Hello Knollwood Families and Students!

Winter is encroaching, albiet slowly and with the most pleasant sunny days.  This means closed doors, closed windows, and fans being off in the lounges and barns.  COVID cases are also on the rise and have been in the state of Wisconsin and all over the US for sometime now.  All of that being at the forefront of our minds and keeping our staff, riders and families safe and healthy so we can all keep riding, we have updated some of our COVID requirements and would just like to remind you of a few others:

MASKING

We have always required masking in the building, and while we previously said that they could be pulled down when in a stall alone with a horse, we are now asking that everyone is in a mask at all times in any shared space.  Even if you are alone in a stall, the barn is a shared space and it is all too easy to just run over to double check the chart, or grab a different sized girth without remembering to put your mask up.  As it is a state mandate and also recommended by the CDC, we want to eliminate any of those moments where people might forget to pull up their masks by just requiring that they're on at all times.

QUARANTINING

The CDC has recently changed their quarantine requirement after a close contact COVID encounter.  Close contact is defind by the CDC as being within 6 feet for 15 minutes.  They are now recommending a 10 day quarantine instead of a 14 day quarantine, OR a 7 day quarantine with a negative COVID test taken at the 5 day mark of your quarantine. It is recommended that you continue to monitor symptoms from there and if any occur, you resume your quarantine.  These recommendations, as always, are the ones we are adopting for our policy.  If you have symptoms or have been made aware of an exposure, please quarantine along these quidelines!

VISITORS

When thinking about your rider's or your lessons, keep in mind that with doors and outdoor arenas now being closed for winter weather, hanging out outside won't be as convenient as it once was and space will be limited in the lounge and in the arena's to allow for social distancing.  Consider remaining in the car and not bringing extra members of the family or friends along.  While we know that is a disappointment, as time at the barn is fun for all involved, keeping our lounge capacity down is a challenge.  Especially consider leaving any high risk family or friends at home.  We are asking that you limit your guests to no more than two people per rider in the lounge or arena at a time. 

CANCELLATIONS AND MAKEUPS/MINOR SYMPTOMS

If you are cancelling due to a COVID quarantine or symptoms relating to COVID, you will absolutely NOT be penalized for this of course.  We will do our best to offer you make up days/times when your quarantine is up and if there isn't a mutually beneficial makeup time, your account will be credited for those missed lessons.  We absolutely do not want anyone to feel obligated to come to their lessons when they are not well and we do not want anyone to come to their lessons if their family members in the household are not well, even if they are. It is critical that we keep our human staff healthy as our equine staff require a lot of assistance.  If someone has any symptoms of COVID, or anything that could present like COVID, we ask that you please see the quarantine section above for how we would ask that you proceed.

With all of that out of the way, be sure to take advantage of our annual holiday discount!  If you're buying online, just type in HOLIDAY2021 for your 10% discount.  While we know the holidays have been and will be different for us all this year, we hope to see what we assume are your smiling faces (behind masks of course) at the barn and in the saddle.

Be well!