Horse riding trip booked and paid for - just found out I'm pregnant!

[Bunnyfluffy]

I've just discovered I'm pregnant. I'm over the moon.

I've got a horse riding trip booked and paid for. All being well, I will be 8 weeks pregnant at the time of the trip. The trip is hacking / trail riding. It involves walk, trot and canter. No jumping. I have been before with the same company and their horses all seemed like safe and sensible mounts, but obviously I know no horse is foolproof. I can ride ok but I'm not an expert.

I'm thinking of cancelling the trip (and possibly losing a few hundred £££ - I'm currently trying to get hold of the company to see if a refund/deferring my holiday to next autumn is an option) but I'm not sure if I am being overly-dramatic?! It's just that it's taken me over a year to get pregnant and I don't want to take any risks. What exactly are the risks of riding at 8 weeks pregnant? As in if I fell off would it damage the baby at such an early stage? Are there any other risks?

I'm very fit and do other sports but I haven't been riding regularly over the summer.

Really unsure what to do.

I'm aware that at this early stage, I could cancel the trip and the pregnancy may come to a natural end anyway

Any advice welcome!

As someone who has also taken a very long time to get pregnant, no amount of losing money from a trip would persuade me to take the risk, no matter whether it turns out small (I know nothing about horse riding!).

However I also wanted to say that in both my pregnancies I was so sick by 8 weeks that the journey from bed to bathroom was awful. There is no way I could have done a riding holiday. We actually cancelled a holiday we had booked.

Yes, I agree. It's not about the money, losing money is always annoying, but this baby is more important than any amount of money.

I'm quite an anxious person and often over-cautious so I guess I wanted to sense-check whether my knee-jerk reaction to cancel the trip is me being ridiculous or me being sane and sensible!

I actually booked this trip to cheer myself up after unsuccessfully TTC for a year!

I rode until 13 weeks with my first pregnancy, and 15 weeks with my second. I didn't jump, and always made sure to ride sensible horses. I also never rode in bad weather when the horses might be more unsettled. I personally decided the risk was limited as baby is quite well padded in the first trimester, and that getting some exercise would've good for me!

That said, I was riding my sisters horses. You'd need to check if the riding school/holiday company our happy with it, I know our insurance wouldn't have covered pregnant riders when I worked at a riding yard.

A woman rider won the South Oz State Dressage championship while heavily pregnant I am led to believe.

This is not advice BTW

I think it's something you need to decide...... because it's about your attitude to risk and at what level of risk you are comfortable with.

I gave up horse riding straightaway- basically because everyone told me too, however I still skied which I would think given the sort of riding you are talking about doing would be similar risk. I think part of it, was I wasn't a great rider but was a really good skier. But I often tell people who ask, what my obgyn said to me when I asked about skiing (certain members of my family thought I should give it up) . At the stage you will be at, the foetus is buried deep within the pelvis - if you have an accident that is bad enough to harm it in there, you actually have a much bigger challenge with regard to your health (i.e. You will be very badly injured).

But the poster above does make a very good point - if you have terrible morning sickness , you won't feel like riding at all!

Congratulations btw!

I'm assuming you don't ride your own horse everyday, but I would postpone the holiday. You'll be riding a strange horse in unfamiliar surroundings, and although the risk is tiny, you don't want to look back with regrets.

I rode to 34 weeks pregnant with twins BUT that was my horse (by the end it was walk only on a soft surface for max 10 minutes just to stop me going mental).
At 8 weeks pregnant I was booked to take my horse to camp when he suddenly went very lame. I borrowed a friend's pony and was show jumping and doing XC but only the small stuff. The difference is I was riding daily before this and I knew this pony well.
It is of course your decision but if you decided not to go ahead with it I would definitely speak to the company you're booked with, if they're difficult about refunding your or deferring your trip ask for a written statement from their insurer that you and the baby are fully covered - that should persuade them to treat you well!

