How long did you muck out etc for when pregnant?

[ohnelly]

Hi all im 34 weeks pregnant with number two and am still mucking out/turning out etc two horses (big 16hh but fairly well mannered!). Some ppl have commented that I shouldnt be lifting wheelbarrows/haynets etc, and I do get a stitch sometimes
When did you all stop? I do try and be sensible ie not overload wheelbarrows, take hose to buckets so I dont have to carry etc. Just wondering what everyone else did?

Mmm, it was different each time. DD was a small 'bump' and I was still mucking out 3 stables, lugging water buckets and taking hay along to the field two days before she was born.

I expected to do the same when I had ds but it was totally different. He was a big bump and much lower so I felt my balance was affected and carrying heavy stuff felt 'riskier' iyswim. I remember when I was 20 weeks and the yard was icy crawling across the yard dragging the water bucket because I felt so unsteady on my feet.

I think you just have to wait and see what sort of pregnancy you turn out to have tbh.

Mind you, you have got this far so looks like you are already managing ok!

Just do what you feel comfortable with and don't be afraid to ask for help. Think people round you tend to be more worried when they see a pregnant person doing stuff tbh. If they want to help I'd let them.

With the first one I only had one horse and he was on full livery. I was banned by the yard staff from doing much more than pat my horse and go for a quick pootle through the woods with him (which I did till I was 28 weeks.) One of the girls competed him for me and I showed her how to wash him but I did all the trimming up. I occasionally skipped out, but the staff went nuts if they saw me pushing a wheelbarrow, and would rush over to take it off me and hand me a cup of tea instead. It was all rather nice really .

This time the horses are at home, I have a huge one and a tiny one, and one who is not mine but lives here anyway. I much out one of them a day and do all the lifting, pushing etc. I have a girl who comes in 3-4 times a week to help, but I do expect to be doing everything (including the thinking for everyone else ) till I pop. Then my mother and friends will step in to share the hard work. Hopefully by then I will have the big one sold, so there shouldn't actually be too much to do.

If you are fit and strong and used to yard work, I wouldn't worry about carrying on doing it, but definitely have a back-up plan for days you just don't feel up to it.

I was mucking out and lunging my daughter's pony the day I went into labour with my youngest! I was actually having labour pains whilst lunging! Went and picked eldest daughter up from playschool, made tea that evening, then went to bed and decided to go into hospital at 11pm that night. Daughter born at 3.29am the next morning and was home by 7.30am. Didn't take eldest to playschool that morning, but did pick her up at lunch time!! Am wonder woman don't ya know!

I think as long as you are sensible, don't pick up heavy things, etc etc, then you can carry on as usual. I had a week off the horsey chores after giving birth but then was back riding in two weeks.

no-one else to do the mucking out so right up to birth, did not pile barrow up to the sky tho' !

Thanks all, your all along the same lines as what I was thinking. I will carry on as long as I feel ok doing it & am sensible. It was mostly non-horsey people telling me that I shouldnt be doing it. I knew I would get some honest opinions on here

Well my friend is expecting twins. Her doctor has told her that she can carry on looking after her horses because it is something her muscles are already used to, as long as she is sensible about it.

I still rode until about 28 weeks but found sitting trot went off the agenda at about 24 weeks and canter not long after as I was having trouble with my hips and pelvis. Could still get up out of the saddle and go for a good gallop though!

Mucked out until about 37 weeks but DP did help every now and again because it did make my back/hips/pelvis ache a fair bit towards the end. Pony was deep littered on shavings which meant it wasn't 'heavy' mucking out.

Pony moved onto 24/7 turnout at after this and I was still lugging his water up to the field until I got to term. DP took over from that point but primarily because I got too miserable to leave the house most days (got ante-natal depression in last couple of months).

Mucked out 2 horses and 2 cows until labour with dc1 42 weeks!

With dc2 also 42 weeks, I tried my best to do as much as I could up until birth, but dp had to help me, as I was so uncomfortable, and stuggled to bend down and fill hay nets etc.

I did not ride however, as I did not feel comfortable/safe even though horse is bomb proof and went on to loan as a RDA pony for the 18 months whilst I was pregnant/post natal and never put foot wrong, but for me it was just not worth the risk x

i carried on mucking out up to the day my waters broke ,i filled the barrow half full ,so it took a bit longer to do .Personally i think do it aslong as you feel comfortable doing it ,unless you have the offer of someone else doing it for free and you can put your feet up

I intended to ride/muck out as long a I could. My last ride (on my spooky arabx) was at 5 months when the reality of having a baby finally kicked in when going hell-for-leather across a field. A couple of weeks later I got sciatica (horrid back/leg pain) and was pretty much settee-bound from them on.

I had to confess to the midwife that I had been moving bales of hay just before getting the sciatica. She looked like this

So I would do what feels comfortable for you but get someone else to do any heavy lifting eg hay/straw/shavings bales and water buckets.