Any Horse Riders on mumsnet?

[Rochwen]

Are there any horseriders on mumsnet?

I'd love to hear from you.

How do you manage to look after a child and a horse. How soon after the birth did you ride again. Have any of you suffered from SPD and still managed to ride again?

Surely I can't be the only one !

I've got an 18 month dd, two horses at home, I used to compete at Advanced Level Dressage, I also love jumping and endurance. Unforutnately I had SPD during pregnancy and it still hasen't cleared up and both my doctor and my physio have told me not to ride so my poor horses are bored and I am heartbroken that I can't ride.

Oh theres some funny things which wern't so funny at the time that stick in my mind... My friend once was on and on at comming up the yard and helping me, she's the sort of person who cant pass a mirror, a bit dappy - gotta love her! She was lingering around I thought the safest thing was to ask her to put the bucket of water in the rubber tyre (the tyre was to stop my youngster knocking it over) - what did she do.....

She emptied the whole bucket of water into the tyre!!! I could have cried on that cold night as I watched the water seep into my freshly laid woodshavings!

Can laugh now! - dosy twat

The agricultural college deal sounds fantastic, Hillary - horse heaven, surely.

May have to move near one...

I have 3 horses and 3 DC, horses all live out which makes life much easier and DH does a lot to help so am very lucky.

DD3 is four weeks and am back in the saddle and loving it

You are brave - I'm still not back in the saddle after 5.5 months, but dd did arrive by c-section so my abdominals are completely shot. My icelandic lives out year round ( no muckingout) and is on full grass livery at the moment, ie she's out with a friend's brood mares and youngsters, and my friend looks after her.

i havent got horses but my sis has and she has 3 kids under 5.she works mostly fulltime. she is extremely lucky though that my mother goes to her land every morning mon-fri and mucks out/grooms etc and my sis or her hubby go down there in the evening. on a weekend her hubby does satday chores down there and she rides every sunday morning while hubby looks after kids. shes very lucky and doesnt realise that! which does niggle me a bit.

she has a shetland, arab, welsh mountain pony and a miniture horse which is my mums

My darling pony died just over a year ago but I still see to my sister's a couple of times a week while she is at work. He is a Welsh D, golden dun with white points. Very beautiful but too lively for me I'm afraid! I also look after my friend's shetland pony as she is disabled and finds coping with the mud difficult (she managed very well for 20 years but her crutch slipped and she ended up with a broken knee so has lost confidence). I'm perfectly happy to do it because the pony is a real poppet and I get unlimited free riding for my ds. Also, after a quarter of a century of being a horse owner I can't just keep away until I find the new love of my life. I'm far too addicted!

At last - horse lovers - I have a 16.2 warmblood who's 28 going on 5. Also have 15 months DS who just loves being at the yard with me - we are DIY. Bloody hard work and I have enlisted a sharer to help me with my special fella (he's a handful) but she has just fallen pregnant, which is great but also rubbish IYSWIM. SO back to the drawing board!

Oh but I never seem to get in the saddle, I run around all day from dropping off at nursery, to mucking out and working all day then picking up again...., repeat and repeat...!

Ah yes lovely to see horse lovers on here. Never owned my own but started riding aged 5 and only gave up when I went to uni. Miss it so much - must get back to it!

I am based in the North West so if any of you mums are close by and are struggling to find enough time to get your pride and joy out and exercising as much as you'd like, then I'd be more than willing to help out

Mylittlestar - I keep bumping into you and now you say you are in the NW, me too.

Took dd to meet my horse - I have to say, the horse was fascinated by a pint sized human. She was positively angelic: she actually came to me in the field instead of making me trog over to the far end to get her; when I was pregnant, she wouldn't let me get near her - did anyone else's horse react like that?

Have to say mine was a total angel for me and a complete tw*t for everyone else. He used to come flying across the field to see me, i often wondered if he would stop. He did become quite gentle, he was fairly bolshy before. But no major changes, he is totally freaked by my LO, but more careful around him, he even tolerates being poked by him. They are such strange, fantastic, couldn't live without them creatures.

In fact I got a horse whisperer to 'talk' to him. Anyone ever tried that?

I got someone because he started being realoly aggresive to everyone and impossible to handle. The yard I was on refused to handle him and I was 8 months preg and had high blood pressure.

I have to say I was fairly impressed and I was also rather doubtful aboiut having it done. Afterwards he behaved really strangely, was very very possesive of me and is always an abolut gem. At least I now know who he likrs and doesn't like and why. I'll try and dig the number out for u. I believe she does it over the phone too, I know that sounds odd, but I have 'heard the calls' Very very spooky......

Longlegs hi - sorry couldn't get back on last night. We do seem to keep bumping into each other

Where do you live?

(sorry - hijack over!)