Harness: Following clear rules can see society and racing through COVID-19

There are so many divides in this country that it's hard to believe. One would have thought that a growing pandemic would be an event so dark and dangerous that the masses would all agree to take the same steps to put an end to it. It's daunting when you’re in a "hotspot" and are direct witness to the lives quickly and most assuredly taken away due to COVID-19.

That all people in the country can’t recognize the danger is something that for a few weeks I really couldn’t come to terms with. However, after the last week it has become more obvious to me. There are two incredible "E’s" that could be followed during these times and it's shocking to me how people react when given the choice.

The first "E" is Entertainment and that describes something I can watch and enjoy and perhaps gain a minimal amount of knowledge from. The second "E" is education and during times of crisis like this I often believe education has a much greater impact on achieving a goal than say entertainment would.

I bring this up because in the course of the last few weeks I've read and watched incredibly informative information regarding this new coronavirus. The editorial was rather long, as was the video provided by an ICU doctor on the frontlines and responsible for assigning ventilators to the neediest.

In each case, I passed along the information to close relatives with the expectation that there was valuable material that could effectively describe the circumstances we are all dealing with due to COVID-19. Both editorial and video gave specific details on how the disease is passed along and methods you could use to stop the spread. We've heard a large measure of these details during disjointed messaging from our leaders, but in both the video and editorial, specific facts were relayed.

It was my opinion that reading or listening closely and gaining complete understanding of all aspects of this disease was incredibly valuable and beneficial, not just for me but for my family as well as the entire population. To my surprise, some of my family members responded differently. "It's long and boring," one said. "Is there a Cliff Notes version?" another asked.

So there you have it, the worst pandemic in my lifetime and people essentially having nothing but time on their hands, but they don't have 20 minutes available?

Perhaps it explains to some degree how we’ve become victims of our own technological advances. Give me something short that I can respond to in 144 characters or less and I'm with you. Give me something that drags on or requires my own focus for any longer and you’re wasting my time.

Why are there still people in leadership roles that haven’t grasped the entirety of the situation? The simplicity of how a virus spreads is something that can be understood, but for many that lack an attention span, it’s near impossible.

We all love to be entertained and those who work hard in Harness Racing provide a service to others that watch and wager. Yet as the racetracks have one by one gone dark and we find ourselves waiting anxiously for this pandemic to run its course and for our lives to go back to a semblance of what they were, it is time for all to become more educated. I say that because only when we fully understand the nature of the spread of the coronavirus can we emerge from it's path and get our lives back.

The wisdom of our leadership to insist on social distancing during a time of active spread of the disease will no doubt save thousands, if not hundreds-of-thousands, of lives. While it is understandable that all wish to get back going again, it’s impossible to look forward without a workable plan that can and should be cultivated by all in this industry. A plan that may require extra pages of reading and understanding is likely to be one that can be implemented while at the same time keeping people safe. It’s likely not going to be something that will fit in just 144 characters but something that will require long exchanges of ideas and lengthy question-answer sessions to assure all who participate that we are all on the same page.

It would be great if we could package this "new normal" into a brief infomercial, but more than likely the details of timing and space that are going to be required as horses get back on the road again and ship-in will be vital to carrying out a three-race program let along something with over 100 horses on hand.

The reality of our current plight and that of a majority of Americans is that for business to return in any capacity, a set of rules is going to have to be put into place and enforced. It will require a population that is not 50 percent on board with new regulations but something far closer to 100 percent. It will be an incredible challenge for sure and it will require undivided attention. This is serious business to one and all and I'm really hopeful that the harness industry will be the first and most focused group in the nation to return with a safe and workable plan. We have already proven that we can work quite well without a large live audience, but we must plan to include audiences in a way that will be safe as well. Now is the time for us to become educated and to learn what is necessary to provide the safest possible environment for racing to continue.

I'm certainly hoping that casinos and other industries are also working to come up with new guidelines that will need to take shape in order to re-open when the time is right. Hopefully the curve will begin to flatten in the coming weeks. If that happens, we’re going to need a plan for all participants to understand completely and follow the rules.