45 minute lesson with an instructor and a single rider and horse with the door closed : 445ppm measured at the end of the lesson.

Summary of findings

My simple study shows that the air quality in indoor equestrian arenas with four walls to be at the “hygienically harmless” level when horses and riders are present and active. Horses themselves expel CO2 and the levels measured are including the CO2 exhaled from both humans and equines.

Therefore, based on the levels measured in this research, there is no scientific basis to ban the use of these indoor arenas - however they are defined by DEFRA.

.

Whilst a simple study, it easily and effectively shows the continued use of an indoor arena with four walls and one door maintains safe levels of risk of infection.

I respectfully suggest the equestrian member bodies use this research to fully lobby the UK and devolved governments (especially Wales where indoor arena use was restricted for an additional 9 weeks beyond those elsewhere in UK). Equestrians have endured almost a year of incorrect risk classification of indoor arenas.

Governments need to gain a clearer understanding to make restrictions more relevant to risk. Disproportionate restrictions placed on these premises have caused huge financial strain and disruption on equestrian businesses relying on their income and use. 

Pictured above - CO2 monitor used.

Acknowledgements:

Graham Martin

CEO and Chairman, EnOcean Alliance (ref: article Nov 2020 in “Smart Buildings” magazine.

(1) COVID-19 Prävention: CO2-Messung und bedarfsorientierte Lüftung - https://www.umwelt-campus.de/f...

(2) Modelling aerosol transport and virus exposure with numerical simulations in relation to SARS-CoV-2 transmission by inhalation indoors - https://www.sciencedirect.com/...