Horse riding & Pregnancy

[Rubyrecka]

Any fellow riders here?

Haven't been able to ride much due to lockdown but went back for my first ride today. I'm 14+4 and was a little apprehensive at first! Has anyone else got back in the saddle after finding out they're preggo? Or stopped perhaps? Interested to see if and when people stopped due to bump or any other reasons

Not myself but I worked at a stables for many years and lots of owners started ridding again after 12 ish weeks .
It was mostly a dressage yard so no hurtling over jumps or marathon treks .
Because of the core strength that you build up riding it helped them , they had less backache and weather it is just a coincidence or not all three of them had quicker births than they had with previous DCs before the rode regular.

However to be clear I know bugger all about pregnancy so obs check with your doc 1st

Well it’s up to you but it’s not recommended in case, obviously, you have a fall. My mum fell and two days later had a miscarriage at 14 weeks. Ok might not have been related but still. I wouldn’t risk it personally. But it’s up to you.

Also I suspect the quicker births were down to the fact they’d had babies before not because they had great core strength.

Yes, only doing flat work for obvious reasons so no jumping or x country!

I think the general consensus that as long as your healthy and are a decent rider (so the risk of falling off is lower) then all should be okay until it starts feeling uncomfortable

Well anyone can fall off if the horse spooks! Look it’s up to you, like with anything and everything in pregnancy. Some people will tell you a glass of wine is ok, some wouldn’t even cook with alcohol. Do what you feel happy with.

I stopped very early on with both my pregnancies but I was at a riding school. A friend of mine rode her own horse almost up until she gave birth but her bump was still neat that she could get on - no way I could have even tried after 19 weeks.

I think it’s a judgement depending on how you feel and nature of the horse you ride. Just take it each day at a time.

Its completely up to you, I love riding but for me it isn't worth the risk. Experienced rider or not, there is still a chance of a fall & that fall you could live to regret. However there are plenty of people who ride whilst pregnant, so I wouldn't judge anyone for it, just not for me personally.

I stopped with my mare because she throws a good strip when she wants (or doesn’t want to do something) and I didn’t want to risk it. On the ground she’s safe as douses though so was still going to see her and donmorning feeds etc even when 10 days over due!

I stopped pretty early on due to exhaustion and haven't found the balls to get back on. I trust my little old mare 100% - had her 11 years but she's a big chunky IDxCob and its a long way to fall if anything was to happen. Bump would definitely make getting on/off interesting now anyway! She's 21 now and enjoying her semi holiday - still gets lunged by me every so often and occasionally ridden by my sister so is happily ticking over :)

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I stopped riding around 18 weeks when I found a good sharer for my mare. She is only 5 and still very green so didn't want to risk it. My last ride I also forgot I had a bump and managed to bash it quite hard on the saddle getting off 🙈 I still felt fine while riding though.

It's completely down to you, your horse, circumstances etc. If I hadn't found her sharer I would have continued until my body told me not to as I didn't want her to have a big gap in her education at a young age. Im 35 weeks now with my first baby and physically there's no way I would have been up to riding in the 3rd trimester. I take my hat off to those who do! I also think I'd squash my poor pony 😂 x

Thanks all, interesting hearing your own experiences. I'll keep it up until it doesn't feel comfortable anymore. 🐴

The last time I rode was 6 weeks, the yard I'm on asked me stop as their insurance wouldn't cover it if I had an accident, which 8s fair enough. They now work him for me till I'm able to get back on. Quite glad as he's a crackpot in the winter 😂

I rode until 20ish weeks and would’ve happily carried on but I had a bleed caused by irritated cervix from my mare’s big trot.
I was mucking out on my due date though