Poll; Riding Whilst Pregnant

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Tia

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So there is a little debate going on and no-one seems to have any statistics as to what the majority do/have done/would do. There was the accusation that others who don't agree with riding whilst pregnant were too scared to say so (why is beyond me mind you LOL!!) so I thought it may be interesting to see the votes from horsey people on here.
 
I'll start it off - I voted I have, and always would, continue to ride whilst pregnant.
 
Yes, I would ride if I trusted the horse
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i agree, I haven't had a child but when and if I do, it will be enough for me to give up the booze and cigs never mind riding too!

Fair enough it might ad an element of risk, but people will plonk their 2 year old kid on a Shetland happy enough - what is the difference??

I would defo carry on riding until I was uncomfortable to do so, and would carry on in the early stages hunting etc. if I wanted to. If it's not meant to be then so be it, I don't feel at the moment (although that might change if i was pregnant - I don't know?) that I would put my life on hold because I was having a baby.
 
I voted yes, I would ride horses I trust until it was uncomfortable to do so.

I would probably try and keep things relitively tame though, ie not XC or anything, just hacking, schooling etc.

However I have no intentions of getting pregnant!
 
I put no only because we've been told by docs that OH can't have kids naturally (without assistance and even then not good odds) so if I ever did get pregnant then it would be a miracle that I just wouldn't be willing to take the risk on.
 
I think the poll would be more informative if it had 3 options,

Yes I would ride on as normal
I would only ride my own horse and be alot more careful
No I wouldn' ride at all

I would be in the 'on the fence' category in the middle then!

There was an event rider competing whilst pregnant quite recently, I can't remember which one but I was watching on TV and it said she was somthing like 5mths pregant i'm sure.
 
I don't think so.

It was just a quick poll, of no significance really, to see whether people would ride or wouldn't ride when they were pregnant. It's irrelevant whether it is your horse, my horse, some seaside pony or a crazy rodeo horse - the point was would you, did you or do you. A simple yes or no answer would suffice
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I wouldn't, not because I don't think people shouldn't ride when pregnant, but because I've always had difficult pregnancies (lots episodes of significant bleeding and bed rest) and wouldn't want anyone else (or even me personally) to think that if I lost the baby it'd be my fault for riding. Physically it may be difficult for me as well because of the SPD I suffered from quite early on during my last pregnancy. I have a feeling I'd not be able to walk very well, much less get on a horse!

IF I had a trouble free time, I'm pretty sure I'd still ride a horse like Patches that was safe, reliable and I trusted. It's academic for me though as I had never ridden until after I'd had all of my children so the issue never came up.
 
I rode during two of my 3 pregnancies, albeit for a short time. With my first the I was more worried about being too heavy for my pony and squashing her
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. Second time around I had a bad back and wasn't riding anyway before I fell pregnant and then I found out it was twins
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.As that carries a higher risk anyway, I decided not to bother! My youngest child is 15 months and I did ride quite regularly early on but then my pelvis decided to give way, so that was the end of that. (Mind you, I did get back in the saddle 10 days after giving birth
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I didn't get back into horses until after I had had my children so obviously didn't ride whilst pregnant. Having said that I was regularly using a motorbike for transport and horrified my GP by overtaking her at some speed a week after my due date.

Had I had horses at the time my riding them would have depended on how I felt, how my back and pelvis were and what the horses were like. No point in taking unnecessary risks but that attitude persists after the child is born and I am nowhere near as bold now as I was before I had children.
 
I'm on the other side of the argumentative fence - figuratively speaking - Never did and would always advise aainst riding whilst pregnant. Although I don't think it's a bad thing to do, I think the bad thing is falling off whilst pregnant. I was also so knackered and pukey, there would have been no pleasure in it. Can't imagine why anyone would take the considerable risk.
 
sorry I even suggested it
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its just when reading the other post there seemed to be a 3 way difference in attitudes and I thought it be more interesting
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i'll just bog off and mind my own business
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i just thought there was a big difference between riding competitively and sticking to gentle ride at home on your own horse
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still risky but far less than haring round a cross country course at a 3* event
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can't even make a suggestion
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didn't say it had to be done
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and I came on here this morning after getting locked out with error messages last night to tell you a funny story about a friend of mine that had to tie her jods up with string so she could compete whilst pregnant won't bother
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.................. (toddles off elsewhere)
 
BUT (playing Devil's advocate - and with no threats of personal violence) Lizzie Purbrick was having a gentle hack round the fields at home on her advanced horse when it bucked her off out of the blue and she miscarried at 4 months........
Anyone can fall off, anytime, off anyhorse.
 
Yes, I would ride provided I trusted the horse. I'd probably stick to flatwork though and avoid situations that could potentially be a bit tricky to ride through.
 
Yes I rode during my pregnancy - on a trusted horse and with no jumping. In the many years I rode that horse I never, ever came off him - so I felt the risks were minimal and the benefits of continuing to ride were far greater.

However, if I had had complications and received medical advice not to, then I would have given up.
 
That's very sad
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. It is difficult to comment further without knowing the circumstances, but doesn't mean that every pregnant woman should stop riding altogether. The horse I rode was very far removed from what I would imagine a sharp, fit Advanced event horse would be!

(Don't hit me
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I answered no - I have lost when riding pregnant, riding a 'bomb proof' cob - which I had ridden tons of time and trusted fully and he spooked and I fell badly after he had bolted and left him at high speed.

Was not pretty
 
I don't think I would, mainly to save the poor horses back as I put on a ton the minute I become pregnant!
However, I was riding when I was expecting my second but didn't know I was.....stopped when I realised though, purely becasue I was paranoid about coming off.
Saying that though, I never stopped lifting anything, or working really hard, or smoking and drinking as normal......
 
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