pregnancy and two horses on DIY

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2horsesnomoney

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Ok so i have just found out i am pregnant very early days so still keeping it quiet but does it work with 2 horses on DIY livery one being a youngster. just starting to wonder how everyone does it?! Help and advise needed x
 
my friend has three - she put two out on grass and just has her old boy on diy livery - they are at two different yards though. Her other half tends to do the girls on grass as it involves a unlit track to walk down and she has had quite bad probs with her hips. I think don't be afraid to make the changes early as she stuck it out until five months having all three stabled and then I found her crying in her stable saying she couldn't do it anymore. She is much happier now as are the horses and I guess don't be afraid to ask for help :) Congrats as well :)
 
Personally I'd keep yours out 24/7, makes things so much easier. I carried on doing my horses (4 at the time) right up until the day I had my son. But when they're out, all that was involved was giving them feed and hay, and giving them a groom every few days and change rugs etc. Wasn't much effort and I liked staying busy and active. But then I rode up until 7 months. I wouldn't ride a youngster though personally when pregnant.
 
I looked after.my 3 on dit all through my pregnancy, only having one day off when I had her!
I stopped riding the 2 youngsters straight away.
But kept riding my safe boy until quite late.
I got a rider to help exercise the youngster.

It can be done.
But get help if you need it.
 
Congratulations! I have 3 all currently turned away and out for the winter. They are fed ad lib hay from a feeder, which my lovely grazing landlord kindly delivers for me. So I just check and feed winter supplements daily and have one finer built native who is currently rugged, so just adjust his rug if need be.
I had backed my youngster just before finding out I was pregnant and hoped to continue but got too big too quickly and felt unbalanced too quickly so turned him away early. The break won't do him any harm and I'll pick him back up inthespring, after the baby is born.
I've done far less with them than I would have liked to but I've had quite a lot of PGD (pelvic girdle pain) which has affected my walking quite a lot. C'est la vie. Can't wait to crack back on in the spring.
I'm lucky in that OH will do them if I can't for some reason and so I purposely tried to set it up to be low maintenance (whilst still making sure their needs are met of course). I do usually stable at some point over winter if weather is appalling or there is some other need. Luckily winter has been relatively easy going for us so far, so no real need to stable so far...I think I would have really struggled with that tho chances are would have deep littered.
This is my second pregnancy so I have really tried to be pragmatic and not struggle on heroically, as whilst it doesn't last forever, it does get a bit harder as you go on. That said, my first pregnancy was pretty easy compared to this one.
Good luck with whatever plan you come up with and hope all goes well for you. :-))
 
I found having horses when I was pregnant not too hard as had an simple pregnancy. However they were kept at home which made life a lot easier and as my son was born in July, they were out at grass and needed minimal attention.

Also think beyond the pregnancy as the first 6 mnths after giving birth are very tough - I paid somone to help me excercise as was either too tired or the baby needed attention. However the horses were a god send as when hubby came in from work I would hand baby over and rush straight down to the horses for some 'me time'.

It is do-able but don't try to be 'superwoman' as it will only be you that suffers. If you can afford help get it, or maybe consider a sharer for the next year or so, as having a baby really does change everything!

Hope the pregnancy goes well x
 
Congratulations!

As others have said, make life as easy as you can - either by getting someone else to look after them as much as possible, or by turning away. ultimately it is likely that there will be a time that you can't do them for a period of days, weeks or months, so make plans for this. Also for being tired during pregnancy. With your first it may not be so bad, but don't expect to be able to do everything you were able to before pregnancy. Realistically, you probably won't be able to do DIY for 2 horses all the way through pregnancy and after having a baby, unless you have help either with the horses or the baby.

At least your timing is great - if you are (guessing) 2 months pregnant now you'll have the baby in summer, and so horse management should be easier - can you turn them out 24/7?
 
Thanks guys, I am not riding the youngster luckily backed him last summer and I am planning to send him away for 6 months to continue his education without me being at risk so at least that is a weight off my mind! so I only have to worry about riding my older mare who is a bit flightly but as safe as houses so plan to continue riding although have not managed to ride since i found out due to weather and wind. So youngster is going away when i will be around 4 months. My biggest problem is my yard has now removed all winter turnout so mucking out both and handelling both is difficult at the mo but i am looking into moving them where i can have them out the majority of the time so just trying to arrange and sort that out now.
Magicmelon your plan sounds exactly how i want things to be! I need my horse time just spending time at the yard grooming helps to relax me but having them in 24/7 is so difficult.

Anway hopefully i can find a nice new yard and move them although i am dreading that as i have been at this yard through the whole time of owning horse !
 
Congratulations

It's worth thinking through the longer term so you can make decisions that build up to that, so
early pregnancy - if you're healthy you can carry on as normal - riding is a personal decision and up to you - unlikely horses would suffer if they had a break
Late pregnancy - is tricky but we should be into summer by then so if they can be out 24/7 you'll be fine (or find a yard where that is possible )
Birth - worth having some cover for a couple of weeks incase it's difficult or (like me) you end up with emergancy c section!

New baby - how much you can do will depend a lot on what support you have at home and how good your baby is (totally unknow until you get there!!) my first slept in pram by the school and was really good, my new daughter is a PITA as she just doesn't sleep day or night and after 7 months I am really knackered

older baby/ toddler - as above but they are harder work as they are never where you left them!! Will you have time/ will you want to ride two every day - a break keeps your sanity but 2 in ridden work on DIY is probably 3/4 hours every day - will you have someone at home happy to help with childcare for that length of time?

Cost is also a factor to consider - babies aren't cheap.
 
I had 3 on DIY - one of which was a 15 month old filly that I bought when I was 6 months pregnant! I coped by taking things really slowly and luckily other liveries would always offer to empty my wheelbarrow for me (involved a walk down a very slippery steep slope!) and I could always rely on them to help me if I was particularly tired or ill one day
 
I have one on DIY and I have a sharer. I have a baby and a toddler and I rode up to 20 weeks with both my pregnancies. I had pelvic pain with the first so relied on friends and a sharer to help with the horse, then I had to move him to a closer yard when baby was born as he couldn't sleep so I couldn't get up to the yard to turn out. After a difficult birth I had to wait 3 months to ride. 2nd pregnancy was fine though and I was back on after 5 weeks. But nothing prepares you for the amount of time a baby takes up, especially if like me you choose to breastfeed. ie fed every 3 hours day and night. They just don't fit round a horse so you WILL need help! I have time to ride about 3 times a week now. it's got to the stage now where I can't take the toddler up to the yard at all, as he just has a massive strop! Terrible 2s are not easy with a horse. But it can be done, like I say, with help.
 
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