RIDING WHEN PREGNANT??

rowan666

rowan666

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whats everyones views on this??

this is causing a few issues in our house im only 6wks and obviously not going to give up my horses and i dont trust anyone else to ride my youngster, i dont see the problem my OH and friends have... i rode with my 1st till i physically couldnt fit in my saddle any longer, mucked out, lugged bales of hay and straw around right uptill my waters broke and never had a problem as did my mum with all 7 kids! :confused:
 
I don't think anyone can tell you what to do in this instance but you have to respect OH opinion as it is his baby too. I personally rode until I wasn't comfortable - around 6 months but I trust my horse. And in the end hacked out only with OH on foot
 
obviously wont be jumping and tbh i personally feel a little safer on my horse (who i know inside out) than on the ground with him (hes not nasty just playfull!) and hes extremley comfortable to ride and the only thing that de-stresses me! i dont have any contact with anyone elses horses other than my own 3 now as i probobly would be pushing it a bit, i just wondered how many others also rode while pregnant...

thanks all for your opinions :)
 
I rode my mare till I was 37 weeks pregnant with child number 3.....but couldn't bear to ride at all with child number 4 because I felt so sick!!!!

My mare was/is a very safe cob, and I think riding is a calculated risk pregnant or not pregnant, so I guess you have to do what ever you think is right.....
 
I might be wrong, but I thought it was up to 3 months on a safe horse doing only flatwork was deemed perfectly acceptable, just taking it easy? At least that's what the doctor told my friend, although she kept riding up to 2 weeks beofre giving birth on her youngster that has a habit of rearing... Baby was born a few weeks ago perfectly healthy, although my friend had an awful birth! Could your youngster not just have a holiday for a few months? Better still - get OH lunging and long reining if they don't want you riding, and you can keep an eye on it!
 
Congratulations!!! That's fab news.
I am currently 26 weeks pregnant with twins and have ridden throughout. I have a horse I trust with my life (and my unborn childrens lives too) but he is over 18hh so I had to evaluate the risks because a fall from that height at any time is dangerous. I have only ridden mine since 8 weeks which happens to be the last time I went XC too and won't handle other horses now either. We jumped (max 2'3") occasionally up to 20 weeks but I did insist on OH being there when I did. I have had 2 weeks off because my hips were causing me pain but they seem to have settled down now so I may get back on for a gentle walk potter in the next few days. I can't wait!!!!
The de-stress thing is probably the most important bit, stress is very bad for babies. OH has been encouraging me to do it as he knows how happy I am sat aboard BP.
If you are concerned have a chat with midwife/GP. My friend did this after 3 miscarriages when she stopped riding the minute she found out. Pregnancy #4 she rode throughout and now has a gorgeous 1 year old daughter.
It is totally up to you if you ride but by you I am really referring to the plural you, including OH. Friends, colleagues and others will all have opinions to share but at the end of the day it's not their baby so it's none of their business.
 
Congratulations :-)

I am currently 30 weeks and still riding my girl (in a fashion!), I am mainly hacking and just schooling lightly once a week. Though I am not really doing her any favours anymore :o

I think if you have a horse you can trust, then it is better to keep fit, active and of course sane!

My midwife told me it is fine to keep doing what I'm doing, just to be careful and not take any unnecessary risks. Every horse woman I've spoken to has had an easy labour compared with my non riding friends, so I'm hoping mine will just pop out!

Perhaps once you have seen the midwife you can talk to your OH and explain. You need to be considerate of his feelings. Luckily my husband knows that I would go insane very quickly without horses so he has been supportive and just asks me to be careful. I have not jumped since finding out.

Everyone else's opinion is irrelevant. You, your OH and your midwife know best
 
I rode (hacked only) and had a relatively easy labour/birth but I have heard of riders tummy muscles being so tight that it makes labour and birth hard as the muscles need to stretch and relax - which is harder with strong muscles. Sorry that was expained terribly but you get the gist. Good luck :) x
 
Am 32 weeks with second one and gave up riding at 28 weeks as it started to feel a bit sore. Had stopped jumping in ring about 5 months but was still having the odd pop on our 6 yo until I finished riding. We have sent our horse to my sj trainer and he is teaching him so much more than I can, so it's a perfect solution (except the cost!)
I know they say that the first three months is more risky, but if you give up now it's a pretty long time to go without riding and that time can really drag. Must be hard if OH feels that way - I am lucky in that my OH was the one who kept putting the fences up!
 
I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and stopped riding as soon as I found out I was pregnant (about 6 weeks) I miscarried before this one and would not have forgiven myself if anything where to happen. Had my horse for 8 years and even though she is safe as a row of houses, anything can happen! I'm still mucking two of them out and doing all other jobs though.
 
Personally I'd ride for as long as I felt comfortable, but only on a horse I felt safe on, not a youngster.

If it's your second though I'm sure you're in a good position to judge the risks and know how your body feels...
 
I had my first twinges of labor whilst out for a hack, went into labor properly at about 6.30 later on that evening and had had my daughter by 8.30. Mid wife said she had never seen such string tummy muscles:D
 
congrats to all that are expecting! :D

some fab stories there! made me feel miles better! thanks all!
think my OH is just over thinking things he seems to forget ive been riding/owned horses 24 years which is 2 years longer than hes even been alive! but he knows if he makes me choose between my horses and him ide rather be single! haha
 
Can't see a problem with riding when pregnant, My pregnancies were all straightforward so never stopping me doing anything, although maybe toned things down a bit.
Keeping fit and being outdoors has to be better than becoming a couch potato.
 
I would say it depends on the horse, and on how the pregnancy goes.

