If you didn't ride while pregnant...

[May07Bride]

did you have a hard time with people questioning why or thinking you were a whimp? haha And how did your horse handle it? Did anyone give their horse(s) a break and then start up again after 9 (10) months? (So you didn't have someone riding for you or in training). If you didn't ride, did you continue to lunge to help keep your horse fit and still spend time together?

just looking for others' experiences :)

[GoForAGallop]

Welll, here, I have not been pregnant, but I rode a mare while her owner was pregnant.


NO, you are not a wimp, and don't let anyone even suggest such a thing. It doesn't take a lot to damage a baby (in terms of falling off) and different people are comfortable with different levels of risk. Some people stop the second they know that they're pregnant. The lady I rode for decided to stop riding once she started to show. I know others who rode almost literally right up to the day that they gave birth! Ride until you're comfortable, physically or mentally.

You can give your horse the year off (the time you're pregnant, and the few months after you're frantically dealing with the new baby :)) and let him chill in the pasture.....and I promise that 99.99999999999% of horses are going to be JUST FINE with that plan! If you DO have that horse who hates to just sit around, and wants to be out doing stuff, then look into getting someone to ride while you can't. Perhaps there's a teen at your barn who's a good little rider, or someone else who's horse is lame at the moment. I actually paid for my ride time, so perhaps you could even find a situation like that. (Granted, when I did it the economic state of the country was in far better shape.)

[luvs2ride79]

I rode at 3 months pregnant. I had to sell my horses previously because of financial constraints (I was living in Southern California at the time). I rode at a rental/trail stable a friend worked at. She knew my background (jumpers to 4' and 2nd level Dressage) and gave me a "firey" new horse to ride. He was good, just spunky. Well, all did NOT turn out well. I wasn't hurt, but I was VERY scared. It took me almost 2 years to get back on a horse, and it took me another 8 months to get past nearly throwing up everytime I mounted up... 10 years later, I still get scared when riding a new horse that is spunky or spooky.

I would not recommend it, unless you're on your own dead-broke horse, in the arena.

Your body and mind just "knows" that you're now responsible for another life. It's a very eye opening feeling once it hits you. I had fallen COUNTLESS times before that, and had gotten pretty hurt a time or five. I had NEVER been that scared before, even riding horses I had no business on, lol. My whole body shook for nearly two hours after the ride was over.

[May07Bride]

thanks for the insight :)

Definitely no question in my mind that I won't be riding. It's not worth the risk to me and I couldn't live w/ myself if something happened (even if not caused by riding, but I'd always have that "what if") plus, after going through infertility and finally getting pregnant and being a little more high risk, it's just not something I'd ever consider.

My horse has NO problem being a pasture ornament and is out 24/7 in a very natural environment so I don't think she'll mind. :) I recently moved to a much larger barn w/ boarders so if the opportunity came up for someone to ride her I might look into that, but I don't think she'd be unhappy if it didn't. :)

[kahjul]

I had a difficult pregnancy (and a difficult horse!) so did not ride at all. I kept her turned out and borrowed a friends burro to keep her entertained. She got plenty of excersise chasing him around. She would not have been safe to hand walk or lunge (the walking for my safety, lunging for hers). She was VERY hot and needed constant work and direction to be safe at all. I sent her to a trainer the day I delivered just to leg her up, I was back on 3 weeks post delivery and all was fine.

[Blue Yonder]

I had a hard time getting pregnant. The minute I found out I was, I benched myself from riding. No way it was worth it to me. I did still feed everyone twice daily so got my horse fix that way. (Horses live at home with me.) Toward the end of the pregnancy I hired someone to hold horses on farrier day, because standing 6 or 7 hours with young stock wasn't so appealing. ;-)

Horses hung out living the good life in the pasture. They enjoyed it!

I started back on my easiest guy a month or two after our daughter arrived -- 3 days of lunging and hopped back on, no biggie. He was a trustworthy guy.

It took me a few years to get my nerves back breaking the babies and riding really green horses. I couldn't shake the shadow of how getting hurt might affect my family, when the girls were young. I'm still more sensible now than when I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof pre-kids, but have found a more mature confidence which I like.

If someone has the cajones to tease you about doing what you feel is right for your child regarding riding or not, then blow it and him/her off. That's no kind of person I even want to know!! How insanely rude.

