Problems during pregnancy because you rode?

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Booboos

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I know there are a lot of threads about riding and pregnancy and loads of women ride happily until their bodies tell them not to, but has anyone experienced problems during their pregnancy because they chose to ride? I appreciate this is a very emotive issue, PM me if you prefer, but the reason I ask is that I have just found out I am pregnant, and OH and family are freaking out about the horses.

They are all very worried I will miscarry just by riding, not even falling off and are worried about sitting trot, bouncing, etc. I am very early on (7 weeks) and don't feel scared or uncomfortable riding, but they are freaking me out a bit! My horses are fairly lively and horses being horses anything could happen, but they are not totally insane and I don't make a habit of falling off (2 falls in 8 years, one 'proper' one and one twisted my ankle dismounting in a hurry). I have a lesson on Sunday and now I am worried whether I shouldn't go (obviously up until now I rode as normal, had lessons, etc. with no problems because I didn't know!).
 
Very emotive subject!

Never had any problems in the early stages-as my doctor said there is loads of room for the foetus to move about and had no concerns. I had 4 lively TBs to ride. I didn't compete but just hacked and schooled at home.

Its whether or not you can convince your family
 
I have had four children - rode as normal for first two - had a bit of a scare for number three (nothing to do wih riding) and did not ride. Number 4 was 37 years old at the time and did not ride until 2 weeks before due date - then rode twice, on a young pony, rounding up cattle (long story......) But no harm done - so just do what you feel happy with!
 
I was advised by my doctor not to ride when I was pregnant but that was because of my past history, but I have known plenty of women that have ridden through their pregnancies without problems. Listen to your body.

Congrats on the great news :D
 
I never had a problem riding whilst I was pregnant, however I did less than I used to (no competing etc) and I didn't do any jumping either after I was 6 months gone as my belly got in the way!! (only found out I was pregnant 5 months gone lol). As long as it's gentle work and not out hunting etc lol I personally think you'll be fine. However be careful with mucking out later down the line as it will put a lot of strain on your back! I rode my pony on and off until about a month before I was due but her attitude towards 'let's go fast!' seemed to change as my pregnancy went on. I do think she 'knew' though :D!

This was me at approx 7 - 8 months pregnant with my pony Jessie (The only pic I have of me pregnant with the horses!)

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And this is my little girl Jaime Rose-Grace, she is now 1 year and 1 month old and one of the best things to ever happen to me.

BabyJaime.jpg


CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! And loads of good luck for a lovely smooth pregnancy and a child you will cherish afterwards :D xxx
 
I competed until 6 months, rode until 8 months, and spent the early stages of labour mucking out with my first. Unfortunately all that work meant my ligaments were very "taut", and probably caused my long labour although my fitness levels were reasonably high enough to cope!
 
mega congrats.

i personally, was determined that pregnancy was in no way, shape or form, going to get in the way of my hobby..i have 2 children..

with my eldest, who is now 31, i rode, and showjumped, up til 36 weeks...and she was 3 weeks late, so i could have gone on another 2 weeks!! LOL..


my son..i didn't compete ATT but i still rode regularly...and hunted...til 34 weeks with him...i had selective ceaser with him..

i wasn't back riding after both kids till they were 12 weeks old as i'd had ceasers..

i always was of the mind that if i felt up to it, i rode...
 
PonyFeet10 said:
her attitude towards 'let's go fast!' seemed to change as my pregnancy went on. I do think she 'knew' though :D!
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funny you should say that! a lady at our yard is due in 3 weeks and the horses who are normally abit fresh and cheeky have completley changed, when she takes their hay and feed in they have been moving right out of the way rather than the normall ears back diving heads in buckets "let me at my food" so they must know.
 
