Can you have a baby and keep your horse?

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zoon

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I'm just wondering - is it possible to have a baby and keep your horse? Not just keep it as a pretty field ornament, but actually keep it in full work yourself, without having to loan it out/get a sharer/pay someone else to do it?
 
Of course you can, its not easy but its definetly possible.

I done my horse right up to the day i had my son. Rode till i was 7 months, then done alot of lunge and ground work. I then got someone to do my horse for me for 2 weeks after i had my boy, then went back to normal. x
 
yes, depends on many things. ie help with childcare, does the horse need full time work or few days per week, do you compete, could you cope physically/mentally with both. Could you get away with riding a bit less? Hard work but yes it can be done with careful planning.
 
What do you want a baby for?
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Not really since the advice is not to ride when pregnant, so unless you have a horsewalker you have to share or loan! Opinion is really a bit split on up to how many weeks you can ride until, due to risk to baby if you fell
 
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Not really since the advice is not to ride when pregnant, so unless you have a horsewalker you have to share or loan! Opinion is really a bit split on up to how many weeks you can ride until, due to risk to baby if you fell

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hmmm... this isn't entirely correct... my midwife (horse owner) said it was fine to ride whilst it was still comfy. when i last saw her i told her i'd stopped at 25weeks and she said that was a good time. it's not all about the risk if you fell (let's face it, you can fall walking the dog, or get run over crossing the road). it's also about pelvis alignment, and general comfort.

op - being pregnant is only one small part of having a baby. even if people choose to stop riding during pregnancy, there are many years of having a young person around... but it's totally do-able. when they are very young, they can sit in their pushchair and sleep whilst you school/muck out. my son is now 2.5 and he helps muck out every day. he helps poo pick. he feeds my horse his breakfast, fills his toy up with pony nuts etc. some days he is annoying and things take longer (eg when he insists on tipping the water bucket out to splash his tractor in, or when he climbs up to, and gets stuck in the muck heap;...). other days he's a joy to have around.

i'm lucky, my OH is very helpful and also i get to 'work' from home. but personallly, i find parenthood and horses go well together. in fact i'm on the hunt for a little shetland/section a for my 2 yr old... x
 
I couldn't - I had to make a choice and I chose the horse!!
There is no way I could afford to keep my horse and afford a child too.
There is the time thing too but money has been the limiting factor in my decision!
 
Clipcloppop I think we live parallel lives
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It is doable - but it's hard work and you have to realise that sometimes things just dont' go to plan!
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Kate x
 
Generally saying yes it is possible - I had my first baby two years ago and it hasn't stopped me from riding almost every day, baby came to the yard from as early as two weeks and he is now enjoying playing there while I am doing the horse and watches me ride almost every day. My second baby just arrived last week and riding my horse will continue to be a big part of my life just as before. I chose to ride throughout pregnancy - others make different choices - but even if you stop this is only a limited time and if you don't get a sharer you could just give your horse a break I think with no harm done.

Best of luck!
 
I had a baby he is four now.Not only did i have two horses but also had a couple of liverys and also did freelance work for other people.I did ride up till i was taken into to hospital which was very early as started to have problems.My son was b orn over three months early and was in hospital for six months.I stayed in for three weeks after he was born and had someone to do my horses for me then.But i coped with doing both my horses and riding them both and also spending alot of my time with my son in the hospital.And when he came out if it was really cold my mum and dad would have him down the house but most of the time he would be up the yard with me.Mum and dad would look after him when i rode them.So yes very you can have a baby and keep your horse there was no question ever about me selling or even loaning them out.
 
i rode throughout my first pregnancy up untill about 3 weeks before i had my son who is now & a half and loves helping up the feild.
i only diddnt ride for my second pregnancy as i had medical issues.
my two come down thhe yard mornings & evenings, they play in the field, help poo pick & my oldest rides out bless him now.

it is doable but as others have said its very hard work & yes cash gets streched but you learn to be shrewd & well organised.
 
Totally, i have two small children and kept all mine, although i didnt ride through my pregnancy because of complications but this had no impact on my horses at the time, in fact it all worked out better for me as i put one of my mares in foal, now i have some lovely youngsters which i can spend as much or as little time with as needed. I have loads of help from husband and parents but i have a great relationship with my children and think every child should grow up with an equine pal.
 
I had two when I had my first baby. I stopped riding after getting bolted with at 11 weeks and my friend who rode who was at the same stage lost hers through a miscarriage. I carried on doing my two throughout pregnancy although did have a girl who rode one of them. The other horse had cancer so was winding down and basically retired. It was hard work and could be frustrating doing them with a toddler in tow especially when she was cold. The day we hunted for my keys when she was sat on them on the car comes back to me now!

I then had baby number two 6 months after getting a new horse (down to just one as other two had both died by then). Due to being sick 10 times a day throughout prenancy one I couldn't face another pregnancy mucking out while throwing up. I put my mare on loan for a year and had her back when baby was 6 months old. I think this was the best solution.
 
No! not if you are on your own, yes if you have a very good understanding family and OH who can babysit, I didn't have that and it was horrible, 13 years later (I stopped at one child) I am over it all now but it is still hard!

Still have my horses though = they stuck by me!!
 
