Riding while pregnant

KittyH

KittyH

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I am 22 weeks pregnant (3rd pregnancy) and have carried on riding my 2 (9 y o TB, mostly sensible, and 4 y o, reasonably well behaved, but sometimes pretty stroppy) so far. Riding for 1.5-3 hours every day and actually feel the best I ever have done whilst pregnant. Schooling, hacking and small sj schooling since about 15 weeks, unaffil everything upto then. Just been looking on NHS website and others which are pretty negative about riding while pregnant, and made me wonder if I was pushing my luck a bit. Just wondered what you lot had done - how much and for how long? thank you.
 
i know loads of people tht have kept riding while pregnant right up until they were too big to get on!! but they only hacked out and took things easy on horses that they new were 100% safe. and i know that they were advised to keep riding if its wat they had always done as its good exercise etc as long as they wer on horses they could trust to behave themselves xx
 
Did Mary King not say she rode up until 6months? I'm sure aI read that somewhere - or maybe it was Pippa Funnell? ... Ok that was not helpful, I'll shut up now!
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I rode up until 8 months pregnant with both babies, my midwife told me if its something i've already done before getting pregnant then to continue with it - so i did - I never went mad and only done light hacking but it kept me fit during the pregnancy and I knew (so far as I possibly could know) that I was safe and secure on my bombproof horse. Maybe speak to your own midwife ?
 
Thanks for your replies. My midwife is sweet, and says do what you are comfortable with, but she doesn't know anything about horses or riding, so I don't feel that confident with her advice.
 
loads of people doi it. The baby is pretty well protected where it is. My friend rode till she was almost due and then had to stop because it was difficult to get off for the bump.
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Riding is good exercise.
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Good luck with the baby.
 
Hi I think it really depends on how you feel about it, I rode right up to the day i gave birth 37 + 5 weeks with a big baby 9lbs 6oz! tho i trust my horse 100% and would again if i was in the situation again.
 
Ask your GP if you are worried , but I have heard that when you are used to riding , you might as well stick with it when pregnant as it keeps you in good shape . The rule seems to be - stop when you get tired ( meaning stop riding when you feel tired , but keep at it - not give up riding altogether - unless there are medical reasons to give up .) That didn't make sense , sorry
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Best wishes to you & your baby
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I rode up until 6 weeks before the birth, difficult to fasten jodphurs though. I was still competing at local riding club level and that year won the supreme championship at our local show and 13 trophies. Wasn't jumping (except 1 jump in handy pony) rest of the classes were either ridden showing or in hand. I did get a lot of tutts saying I should know better etc etc. But I felt safe my pony (I was 26 years old at the time but still had a pony!!! - in fact daughter went on to ride said pony winning championships on her too) Doctor told me okay and sometimes it was more of a shock to your system to give up doing something your body was used to doing. Good luck with what you do and with baby too.
 
I rode while pregnant - stuck to hacking and flat work once pregnancy was confirmed. That said, I didn't realise I was pregnant until about 20 weeks (d'oh) so I was riding as normal up to then and I fell off once - but no harm done, a 2 hour labour, perfect baby and mega quick recovery. Fresh air and excercise is good for anyone, pregnant or not.
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I am a student midwife, and we tell our ladies to continue doing any type of exercise they did PRIOR to becoming pregnant, ie running, cycling, riding, but to abstain from any contact sport or dangerous activity ie handgliding, parachuting etc. The other thing about horseriding is that it firms up the perineum and is less likey to stretch during labour and delivery, incurring either an episiotomy or stitches.
mmm hope this helps
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I rode with my first until I was 30 weeks and then my bump was too big to get on and off and I had put on 4 stone
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so too heavy for my TB.

I continued as normal with schooling and hacking, didn't jump as high and stopped jumping when my bump started getting a bit noticable (I couldn't fold over a fence
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) I continued to compete at dressage and small unaff SJ.

I had my 9lb son the day after his due date after a 34 hour labour - he was back to back though so explains why it took so long. 10 days later I was back riding and 2 weeks after that I was back competing.
 
There was another post about this the other day... Opinions seem very divided but the only conclusion I could come to was that if you feel ok, and are confident enough, then carrying on is fine.

I'm in exactly the same situation - 22 weeks pregnant, and riding my 11 year old and 5 year old. The young one is spooky, nothing especially dangerous but as I get bigger it won't be so much fun, and it will be time to stop with him and turn him out for the winter soon. The other one I will ride as long as I can keep getting on and off. It's not stopping me doing anything yet and I feel great, not at all worried about getting on. But some people do feel worried, in which case they are probably better off not riding.

I've been wondering how long is too long to turn the young one away for, and everyone I have asked have said that he will be ok with up to about 6 months in the field to grow up and be a horse again for a while. I'm thinking of putting him out next month until late Feb / March. What are you going to do with yours?

Best of luck!!
 
Hi Angela. My plan is to start cubbing my 4 y o next week, then turn him away towards the end of October, probably till the end of March. I came quite close to getting bucked off tonight though, so a bit anxious now. Last two pregs I rode a lot till 7 months, 2nd time had a really quiet horse who I rode a bit till 36 weeks. My TB is easy but can be a bit quick so I will just see how things go with him. Really feel 4 yo needs a bit more work before turning him away, so I'll try and stick with it for another 6 weeks.
Hope things go well for you - let me know how you get on?
 
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