Ive just pulled out of a days hunting and decided on no more jumping now. Im 11 weeks. We did do cross country at 9 weeks but chickened out half the jumps. I know my pony inside out had her 7 years will stick to hacking and schooling until I can no longer ride.

Everyone is different. I would still go on the riding holiday. But everyone is so different.

I'd still go. The risks are tiny because you're so early on and if you're not jumping etc.
If and when I get pg I will still be riding as long as possible although I won't hunt or jump after around 10 weeks, maybe earlier.

I stopped riding as soon as I found out I was pregnant but when I found out, it was because I was being horrifically sick which didn't stop until about 14 weeks. I do trail riding like you describe which I think is very low risk for falling off but at 8 weeks I was either at work or on the sofa wondering what I had done to deserve this sickness!

I didn't stop riding with either of my pregnancies but I was riding my own horse who I trusted completely. My doctor told me not to give up and said my own body would tell me when it was time to stop. I hope this next comment doesn't upset anyone, but she advised me that a miscarriage could happen even if I took to my bed for the whole pregnancy and that I should just go out and live my life. Your body is a great protector of a tiny fetus should you come off and while I had terrible morning sickness with both pregnancies, riding made me feel better! Having said that, your body, your choice! If you would feel better cancelling the holiday, cancel.

Congratulations!
Quite aside from the horse riding risk, you might have sickness/nausea plus tiredness to contend with at 8 weeks.

Which would make ANY holiday less fun.

I'm not a rider, but had a similar dilemma over skiing. It was the awful morning sickness that stopped me.

Hopefully you'll have a glowing easy pregnancy, but worth considering

Tricky. Its really down to how you feel about it really, as others have said.

I rode my own horse throughout my pregnancy, up until 37 weeks (I had my baby the following weekend), I trusted him implicitly, so always felt safe. The only place I felt comfortable was in the saddle!

I stopped at 6 weeks. I think in your case i would go on the holiday.

I was only doing weekly riding lessons, but I rode until I was 13 weeks and my jodhpurs stopped fitting. I purposefully didn't tell my instructor in case she would be forced to tell me to stop for insurance purposes or something; I was happy to accept responsibility if there was an accident.

After I stopped, I was chatting to my instructor's daughter, who said she rode until she was 8 months.

Whatever you're comfortable with really.

I wouldn't risk it op.

I'm struggling with infertility and if by some miracle I did conceive then riding my horse would be totally out of the question from day one. It's just not worth it. Riding is a risky sport no matter how quiet your horse may be. The fact you would be riding unfamiliar horses makes it even more risky.

It sucks to loose the money, but what a wonderful reason to loose it for. Congratulations on your pregnancy. I hope it's a happy and healthy one

I wonder if they’d still be allowed to let you ride out for insurance reasons actually. Not sure how that works. One of our liveries is heavily pregnant and she’s still riding. Her horse is a sweetie but he rears and I honestly don’t know how or why she risks it. I’d have turned mine away the minute I found out if it was me. But everybody is different and I respect that.

I don't know that I'd go on a holiday on horses I don't know - even as an experienced rider I think that would have been out of my comfort zone once I knew I was pregnant.
As an aside I'm 27 weeks and still riding regularly. I evented up until 8 weeks (mainly as I'd entered and spent months prepping), and jumped etc until 14 weeks. Then circumstances meant I stopped, but I don't have an end date for riding in mind. I'll stop when my body decides it's not an enjoyable thing to be in the saddle, which is most probably not too far off.
Good luck.

Do you have travel insurance? You may be able to make a claim if you can get a doctor to advise you not to ride.

I wouldn't be stopping riding at 8 weeks - would be riding up till the day I popped haha - so in your position I would 100% still be going!!

I rode until I was 6 months pregnant but it was my horse that I knew very well. I wouldn't take the risk in your circumstances - not worth it IMO

I rode my own bombproof horse until I was 5 1/2 months pregnant- and then fell off - my fault, not his. I wouldn't risk riding an unknown horse. Plus, there is a good chance you'll be feeling ropey at that point anyway so you might not feel up to it.

Did you have insurance arranged as that may cover you?