3 weeks pregnant - should I take a horse on loan?

[RainDancer]

OK, so I have an appointment to see a horse available for loan on a beautiful yard where my friend keeps her horses. Haven't had my own horse for 15 years. Desparate to do so but work has stopped me so far. Circumstances potentially perfect. Lovely horse, lots of support at the lovely yard and I'm so excited about it. BUT! I have just done a pregnancy test and discovered I am pregnant. I'm a pretty robust sort of girl, am not going to be one of those girls who wants to put her feet up throughout pregnancy and, whilst I wouldn't ride when heavily pregnant, I could still be pottering around the yard. Am I being mad to consider going ahead with a loan having looked forward to this for so long?

[AlpinePony]

I thought I was one of those 'get the duck on with it' types too. Then, during my first pregnancy I had such severe hyperemesis I couldn't cross the room without holding on to things for balance, never mind ride. I did get one good pipe opener at 16 weeks mind.

My second pregnancy I had a couple of jumping lessons, then was struck down with SPD, then moved to a new yard and she was seeing tigers in every corner.

Both times I've not ridden until 6 weeks post-partum.

Do it if you can afford to potentially pay for a year without riding because you just don't know if you'll get sick.

The 3 rides I've had in the last week have averaged out about 1000 euros a POP. :(

[Notinmykitchen]

Firstly congratulations on the pregnancy! I'm guessing this isn't the answer you want, but I don't think it would be a good idea to take a horse in those circumstances.

I had a very easy pregnancy, rode up to about 5 months, and stopped once I had a bump because I was worried about bashing it. I was convinced that once the baby arrived I would be fine juggling the horse, baby and work. Unfortunately, although I found the horse and baby no problem, once I went back to work there was just not enough time for everything, and the horse had to go. It is only now 4 years on that I feel able to manage a horse again, can't bloody find the right one now though!

In your situation it would seem to be a bit unfair to take on a horse, when within 6 months you will be able to do very little with it for the foreseeable future. How would you manage mucking out, lugging heavy things around etc over the winter while heavily pregnant, then with a newborn?

[MightyNice]

think it would be different if you had been riding and handling horses for quite a while before pregnancy (congrats btw) but it might not be ideal time to start again, just thinking of loosened ligaments really

[fivegomadindorset]

Not really fair on the horse, you never know what pregnancy may bring on.

[Eggsits]

I wouldn't. Not if you haven't ridden for 15 years.

[MightyNice]

but does this horse need to be ridden frequently, if so would you have help with exercise if you needed it? can you lunge, is there a horsewalker?

[DedalusDigglesPocketWatch]

Sorry, but bad idea. Different if you have been riding regularly, but now is not the time to restart.

You have no idea what the pregnancy might bring and doing horses while suffering from morning sickness, or while heavily pregnant, or trying to get the horse done in early stages of labour is not much fun :o

Add the possibility of a cs and not being able to drive/lift/sneeze for 6 weeks (lots of people are ok much sooner, but you need to consider the worst case scenario)

Oh, and pushing a buggy up and down the yard while trying to get jobs done is not fun.

Sorry.

[RainDancer]

Thanks all. I have always ridden regularly since having my own horse so that's not really an issue. But it is true to say that I have no idea what the pregnancy might bring as this will be my first baby (I hope - I had a m/c last October). I fear that you are all telling me exactly what the common sense part of my brain is already telling me! I'm obviously delighted to be pregnant, but had got myself very excited about being a horse owner again. Perhaps I just need to tell myself that I only need to wait a few more months before fulfilling my dream. Darn it.

[DedalusDigglesPocketWatch]

I had the same conversation with a friend when she had a newborn. I didn't need to tell her the good bits as she was aware of them but had to tell her all the stuff that was hard work.

I have managed to keep both my horses throughout 2 pgs (and cs's) and now have dcs aged 4yrs and 20m. It is still hard. Doing the day to day care is ok as I get a lot of help, but finding the time and energy to actually ride can be impossible.

[Pixel]

Congratulations! But I'm afraid I have to agree with the others. So much depends on what sort of pregnancy you have. My first one was easy, carried on with mucking out, heaving water buckets about etc literally until the end and didn't have a day's sickness. Second time around was completely different, it's no fun poo-picking etc when every time you bend down you want to be sick, and ds was carried so low that I was terrified of lifting anything heavy. Even driving down the bumpy track to the farm felt as if he was going to be born at any minute. I know I did get through it and probably you could too, but the difference was I'd owned my pony for 20 years and he wasn't going anywhere, I wouldn't have taken on a new one.

Don't worry though, once your pregnancy really gets going the time will fly by.

[Crocodilio]

Congratulations!

However, taking on a horse at this stage would be unfair to you and the horse. If I was the owner, I would withdraw a loan offer to someone if I found out they were pregnant, tbh.

[Booboostoo]

Congratulations on the pregnancy!

I'm afraid it's another no here. I was one of those "pregnancy is not an illness, you just get on with things" kind of person...until I got pregnant! I felt huge, awkward and didn't really feel safe on a horse. In the second trimester I managed to injure a ligament in my back pushing a wheelbarrow, which hurt till the birth and in the third trimester I was so unstable on my feet I could not even lunge. I did get back on 7 weeks after a c-section but I think I was a bit lucky with that one.

DD is 10 months now and I struggle to find the time to ride, very tough IMO.

Another thing to consider is that this a horse you don't know and with all the good will in the world owners sometimes misdescribe their horses, or horses react differently to new riders, so you would have to go through the hightened risks of the adjustment period while pregnant which may not be ideal.