Douglas Lindelöw’s show groom Madelene Isaksson sees sun for the first time in 6548 days, gets young horses to act like rational creatures, bunches all the manes over on one side and gives us all a lesson in source criticism.

"Hello everyone!

I was asked to write a blogpost about my life as a show groom stranded at home due to the coronavirus. Our plan has been to be at home for a few weeks after our last show in Herning, so I was kind of prepared.

Sweden as a country is still playing it cool in this situation. Shops and restaurants are still open as I write this and no major restrictions yet. But I do believe this will come to change successively over time, but I think it’s all about doing the right thing at the right time to minimize the damage. But at this point it’s business as usual here and nothing is different for me as I like to wash my hands and dislike human interactions anyway.

So what do we do with all the time at home? We have quite a lot of horses at home, so we keep busy, teaching young horses to act like rational creatures, catching up on laundry, organize and clean stuff. I’ve been on a mission bunching all the manes over on one side on all the horses that looked like savages. We obviously try to keep the horses happy and fit. The other day we moved all the fences outside as the sun is out for the first time in 6548 days, ironic now when the world is ending.

Sure it’s not ideal with the uncertainty with when the shows will be back on track but have you ever met a show groom, you know we complain when we are at the shows and also when we are not allowed to go to them so nothing new here. In the end the equestrian world is not the group of people that is going to take the biggest hit in this crisis. I rather think this is worse for the people than the horses, and as long as it’s like that and not the other way around it’s just to suck it up and get on with your day.

And people, I cannot stress this enough, please educate yourselves. This is affecting everything in your lives (even the quality of Netflix) so you need to be on top of this. And be careful where you get your information and from who. I’m going to give you a quick lesson in source criticism (it might not be quick), that you can apply now and also later in life – you are welcome.

EXAMPLE SCENARIO: You are in Spain at optional tour when you get the news that the show is cancelled due to the coronavirus and you have to go home. You get ready to leave when someone tells you borders are closed. Panic strikes and everyone is running around like when a show groom is trying to find stuff at home.

Then stop, take a breath and ask yourself the following questions:

* Who told me this? And who told him? Is it a trustworthy source? Would I trust this person blindly with the regular gossip?

* Is it likely that the borders are closed? If yes, for all vehicles? If yes, is it likely that from now on Spain will be self-sufficient? If yes, is it likely that Spain would throw their entire economy out the window and prevent commercial trucks to drive in and out of the country due to a virus that is spread through human contact?

* In the attempt to avoid spreading this virus is it likely they will leave hundreds of people locked in a small area with no chance to leave? I sat in my sofa watching this society psychosis unfold and I thought I would pay my good friend Google a visit (you can find anything there) and it turns out trucks were allowed to pass, have always been and probably always will. And from the 600 reports we’ve seen on Facebook everyone made it home without problem.

No offense to anyone but the amount of unnecessary stress that could have been prevented if people just thought one more time before believing the first thing someone tells them.

So keep calm, wash your hands, stay away from people and hang out with your horses.

Adios!

Madelene"

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