With Unlock 5, horse-riding club in Mumbai opens for non-members

With the government announcing Unlock 5.0, the Amateur Riders' Club (ARC), a civilian horse-riding club located at Mahalaxmi Race Course, has opened its doors for non-members by offering riding and training packages.

The club saw a response which was as good as the pre-Covid-19 time and children, senior citizens and families were seen at the club this week. It witnessed a response of 40% from regular members in June, which has now gone up to 80%.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

With over 150 people on their waitlist for the past few months, the club was obliged and eager to start the riding and equestrian-training packages. With all sporting functions coming to a halt and the loss of sponsorships and daily activities, the club faced lack of revenues for the past six months.

The riding packages now open to the public will act as a means to generate income for the club.

ARC will permit a limited number of non-member applicants per month to enrol for riding packages of 10 sessions each. There will be fixed timings -- from 6 am to 8 am and 5 pm to 7 pm. The club has allocated 10 horses and two trainers, especially for this activity. While one out of the four arenas has been reserved exclusively for the same, the other three arenas (including the Olympic-level training ground) remain for members and athletes to train for future tournaments.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

While the club has addressed the social-distancing problem with the limited-riding entries, other safety measures like masks and sanitisers, along with all standard operating procedures, will be followed as per government regulations given the revival process.

While riding packages and other outdoor activities have resumed, the clubhouse still remains under lockdown.

Shyam Mehta, president, Amateur Riders’ Club says, “Given the limited outdoor activities in the city, we hope the riding and equestrian-training packages offer people the much-needed respite and fitness opportunity post the extensive lockdown. We will look to increase the number of non-member entries based on. the easing of restrictions and the nature of the virus spread.”