china said:
funny you should say that! a lady at our yard is due in 3 weeks and the horses who are normally abit fresh and cheeky have completley changed, when she takes their hay and feed in they have been moving right out of the way rather than the normall ears back diving heads in buckets "let me at my food" so they must know.
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Yeah, it's very strange! I was also guarded by our old collie x (male). He would go for my boyfriend (growling and biting if he got too close) if he came anywhere near me lol. Was also guarded by my bf's brothers dog too (female). This was before I even realized i was pregnant!!! My TB is fairly laid back anyway but I think 100% my pony Jess definitely knew. She was so much more careful with everything, including all ridden work I did with her :)
 
Firstly... A HUGE congratulations!!! :)

I have commented on a couple of these threads in the past so am totally ready to be shot down in flames, but this is my opinion ( that I am aware people disagree with on here )

Presumably either you're baby was planned, or if it wasn't you obviously want it as otherwise you would have had a termination... I realise that probably 100 times a day you will do something where you could fall or slip and could potentially loose your baby, things like that can't be helped. Obviously you can't wrap yourself in cotton wool and hibernate for 9 months. But riding a horse is potentially dangerous, EVERY HORSE IN THE WORLD IS CAPABLE OF SPOOKING/bucking/REARING ETC... even the most placid and genuine ones. It doesn't even have to be their fault, anything could worry them and make them do something silly. For the sake of 9 months why risk it? I just don't understand... My son Jack is 20 weeks now, he is the most precious thing in the world to me, don't get me wrong, I love my horses but NOTHING is worth loosing your baby for. If you were to fall off and you lost your baby you or your partner would never forgive yourselves. I know it's all ifs and buts, but really, for a few months surely letting someone else ride your horse or just giving it a holiday is a better option than you loosing your baby - or possibly worse ... If you were to have a baby with some sort of medical problem that will ruin his or her life just because you wanted to go hacking. I know I could never explain to my child that the reason he or she was poorly was because I was selfish.

Btw, I don't mean you op in person, I just mean people in general...

Whatever you decide to do, good luck and enjoy your sleep now... :) they are the best things on the world once they arrive, but they do make you bloody tired.

*wanders off to bed now as I can see the eggs being thrown at me allready for above comments*

Xxx
 
I am also pregnant at the same stage as you and I asked myself one question "would I forgive myself if anything happened because I rode?" personally I couldnt forgive myself so I am not riding. I have 3 horses so I am happily mucking out and grooming to get my horsey fix.

You have to do whats right for you, it doesnt matter what everyone else did. Would you forgive yourself if anything happened?
 
See im on the other side of the fence here. A friend of mine was riding her bombproof horse and it stumbled she feel off and lost the baby and 4 and 1/2 months, when i was a teenager one of the grooms at the stables was riding at about 35 weeks and feel off and she had the baby prematurly, it was fine in the end but spent quite a few weeks in the speacial baby place. It is a risk, sorry can understand your familes worries.

I work with horses and when i was pregnant they did a massive health and saftey assement, and i know these are ott but its amazing the things that can cause problems, when you add them all up there qutie a high risk that something could happen.
 
nativeponies said:
and another way of looking at it is, egerden, is that pregnancy isn't an illness.
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I've never said pregnancy was an illness?!?!? Just saying that I will never be prepared to risk my babys life for the sake of my horses, if they camefirst in my life I would not be having children...

Also, I did clearly state in my previous post that this was just MY opinion and that I realised that most others do not share it.

Edited to add.... If you were to look how many threads on here are about people falling off and injuring themselves.... Normal nice sane schoolmaster type horses most of the time... Scary!! I can't understand why the ' no hat ' debate keeps going on and on and on... Clearly it is ok to risk your unborn Childs life by riding but risking your own by riding without a hat is just out of the question...
 
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Most doctors would advise you to keep up some form of exercise whilst pregnant as it keeps you fit and healthy, being pregnant wouldnt stop me from riding but I would treat myself as I would my pregnant horse and stop towards the end of the pregnancy and not do any competitions or fast riding. Everything you do could potentially carry a risk, including crossing the road, driving, and oh my god you've just realised that sandwich you bought had mayonnaise in it! Take it easy and enjoy, and do what you think is best, as god, you're going to get alot of well meaning advice over the coming months!
 