[Brockstables]

I rode right up until my arms were too short to pull my butt up the side of the horse! I had a really hot Morgan and an equally quiet QH, so I parked the Morgan in the pasture and stuck with the Qh for the latter part of my pregnancy. We tooled along in the fields, the QH happy to be only walking and I was oh-so-happy to just be on a horse. Three weeks after the baby was born, I was sitting very uncomfortably in the saddle of my Morgan again, and nothing had changed with him. We "legged up" together.
My doctor had a fit when I first asked about riding, but when I explained that I had been riding all along and was not just taking up the sport, he settled down a bit. If you are comfortable riding, I say go for it but make adjustments as necessary to keep you and the baby safe. And if you want to wait until you are riding solo again, follow your instincts! Your horse will wait for you!
I had people arguing both sides with me... Catch 22. "You can still ride, don't worry so much!" and "WHAT??!!! Riding a horse when you're pregnant???" I did what worked for me. I rode, but I switched to the horse that was trustworthy and quiet and most unlikely to get me hurt. And then we mostly just walked.

[PNWjumper]

I rode through both of my pregnancies. I'm thinking that all of the HORRIFIED responses I got from pretty much everyone would mean that someone who quit riding for a pregnancy would hear nothing more than, "wow, you're really very intelligent and thoughtful! What a wonderful mother you'll make!" :lol:

Please don't let anyone let you feel like a wimp. It's a personal decision and I can't imagine that any horse would mind a "vacation" :) And if you can leave them turned out for the time off they can keep themselves more fit than they would in a stall.

As for the lunging.....I was actually more nervous about long lining and lunging my horses than I was about riding them. The thought of a random kick hitting my stomach scared me far more than the thought of falling off. If I hadn't been riding, my horses would have gotten the time off or I would have found a kid to ride for me during that time.

[Ajierene]

My sister in law is a registered nurse doing in home child care through a company. When her doctor told her she was pregnant, he also told her she could not pick up anything over 20 lbs. She scoffed - one of her clients at the time was an infant weighing at least 40 lbs.

Her doctor told her that if she did not tell her employer about the restrictions - he would. Needless to say, she switched clients. She really liked that client, but doctor's orders.

She does not ride horses, but she and my brother bought a motorcycle that she rode for a few months into the pregnancy, but now gets motion sickness, so she does not ride it anymore.

The moral is - no matter what anyone else does, first: listen to yourself, second: listen to your doctor. Do what is right for you.

[aspenlucas]

I rode with my first pregnancy. I rode the morning I had the doctor's appointment where I heard "no heartbeat". That morning the pony tried to buck me off. Had I been bucked off you would have never been able to convince me that didn't cause my daughter's in utero death. I did not ride with my other two daughters. Nine months is nothing when not riding. My horses were fine. I played with them, fed them, groomed them. They didn't care and didn't miss a beat when I was back. I respect people that do not ride while pregnant. I have yet to see an award given to those that rode the most. :)

[MardiGrasTimeStable]

If you aren't going to ride - I'm pretty certain your horse won't mind the time off either. My old gelding and my DH's mare is one of those horses that you can turn out for 6 months to a year and then hop on and go for a ride. They aren't show ready obviously...but they aren't crazy either. There is always ground work that can be done as well... lunging, ground driving, or our favorite ~ ponying from a golf cart (no chance of a kick there).
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I'm 15 weeks now...and just finished my last horse show until after this little one gets here. I'm cutting back riding - but I'm not "stopping" ~ yet anyways. I realized that our March horse show I'll be 6 months pregnant and I'm not even dreaming of being able to navigate a jump course BALANCED at that point. But man it felt good this weekend to hop up and show - I'm not showing yet, haven't even gained a pound.

I told both my doctor and my husband - I will STOP riding completely once I am no longer able to get in the saddle. They were both happy with that. I'm in shape and my body is accustomed to how I ride. This LO is expected after a long wait - 18 month of TTC after a successful (20 year old) VR. . . so we're not taking risks. Even my DH will say I've cut back WHAT I ride even at home.

[Sunny's Mom]

My riding horse lives in a stall with only a couple of hours of turnout 3X per week. I think I'd need to move him to a pasture situation if I stopped riding while pregnant (I'm recently married and we're trying!). I'd hate to be paying for board/grooming/full training for my guy while I wasn't riding!!

I'm hoping to be able to ride for a few months while pregnant, but I'm an older first time mom /cross fingers and I'd hate to mess things up with a fall. My horse just came back from an injury, so I'm also a bit worried about turning him out without supervision.

[FancyFree]

I didn't ride when I was pregnant because I had complications with both my pregnancies that required bed rest. But I don't know that I would have anyway, even if I could have. When I was a teen there was a woman at my stables who rode all through out her pregnancy. I think she must have been six or seven months along when she was dumped, landing on a hard gravel road while riding out on trail. She lost the baby. After that, she sold her horse.

