Pregnancy and horses - dismounting

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Stenners

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Those of you that rode while you were pregnant - how did you cope with dismounting?

Today I rode and got off with a bite more of a thud than normal - not really thinking! Since then I've been really paranoid that I may have done some harm. I'm 15 weeks.

Also how long did you all ride for? I've told myself i'll carry on until i feel too nervous or too heavy. My boy as a 15.2 ex racer and I just hack and school him. I stopped jumping when I found out I was pregnant.

I've ridden all my life (over 30 years) so It'll be strange not riding for a few months!
 
I don't have a bump yet so can still get off normally, so I am just worried about landing with an impact - i guess if i was running i'd still be impacting the ground!
 
My friend used to swing her leg deftly over the horse's ears and slide down the saddle on her bum. She rode until her bump was so big she couldn't get on. Her baby has just started her masters so it was some time ago!
 
Midlifecrisis said:
Leg over front of saddle and slide onto mounting block when bump got in way...
Click to expand...

This is what I did too. I did find it differed between pregnancies though - with my first I didnt have a huge bump so it was pretty easy and I rode up until 7.5 months (then horse injured himself) but with my second child who I had last year, I only managed to get to 6 months as I was much bigger and it was much more uncomfy getting on and off.
 
Yep when I got too big I swung my leg over his head and neck! I rode until I was 33 weeks. Good luck and congrats
 
I used a wall to get on and off - it came up to my horses elbow, so was just the right height for getting on and off easily. When the wall wasn't available, I swung my leg over the front and slithered down. Last rode two weeks before I had him
 
I would not worry at all about impact from landing on the ground, they are well protected.
I rode until 7 months last time and again this time (1 month to go in a heat wave, yay!) as after that I just stared to feel uncomfortable, but not unsafe on my happy hacker. I kind of slid off slower and had to try and be side on! Or try and line up with mounting block- but wasn’t very skilled at that.

Just follow your gut- I know it is a risk, but so are many everyday activities like driving a car. However- I stopped riding my youngsters I had at the time as I felt nervous. No way my hips or bladder would cope at 8 months but some people go up to birth.
 
Thanks pippixox that's helped a lot! I'm such a worrier and don't want anything to go wrong! I'm going to put my boy out on loan for a year so will be advertising him in the next few weeks. He's pretty good but can have ex racehorse tendencies at times so the further on I am I think the more nervous I will get! ll just carry on riding our bombproof polo ponies at the yard (and get off carefully!)
 
My midwife described early babies as like a goldfish in a bag of water at a fairground - they are pretty robust - when you get to the stage arms and legs are poking out all the time it's different obviously!
I completed xc with mine when I had to safetypin my jobs over a big ish bump - personal choice
Getting in a car accident with a seatbelt around you is IMHO higher risk and every pregnant woman travels in a car most of the time.
 
Rode up to 32 wks and 27wks respectively. Swung leg over and slithered or positioned pony by the gate. I would have ridden longer with the 1st but gave myself a scare riding too hard one day and had severe braxton hicks so stopped. 2nd time round it was getting uncomfortable. All the best with the rest of your pregnancy.
 
I wouldn’t worry too much at the moment tbh.
Unless you are a high risk pregnancy (in which case you probably shouldnt be riding at all) then the impact from gettingg off a horse is unlikely to do any harm.

My mother was involved in a major car crash whilst pregnant with me. She was stopped at a junction when the car coming down the hill behind her lost its brakes. It destroyed the back end of her car and catapulted it across the junction and into a wall. She managed to climb out on her own and no harm was done to me but the car was a total write off (and it was a 4 month old Jag!)
 
i rode to around 28 weeks with both of mine, but felt to heavy (14hh pony) after that and kept getting really bad cramp, so was forever having to keep getting on and off.
 
I road until i was around 37 weeks with my pregnancies. I was much younger back then though and my horse at the time was a 16 hand shire x who was an old plod.
 
I rode up to 30 weeks - stopped due to feeling a bit uncomfortable and achey rather than unsafe, plus I was conscious of the added weight for my saint of a 15hh Connie! I dismounted normally up until stopping - just made sure I had a good leg swing to avoid clonking the bump on the way down and bent my knees on landing! Good luck with your pregnancy, hope you’re not suffering too much in this heat! X
 
Yes, I was but i wouldn’t go off what other people did as much as how you are feeling. With all three of my pregnancies I felt slightly different and hardly rode at all on my last one, but then I was a bit exhausted!
 
Thanks! I feel absolutely fine riding at the moment and still enjoying it and as yet I don't feel uncomfortable at all! I'm a very confident rider and will sit on anything but I do get more nervous now if he decides to throw in a leap as I don't want to hit the deck! Luckily I know him but I'm very wary about what I sit on now instead of like before not caring and sit on anything! I think I will stop once i start showing and getting a bump as there will be more of me to bounce around!
 
I rode through 5 pregnancies. Got off either by the 'swing leg over front and slide' route, or (later, when more experienced) developed a 'leap off more or less normally but with more clearance' move, which was probably only possible because I was on a pony, not a horse.
 
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