IT’S TIME TO RIDE Horseback riding, mini golf and mountain biking among outdoor activities cleared for reopening in Connecticut
Businesses that offer outdoor activities such as horseback riding lessons, mountain biking, ropes courses, miniature golf, as well as batting cages and archery ranges, are among those that have been allowed to open, with social distancing and other protocols, as part of the first phase of reopening Connecticut’s economy after the shutdown due to the coronavirus.
With the weather getting nice, people want to get outside and do something.
“People have been asking, ‘When are you opening?’ ” said Autumn Sutherland, who owns Matterhorn Mini Golf in Canton. “There’s a desperate need for outdoor recreation. I felt the need to open up as soon as it was allowed.”
Holly Rebello, who has owned Hidden Brook Stables in Lebanon for 13 years, shut down her riding lesson program in mid-March. But she has 27 horses, 14 for lessons and 13 boarders, and the lesson horses still had to eat. So she was happy she was able to open for lessons again Wednesday.
Per the state’s guidelines, she was teaching one student per lesson. Students were dropped off at the barn and had to use hand sanitizer before entering and only students and boarders were allowed in the barn. Students were instructed to bring their own equipment such as brushes and riding helmets and hoof picks. When they brought their horse into the barn, they had to space themselves from others when they tied the horses up in crossties. Each cross-tie had a bucket next to it with disinfectant spray and tack cleaner. Only one person could go in the tack room at a time. The riders will have to wear masks if they can’t keep 6 feet away from another person, but don’t have to wear them while they’re riding.
“They’re told to clean all the things they touch,” Rebello said. “There’s a spray bottle in the bucket — they spray the cross-ties, they spray the gates to get the horses in and out, they spray the brooms and pitchforks. There’s a muck bucket and a broom at each cross-tie.
“I stagger the lessons. It’s worked out well.”
At Matterhorn, which opened Friday, mini golfers are being advised to wear masks and to stay away from the next tee until the previous group is finished.
“We’re asking people to be responsible and to regulate themselves,” Sutherland said. “We won’t let anyone on the course unless there’s a spot available for them. It’s first come, first serve.”
The golfers will have to use hand sanitizer before they choose a club and the clubs will be sanitized when they are returned. The balls all end up in a common bucket filled with a sanitizing solution.
Powder Ridge Mountain Park in Middlefield opened on Thursday for mountain biking, disc golf and hiking.
“Inherently, mountain biking, hik
ing and disc golf are very individual sports,” said Laura Loffredo, director of sales and marketing at Powder Ridge. “There’s distancing already in place with the sport itself.”
Passes and rentals are processed online. However, a chair lift takes bikers, disc golfers and hikers to the top of the mountain. Social distancing markers are in place for those waiting in lift lines. Only one person is allowed per lift and every other lift will be in use. Each lift will be disinfected at the top of the mountain after the rider disembarks. Masks will be required if people are congregated in the base area or go into any building.
“I think one of the best attributes Powder Ridge has is all its mountain space,” Loffredo said. “There’s plenty of room for people to come and enjoy each other in a really safe environment.”
Nomads Outdoor Adventure Park in South Windsor, which offers a ropes course on nine acres, opened Saturday with many new guidelines in place. Both employees and guests will have to have their temperature taken upon arrival and must wear masks and gloves. Gloves will be provided if people don’t bring their own but masks will not. Check-in will be done online, as well as signing waivers.
“If you walk in without a waiver, we have bar codes printed on the side of the shed, so anyone who hasn’t filled out a waiver can take their phone and scan the bar code and it will come right up on their phone,” park operations manager Paul Cappadona said. “They can fill it out in their car.”
In the past, between 10-20 people were allowed to put on harnesses at the same time in the same area but now only nine will be allowed to do so in specially marked spaces. Participants will watch a training video and go through a practice course before being sent out onto the main course.
Ten people will be allowed out on the course per hour. Normally, the entire course takes three hours, so the maximum amount on the course will be 30 people. Only one person will be allowed on each of the 86 platforms, so people will have to wait until the platform is cleared before proceeding.
“It’s all a self-guided system,” Cappadona said. “We make sure you’re clipping into the right things; we’ve always had guests clip in themselves after we taught them how to do it. We’re going to be on the ground, monitoring everything, and making sure everybody is safe.”