On the other hand my former trainer rode during all of her pregnancies without any problems. But I don't ride nearly as well as she does, so I'd probably stop while pregnant.

[Nes]

No one will ever call you a wuss for not riding while pregnant! If anything I think most people are very hard on people who do choose to ride when pregnant (it's really not THAT dangerous if you're not too far along even if you do fall, we have all that water in there for a reason).

I was breaking a young horse at the time so I was OFF the MINUTE I found out (ok thats a lie, I rode her once walk/trot for 20 minutes :D). There was lots of lounging and free-lounging, more ground work. Really she only got the fall/winter off because I was ready to ride 3 weeks after the baby (although he wasn't ready to let me :)).

For this baby, I leased out my mare - it's working much better! She gets the exercise and attention she needs while I focus all my energy on the little munchkins.

[BoomerButt]

I am currently pregnant! I have been on bedrest since I was 11 weeks along. Have not been allowed to ride since the day I found out I was pregnant at 2 weeks.

My horses are sitting in a field, getting fat and loving life. I am not having anyone else ride them, but do plan on putting myself as well as both of them back into training once I am allowed to ride again. I am not even allowed to free lunge them!!!

I miss my horses incredibly! They arent even at my house, my Mom took them as soon as we found out I was on bed rest.

Some people have asked me about why I am not riding and why Mom has them...my excuse is that I am not allowed to even care for them, let alone ride them.

I cant wait to be able to play with them again! My pony has a pony attitude so he should be wonderful to get back into training and my qh is just lazy and loving life so he will have 1 speed when he gets back into work....walk!

Take care and good luck!

[fordtraktor]

I am 27 weeks along and have not ridden since I found out I was pregnant. After going through a non-horse-related loss, it is no longer worth the risk to me. I did ride during my previous pregnancy and my horse slipped and fell on me at 12 weeks. Luckily for my conscience my loss was the result of a genetic problem, not that fall. I can't imagine dealing with the guilt I would have felt if I had caused it. It was hard enough as is.

My horses are camping out on the family farm until I give birth. Life is good in a big field with two squares a day, all the hay you can eat, and no responsibility.

No one has dared to insinuate that I'm a wimp not to ride. It wouldn't matter to me if they did. When not pregnant, I'll happily jump on about any rogue. When someone else's life is at stake, I don't feel qualified to take those kinds of risks.

[Bogie]

There are lots of non-riding things you can do with your horse while pregnant.

I taught mine to work in hand, long-lined them, hand grazed them and groomed them. During my second pregnancy I had a wonderful college student who rode my horse. She did a fabulous job with him. I didn't want/need him in training, I just wanted him hacked and worked. She was an excellent rider so I never worried about him picking up bad habits.

I did ride during my pregnancies but stopped when I became uncomfortable and unbalanced.

Whether or not you ride is your decision. Nine months really isn't very long and most horses do just fine with a mini vacation.

[Rancher]

I didn't ride with my daughter. No way. But I was living on a cattle ranch (my husband was the hired hand) and the ranch horses could be more than a handful. I didn't own a broke horse so it didn't matter to me or my horses. There were more than enough people around to ride the horses instead of me. No one questioned that I wouldn't ride. I think the men would have had a heart attack if I had of saddled up while pregnant.

[TBMaggie]

I was blissfully ignorant with my one and only pregnancy - rode up until my 6th month. I only stopped because I was gaining so much weight, and felt unbalanced. I was 32, so shouldn't have been clueless.

My pregnancy had a happy ending - a healthy baby, born prematurly. If I had it to do over, I would have 'put the horse out to pasture.' You can hurt yourself by riding, just the fact that you're doing such a physical activity, and don't have to fall off to get injured. Probably why most doctors frown on it!

[4Martini]

I am 14 weeks and have not been on since 6 weeks. I lunge once or twice a week just for something to do. Sometimes we hand walk or if I'm feeling better we jog a little in hand. I was really nausous until a week or two and just couldn't stomache riding. My horse can be a little challenging though - none of my friends have volunteered to ride him. So, he's mostly just chilling. He'll be 21 next summer and I'll see if he wants to go back into work or retire then. He does have a heard of 6 buddies that all go out in a big field on a hill 3X per week and lives in a large pen 30'X 60' the rest of the time. So his buddies keep him moving. I'd be more worried if he was in a stall.

I have had a number of people insinuate that I am being overly cautious and I should just hop on. Oh well the longer I don't ride the less they mention it.

[Melelio]

Don't worry what other people think about your own personal decision.

