Riding during pregnancy

[tika]

Just wondering as friends- non riders have very mixed views!

[aceofspades]

I put no way,Its not that i dont agree with riding in pregnancy but i feel when you get to certain stage it is often gets in the way and all horses are unpredictical.
My last prgenancy i didnt know i was preganant till i was 5 months,My pregnancy only lasted till i was 7 months as i had a plecenta abrubtion.I dont think it was anything to do with the horses or if it was one of those things saddley ill never know.
Then you get people that ride up intill they are due and there no problems,I feel you should listen to what your body tells you.
My son was born with Brain damage (cerebral paulsy)

[fin]

Carry on as normal for as long as possible. Of course, the fitter you are the less likely you are to have problems, but sometimes things go wrong anyway and nothing you can do--or avoid doing--makes a difference Obviously it's daft to take uneccessary risks, but at the end of the day human beings are designed to be pregnant and function normally

[julz]

Echo Finn........ the fitter you are the less likely your pregnancy will have probs..... so, why not? until the bump becomes too big ofcourse for you to get on and off safely!

[smudge]

Its entirely dependent on the horse I feel i have had 4 babies. The 3rd I rode to 20 weeks, the 4th I rode to about 12 weeks. I have safe horses but if anything had happened I would blame myself, so I chose not to put myself at that level of risk. After all, its only a few months My 4th was timed with winter anyway and my 3rd was timed over the heat of summer so I wouldn't have ridden much anyway.

[jen1]

ill echo smudge, it does depend on your horse, i rode till i was 7 months, and only walked, thing is though she was known to be fizzy, but never was while i was preggers, she would always rub her head on the front of me after rides, but again not while i was preganant, i noticed this just before i started showing, she used to smell mi belly and keep her head close to me while i was fussing over her, it was almost as if she knew there was something inside of me, i wouldnt expect a gelding to do that,lol, think it was a gurl! thaaaang!

[riz]

My gelding must be in touch with his feminine side then Jen1 cos when my friend was pregnant he was so careful with her! He is forever rubbing his head on people & being quite rough (fave trick swinging doors or gates into you & sending you flying! : & as soon as she was pregnant he seemed to take it on himself to be very gentle with her. It was so noticeable because he didn't change with anyone else! Some just seem to know don't they??

ETA
He absolutely hates all children so i'm not sure why he wants to take such good care of them before they are born!! Actually yes I do - it's so he can have fun scaring the life out of them later in life!!!!

[scatcat]

just do what you feel is right. dont take any silly risks & im sure you will be fine.

[jen1]

lol, intoucjh with his feminine side,lol

[rizzilizzi]

I rode until I was 7 months with no problems. Didnt jump though or do anything risky. Just some steady flatwork in the school. Only stopped cos I couldnt get off!! Kept me fit and I enjoyed it. You could just as easily crash your car and injure yourself, as long as you have a horse you can trust.

[aceofspades]

Agree with all of the ubove with me where i didnt know i was pregnant as everything was normal,I was jumping 2,9 courses and went cross country

[jen1]

invest in one of those big baby bath mats made out of foam, , meant for laying baby down in the bath, anyhow! roll it up and shove it under yer belly when you get big, stop the pommel from sticking into your baby belly,lol ;D, i did till i was 8 months, i had my last ride on my lovely mare who i tragicly lost while i was in having sam,

[pip]

I rode until about 5 months with the first, about 2 months with the second (felt REALLY sick) and not at all with 3rd. Depends upon how YOU feel and also how your husband feels. If he is really against it, then don't, because if anything happened then horse would get the blame.

It really isn't long to wait.

[Diane with Sam & Jubilee]

Nope. I didn't and I won't let Rachel ride now she is pregnant.

[suzieq]

It really does depend on the horse and how much riding you have been doing but yes, if fit and well why not, I rode until I was 8 months and again at 9 and a half in desperation with my husband running alongside!!!
With my second my horse had been out of work and she needed ridden for some assessments.. so I started riding her lightly at 4months and carried on til 7months, all was fine.. i only stoppedd cos the weather was so bad and Perdy and i are a fair weather partnership