Definately! I have two children and two stepchildren. I still own three of the ponies I had when Hannah and Aeron were born, I have them DIY and always have, I won't say its easy but I still managed, they are kept locally and as I didn't have my own car at the time I would either wait for hubby to come home at night if the weather was bad and pinch his car morning and night or in the summer and dry weather I would take my pushchair and two dogs along for the walk. I would lunge if I didn't have time to ride, and school in the field during when I could with the babies next to the gate on the otherside (taught my ponies to nap lol..but I always said they were helping me check on the babies!). As they got older the tots rode too (aeron is disabled but he used to enjoy a plod round with me holding him on).

I have had little help from my ex hubby or my family but we managed and my new hubby has become a rider and horsey too (in his words he had to or get left behind while the girls and I rode off into the sunset!).
 
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Clipcloppop I think we live parallel lives
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ha! i hope for your sake we don't! mine life is mega stress at the moment... we're in process of buying a house (project), selling a house, i'm 7 months pregnant and my husband got petrol bombed at work the other day so is recovering from burns... not to mention a stroppy 12yr old and a troublesome 2 yr old... i'm exhausted at the moment. and on the verge of throttling our cockerel who insists on waking me up every morning at 3.30am...

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I found it tricky to juggle both without help & support. My sons never went to sleep in their buggies when at the yard, they just complained & winged to get out, which wasn't really safe. Also, you need to have parents or a partner who realises how important it is to keep riding, both for your horses' & your sanity's sake! Otherwise, getting time to spend with your horse will be difficult.
Having said this i did manage to keep my two, but only as they were on working livery. They came home when my youngest was two & when he went to playgroup I could ride - heaven!
 
Well, i was pregnant with twins - decided to stop riding before i knew it was double babinos!
I have 7 horses, had 7 when i was pregnant, sadly lost one suddenly, bought another, gave birth, had a foal born and still have them, with another foal on the way. The boys twins are not 18 months yet.
YES it is possible, a lot of hard work at times but if i can do it........... Admittedly - i dont get much chance to ride - but i do have lots of horses, also have gone back to uni to do my PGCE and run a livery yard - so its no suprise really.
 
I hope so!! I have 4 months until my boy come back from loan and I am still unsure of what will happen to him as it all depends on me getting my driving license too. If he goes to my parents then there will be someone to mind the baby whilst I ride, but it will be very lonely and I will be on my own and the reason I have the horse is its my social life.
But I might put him to livery, and I have a younger sister and friends that can help with him and ride him, and mind the baby to.
 
It has been a struggle, both financially and time-wise, but yes, it's possible. I kept mine out 24/7 for both pregnancies, looking after him myself, but stopped riding very early on (as he wasn't safe).

I've found it hard juggling family and horse and there have been compromises. I had to stop competing and my OH is very understanding and helps where he can. Unfortunately I do not have any family nearby, so no babysitters. Mostly I've ridden evenings once or twice a week and at weekends. My youngest is now 3 and has a pony of her own and I'm just starting to think about competing again.

I think I was lucky as my horse had reached the stage where he didn't need riding every day and he loves living out. Also my two children learnt to muck out (if horsey had to come in) from a very early age, so just got on with it. I'm now loving having a little lead rein for fun! Good luck,

Sue
 
its hard work but defo do able takes alot of planning i dont get much help from OH so my daughter comes to the stables with me everyday, its definatlely worth it tho!!!!
dont get as much riding done as i would like but horses are well looked after!
 
It is possible I stopped riding when 12 weeks pregnant with twins because it just became uncomfortable. I still looked after my horses and gave OH regular lessons I had a friend ride occasionaly but to be honest the rest did chestnut mare good she seemed to grow up in her time off! I was competing locally when my girls were 6wks since the I have competed P2P, hunted and have taken up eventing this season the girls are almost three and some days it is hard work but it is managable! I try and ride four horses a day but sometimes only get time to ride one or two but you just have to take each day as it comes and don't pressure yourself! If the horse has a day off so what as long as it's ridden the next day!
 
Must admit though had one small problem when mine were little though, mucking out one morning after very little sleep I confused the pram with the wheelbarrow and ended up covering babies in poo! Mother in Law was not amused!!!
 
I hope it's possible! I am nearly 3 months, and am selling my young horse - a 4 year old warmblood and babies probably don't mix! But am definitely keeping the 11 year old eventer - no way I would ever sell him. I guess it helps to have a supportive OH and some childcare help... basically am going to arrange some kind of childcare (maybe my mum, if she's willing!) from as early as possible, just for a few hours a couple of times a week so that I can ride about 4 times a week, starting as soon as I can possibly ride. I know plenty of people that manage it. Am just hoping for a quiet child that doesn't mind sitting in a pushchair being looked after by the dog! Does that sort exist?
 
Absolutely. I have number 3 on the way and 2 horses and 1 shetland. Just started bitting and longreining the shetland (he's just a baby) and he'll hopefully start being ridden by my baby girl next year. (going to break him to drive too!)

Sometimes it is a bit of a struggle and I don't ride both every day. I'm incredibly fortunate that they're both as good as gold when it comes to time off and coming back into work. I'm 18 weeks now and rode for the first time since I was 6 weeks the other day. Hadn't been riding due to morning sickness but I'm now feeling much better. If I felt 100% I'd have still been riding. I was riding up until about 25 weeks first time before my ballance got a bit dodgy, then after having my second I was back in the saddle 6 days later!

I'm also lucky enough that the horses are at home so sometimes if I'm schooling I can put the kids in the car and school next to it (thank goodness for in car DVD players!).

It's all very do able, and it's not like they're little forever....they start nursery at 3 then school at 5 so after that you'll have the horses all to yourself again!!
 
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