Yes, I quit riding, and mostly quit handling them because all it takes is one bad incident that you don't expect. My mare kicked at me very unexpectedly a year ago and made me jump in a way that dislocated my shoulder badly. And I wasn't even NEXT to her. So anything can happen at any time.

I didn't longe, and my guys are still fat cats because I never get time to ride barely anymore due to said baby and no relative around to watch him for me. And he's 4! No daycare, too expensive around here, and we wanted to influence him ourselves, not let a daycare teach him stuff. Hence I have no life but him :winkgrin:

[Nes]

TBMag, reminded me of a woman at my old barn who rode until her 8th month because she had no idea she was pregnant! (They thought it was a tumour, until the ultrasound...). She was breaking a very young and spirited horse at the time, luckily nothing happened. As far as I know she had a very healthy baby girl, but I didn't see her after the day she found out (I think she had ALLOT going on, finding out so suddenly you were going to be a mom in 1 month!).

Every woman's pregnancies are different and every pregnancy is different. I know with my first I went to buy mat. jeans and the woman wanted me to try them with the fake belly until I told her I was due in a month :lol:

[JEN22]

I think you need to do what you're comfortable with.
Your body, your baby and your horse=your decision (daddy too, of course!)

I rode until I was about 5 months along with my daughter. The only reason I quit was because it was so much more difficult mounting and dismounting! I felkt like I was going to fall on my face and that was the day I decided I was done until after the baby had come.

There's alot you can do with your horse out of the saddle. My mare really learned to properly lunge and enjoyed grooming and massage.

Just do what you feel is the most comfortable for you and tak it easy, you are cooking the next generation of riders!

[starrysky]

I am not pregnant, and never have been, but I did find my half-lease due to the horse's owner being pregnant, and she couldn't get out to ride the horse enough. I started riding him 3 days a week, and she played through the pregnancy. Some days she rode, others she lunged, but she always came to play with him on "her days".

Owner had the baby in December, and it was her third. With three kids and going back to work, she is happy to continue the lease situation, and I am happy to keep riding the cutie pie - it's a win-win for everyone.

If you are pregnant and want to be able to still ride, but not as often, consider half-leasing your horse, if that situation works for you.

[Nootka]

When I was preg before..9ys ago I rode til 7mo. After that I had one of the kids at the barn ride him while I was there. I just brushed him and was around him.

Now.... I am 7mo preg and havent rode at all. Well, I did get on one mare very early on but it was just walking. My horse is on a breeding lease so we are preg together..lol;)

[Watermark Farm]

With #1, I rode my trusted dressage horse until I was about 8 months along and could not fit into the saddle. We walked in the arena, mostly. I did not handle or ride any other horses.

With #2, I did not ride at all past 12 weeks along. I was actually kind of horrified by the idea of riding while pregnant, something different that time around. And my friend fell off her horse @ 12 weeks and miscarried that night as a result.

It's a very personal decision, but NO way are you a "wimp" for staying off a horse while pregnant. You can stay very involved with your horse without being mounted.

[glitterless]

I'm almost 6 months pregnant now and haven't ridden since last fall. I have 2 horses and had every intention of riding my older mare throughout my pregnancy, but it hasn't happened.

I was too sick in the first trimester to do anything more than feed and groom most days. My horses are kept on my parents farm and I've been lucky enough to have lots of help as far as general care goes.

I was feeling great at the beginning of my second trimester, but then the tailbone pain began and now I have bad lower back pain, which I'm thinking is sciatica. The weather is finally getting nice, the ground is dry, and I have a place to ride, but I'm sure I'd be really uncomfortable in the saddle. I'll likely hold off until after baby's here now.

I don't feel like a wimp. If anything I feel guilty that my parents are stuck with most of the work and that my horses aren't getting as much exercise and attention as I'd like. My other horse is an 8 year old gelding who really needs time under saddle, but my only option other than riding him myself would be to send him to a trainer as I've only ridden him a handful of times period. I think I'll probably break down soon and send him to someone soon. I haven't exactly had the time more made the time over the past 8 years to get him going well under saddle myself, and I don't see myself having any extra time once baby's here.

I do plan on doing some longeing with my gelding and a lot of groundwork. He's getting pushy and I think he often looks bored out in the pasture.

[Erin Pittman]

I'm just over 26 weeks now with twins and I haven't ridden since November. I hadn't planned to not ride, but once I found out it was twins, I figured it was probably not the right time to start back up again. Add to that I just got put on bedrest due to early labor, and I don't even get to touch her.... My mare is now 15 days pregnant (Yaaay) and a student of Steuart's will probably ride her occasionally this summer. She's been loving life as a pasture ornament. Do whatever feels right for YOU and your situation!! Good luck.