EgerdenFarmStud said:
I've never said pregnancy was an illness?!?!? Just saying that I will never be prepared to risk my babys life for the sake of my horses, if they camefirst in my life I would not be having children...

Also, I did clearly state in my previous post that this was just MY opinion and that I realised that most others do not share it.
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I must say i agree with you, although wouldnt judge anybody who carried on.
Ok its not an illness but, it does make you more vunabrable (well the baby) a nasty fall can course a misscarrige as stated in my previous post.


By the way im a mummy, i did ride for the first few months but only because i didnt know till i was nearly 4 months!!! But stopped when i found out. I was soon back on after and TBH the break did me good!!:)
 
Firstly, Congratulations!

I am a lurker but wanted to comment on this as it is a subject i am still confused about in my mind.

I have 2 children, one is now 2 and the other 10 weeks. From the instant I was pregnant I *felt* different, it was like there was a little life in there that i could feel and had to protect. I deliberated over continueing riding but decided against it in the end. These were my reasons...

1) It is only 9 months. Horses are a hobby, not a career for me so in the grand scheme of things it didn't seem too important (and it was the only time in my life that i felt lucky to not own a horse!)

2) I have a friend who's horse i rode all through her second pregnancy. She couldn't ride on doctors orders because her first pregnancy (that she rode through) resulted in a severely disabled child. I don't know exactly how she feels about the whole situation but i do know that of the numerous tests done they couldn't find anything specifically wrong that caused it, and doctors suggested that if she were to be pregnant again then to avoid riding (second baby absolutely fine). Now in my mind, if i had had a baby born with problems potentially caused by riding i know i could never forgive myself, and it would take the joy out of riding. I know you must love your horses, but seriously, nothing compares to how you love your own baby. It scares me just how much i love mine.

3) This is not just your baby - if anything were to happen and you feel that you would be emotionally able to deal with it, you have to remember that it isn't just you involved. Eg If (heaven forbid) you lost a baby due to a riding accident you have to think about how much pressure that would put on your relationship with your partner, and how he would feel if you continue to indulge in the hobby that he might not view very favorably.

However, all that said, I do have to fess up to being a total worry wort with anxiety issues, so i am prone to seeing worst case scenarios in my head. I also look at people riding and wonder if i should have carried on (espescially as during my second pregnancy it wasn't unknown for me to get booted in the belly whilst picking up my tantruming toddler - babies are well cushioned in there!).

I am now itching to really get back into it, and am done baby making so can throw myself into it without worrying about stopping again (to be honest thats the only reason i had another so soon - get all the baby making over and done with :D )

Ultimately it is your decision, and a decision you need to be able to be confident about and defend if necessary.

I really haven't been a lot of help, have I?

Good luck :)

Trina x
 
I had every intention of riding during both of my pregnancies, however, at about 16 weeks my lad became quite a handful to ride. He's never been an easy horse, and at his worst he dumps you. Well, I reckon he knew there was a difference, maybe I wasn't riding him so positively. Anyway, I stopped riding on the day he bucked my off and spun 180 degrees. It's not worth risking the baby or your health. However, if you have the right horse I think it's possible. My friend rode until about 38 weeks and her mare really, really looked after her. You definitely need to keep up some form of exercise and be very careful with the mucking out/heavy jobs.

Sue
 
I rode when pregnant, till about 5 months but if your family are so anti you riding and you did miscarry would it cause more grief.
If you are going to continue riding I'ed have a quick google and have a look at so websites on pregancy and miscarriages and get your self some more information. The chances for a normal women doing anything to harm a pregnacy by riding are slight. Rising trot strenghtens your pelvic floor, and you are going to need a good pelvic floor!!
Good luck and happy pushing.
 
Talking of good pelvic floor - I had a 4th degree tear (tore right through from front to back) and the drs and midwives put that down partly to my babies position and due to riding - my pelvic floor was so strong and tight that I didn't stretch as normal and due to the string muscles I pushed him out too quickly and didn't give myself time to stretch.

