John Burness is driving his horse van to Ocala to pick up some of his horses and take them home to his Colebrook farms in Uxbridge. Burness feels safe in his truck, equipped with gloves, mask and “every kind of disinfectant in the world that my wife bought.”
“We’ve had to change things around of course,” said Burness about his staff’s response to the strict measures in combating the spread of COVID-19. “When we have people come with mares to be bred, they don’t come into the breeding shed anymore. They have to stay in their vehicles. The mare is bred and then she leaves. We have no contact with anyone or anything outside our farm.”
Burness has six advertised stallions at Colebrook plus mares, foals and horses of racing age. It is one of the biggest Thoroughbred operations in the country.