My Dr said it was fine to continue riding, so carried on hacking my sensible cob up until about 32 weeks, and only gave up then as couldn't get on and off when needing a wee!!! I did not jump though as thought that was taking too much of a risk.

I was very lucky to have an easy pregnancy and birth, and was back in the saddle doing a hunter trial 2 weeks after my son was born.

Hope all goes well.
 
I rode up until i was five months. I had a very sharp horse then who would hack out a million miles an hour. But I knew him and he always looked after me. You know your body and you know your horse. I wouldn't however, ride some of the ones I have now, if I got preganant again ! Each to their own. Good luck ! x
 
Congratulations! I was hacking till about 30 weeks, but carried on looking after my two and doing all jobs till the day I was in labour. I would have ridden longer, but 30 weeks took me up till January and the weather was rubbish and as my boys are living out and we have no school my only option was hacking at weekends. My husband supported my choice to ride still which was important if he hadn't I would have had to have a re think. Some of my pregnant hacks were the best I had had as they were just so stress releiving after a hard day. I have to say I felt safer on my boy then I did driving my car! Our son is 7 months tomorrow and very well and healthy! Good luck
 
I rode until I couldn't get my leg high enough to get my foot into stirrup for mounting. Guess I was around 6 months gone. Hacking mostly with a bit of schooling.

My YO where I was at the time in Belgium, rode until 2 hours before she gave birth on her lusitano stallions & was doing haute ecole movements!
 
Having someone there with you wouldn't make one bit of difference if you had a fall and something happened to the baby. I would never ride whilst pregnant but like others have said, it's your baby
 
its a very controversial issue...

i think i will continue to ride as long as i can as i did with my 1st. i am an experienced rider, i know my horse inside out and its the only thing that keeps me sane!, i will refrain from riding/handling anyone elses horse though and when my boy isnt in the mood for being ridden (which he will clearly signal!) i will not risk riding him!

i like to think of it as keeping fit and stress free for motherhood!
plus if my horse was left 9mnths without being ridden he would kill me and then my kids would be left without a mum!
 
budley95 said:
I might be wrong, but I thought it was up to 3 months on a safe horse doing only flatwork was deemed perfectly acceptable, just taking it easy? At least that's what the doctor told my friend, although she kept riding up to 2 weeks beofre giving birth on her youngster that has a habit of rearing... Baby was born a few weeks ago perfectly healthy, although my friend had an awful birth! Could your youngster not just have a holiday for a few months? Better still - get OH lunging and long reining if they don't want you riding, and you can keep an eye on it!
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I think the reason of this is that up until 12 weeks the baby is protected by your pelvic bone after this time it's above this and so vulnerable if you have a fall.

I haven't ridden through either if my pregnancies- I just couldn't live with myself if anything happened.

It's only 9 months not forever- and it's coming into winter ;)

I felt that sick I don't think I could have ridden even if I had wanted to.:p

I did muck out etc and carry on as normal with the care of the horses right until I had them both.
 
I rode up until it was uncomfortable and I was back riding 2 weeks after my first child was born.
My consultant said that the babyis so well protected in the womb it wasn't a concern to him even if I fell off :)
Congratulations :)
 
agree that it is kind of up to your OH as well as its his baby too, and u have a duty to make sure u keep both yourself and your baby safe.

me and my hubby came to an agreement when i was pregnant that i was to only ride my forester, and not my ISH mare. my forester was extremely fizzy and bouncy but he seemed to know something was different and he took perfect care of me. my mare ws kept ticking over by friends. i stopped riding around 6 months pregnant as i started to find it painful.

i mucked out, hayed, poo picked etc my 2, and sometimes up to 5 others, every day until the day before i went into hospital. i was induced 2 and a half weeks early, was extremely fit and healthy, and had a very quick and easy labour.

i don't agree with sitting around doing nothing whilst pregnant, it doesn't help u or the baby - but everyone is an individual and u have to listen to your body. i rode again about a week after giving birth, but built up gradually.
 
To be honest you can only do what you are comfortable with. I always said I could never give up riding including show jumping if I fell preganant. I did fall pregnant and continued to show jump all 3 of my mares up till I was 5 months gone. At this point I no longer enjoyed it. I guess maternal instinct kicked in. I continued to ride 2 of my mares full time including galloping work up to the day I gave birth (I trusted these 2 horses implicitly). My third mare could be a bit tricky so I decidied to only stick to school work with her and no jumping, avoiding unnecessary danger.
I went into labour, and decided I still had time to ride all three of my horses, I kid you not. I would add though that I had a tiny bump and that it didn't really interfere with riding. It only became uncomfortable in the last 2 weeks. Although you can never predict what will happen when riding, I would never have got on some one elses horse, I didn't jump after 5 months, and I was careful to ensure that what I decided to do was as safe as safe can be when riding. My doctor said that it is worse for pregnant women who have ridden full time to suddenly stop as it weakens all their muscles suddenly and can cause a lot of back problems.
Its a very personal choice, but you have to accept that if anything happened that is the chance that you decided to take. There is no right or wrong one on this. Congrats on the pregnancy
 
Congrats on your pregnancy :)

Im now 28 weeks and am still riding, however it is now just starting to feel a bit uncomfortable so i think my days are numbered!

As others have said its really up to you & how your OH feel. You just have to be sensible and in my case try not to be too jealous when everyone goes out jumping!
 
I rode until I was about 7 months when pregnant with my son. I minimised the risk as much as possible so as I knew my horse was extremely nappy hacking out alone and got excited jumping I didn't do these things. Stuck to flat work schooling, hacking out in company or more often with my OH on foot and my dog as 'lead horse'!

I had a very easy birth and the midwife felt it was due to how fit I was and how strong my muscles were.

Congratulations by the way :)
 
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