The position of my baby was because I stopped riding - keeping active promotes a "front to back" position which makes birth easier. As soon as I stopped riding I had nothing else to do (horse was sold at 6 months so no more horsey activities) and baby moved to be "back to back" hence making birth more difficult and adding to the tear. Drs and midwives said had I kept active he would have been in a better position and birth would have been much easier.

So a pro and a con from me. Had I stopped riding at the beginning, I doubt I'd have lost enough muscle tone to prevent the tear, but had I carried on he may have been in a better position. But that activity can come in any form - just being up and out with the horses grooming and mucking out.
 
I intended to ride until I was 4 or 5 months, just hacking no jumping or competing. However the compination of horrible morning sickness for the first 5 months of my pregnancy and the horse having 3 weeks off in the snow last winter meant that I only actually rode for the first 8 weeks or so.

The baby is now 17 weeks old, I had a CSection and I have been riding since he was 12 weeks. Biggest problem now is trying to fit it into my day.

Basically as other people have said, do what you and your partner are comfortable with. If not riding is going to make you stressed then that could be worse for the baby than going for a hack around the wood on a steady mount.

BTW Congratulations, and get some sleep, you will need it for the last month or so when he is using your bladder as a trampoline at all hours not to mention when the baby comes!
 
I have to say that the baby is well cushioned inside and that if you did the exercise before then there shouldn't be a problem. If you take up a new activity during pregnancy then that can create problems. There are many things that can happen in pregnancy like premature labour of which the causes are not specifically known so you cannot attribute all adverse outcomes to riding when pregnant. As to pelvic floor exercising this throughout pregnancy is recommended, just stop a month prior to giving birth and try perineal massage with vitamin E oil. Tear's can happen for many reasons. Just listen to your body, it is yours and this is your pregnancy.

Oh and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :D
 
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Congratulations. I've never been pregnant and won't be for a while. However, I just wanted to say that I wouldn't be riding when I was pregnant, because I can't even imagine the grief of losing a baby, or it coming out disabled.

xxxxx
 
Can I just say that I know two women who have lost babies in car accidents - neither of them were undertaking an essential journey at the time. So should pregnant women avoid unessential car journeys? The reason no-one objects to women driving whilst pregnant is because it is an activity that most people do, whereas horse-riding is a minority activity.

At the end of the day, you have to go with what you yourself are comfortable with. I chose to ride, but rode a sensible horse and didn't jump at all.

I'm afraid this is only the start of the dilemmas of motherhood, and once baby is born you be faced with more and more decisions. For example, should you let your young child ride, because there is a danger they could fall off and be injured, for example. Should they be allowed on the swings or to climb the tall slide. Whatever decision you make, someone somewhere is likely to disagree, LOL!

But many congratulations!
 
Thank you all very much for your good wishes! Clairec1154 congratulations!!! Race you to the finishing post! :)

And thank you for all your points of view! I am feeling very torn! The baby was planned, we have been trying for a while and of course I don't want to do anything to harm it. I am trying not to lift anything and be sensible. I don't have a personal problem with not riding, it won't kill me, but I keep the horses at home and I worry that with no work they would become more of a handful to handle (for farrier, health checks, etc.) than if they were kept in normal/light work. R is flighty and can be spooky, we are used to each other, but there is a chance he might unload me. F is nappy and can buck when told to go forward, but it's easier with him as I can work around what might annoy him for now and not get into a confrontation. I don't jump anyway and I can cancel all my lessons so there is no extra stress, but again I can completely see what people mean when they say how much I would regret it if I miscarried. (EgerdenFarmStud what you say is very sensible, no egg throwing from me at all!).

Sorry, I am still dithering and none of this makes any sense I know! My mum almost miscarried my brother from lifting a garbage bag and spent 7 months in bed, so that is freaking me out as well (she is repeating the story at every opportunity!).
 
Do you have somewhere you could lunge them? Or do ground work? You could perhaps do lots of work that is mentally hard for them, mixed in with some general lunging/long reining.
 
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