Exercising...horseriding?

Haha! An excuse to talk about my favourite topic - horses! I have a lovely big horse that I rode until I was 28 weeks. I didn't make a concious decision that I would stop at a particular point, but one day it just felt uncomfortable and that's when I gave it up. In the first trimester you obviously have to be on the lookout for any signs that your pregnancy is suffering. Horseriding won't be any worse for you and the boaby then than, say, tennis or jogging, but you have to take things a little easier than normal. The baby is protected by the pelvis at this point and although you absolutely do not want to fall, you are not going to squash the baby if you do fall off in the first trimester. My horse stopped hooning around and started doing lots of flatwork. He was rather put out by this as winter is clearly for hunting, and I ended up sending him out hunting with a friend on him because he got a bit depressed, poor boy!

In the second trimester you get your bump, and boy does it bounce when you trot! even if you think you don't have a bump, trotting makes your belly jump up and down - I had to hold my bump in place with my hand if I had to trot. My horse has a very slow canter (a judge once said 'conserves his energy well!') so I walked and cantered him everywhere from this point on. I schooled a bit but my seat and legs were losing their strength, and hacked a lot, making sure I had a babysitter to come with me. We also stayed off the roads - you can't tell what drivers are going to do :x . I needed to wee all the time so the horse was taught to stand patiently while I hopped on and off, and waited while I did what I needed to do.

Towards week 28 I started getting pins and needles in my bum - due to my joints softening and there not being the padding in the right place :shock: . I couldn't get off so easily. Once I'd been on him for over 20 mins I was sort of fused in place and had to shuffle round in the saddle and slide off him with my back to the saddle. We trained him to stand by the picnic table because it was too far down for me to dismount all the way to the ground like this - my gee-gee is a 17.3hh show hunter!

So now with just over 4 weeks to go I am getting pleasure from going and mucking out and watching him being trained by my friend. I took him to grown-up camp in May and had friends ride him there, many of whom have children of their own and were happy to offer tips, and next week we are going showjumping so he will be ready for me to pick back up the working hunter competitions I love when I get back on. We have been to Royal Windsor and Berkshire County Spring shows this year with a friend riding and me grooming. We would have gone to Bath and West too but it was raining and I'm a lightweight :lol: .

My midwife rides and owns horses and has been very laid back about the whole thing. Her attitude is 'if you are competent and confident, keep doing it. Don't suddenly decide to start riding once you are pregnant, and be sensible.' There's lots of horsey pregnancy chat over on the Show Ring (www.tsrforums.co.uk) at the moment. 4 of us are pregnant and one of us is a midwife. There are also a couple of horsey doctors too. You have to pay £5 to join but you'd be welcome!

Dressage at 5 weeks;
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Happy hacking at 16 weeks;
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Horse camp at 29 weeks(I'm in the hat and giant coat);
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Another pregnant lady on him (she was 10 weeks in the pic):
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PS don't forget you can start dreaming about lead rein ponies now too! :dance: :dance:
 
Wow! Now that is my kind of a beastie!! :D I always worried getting stuck on board when my bump was big. My mare is tallest and is only 16hh, 17.3 is a long way down :lol:

Since we're sharing pics here's my 2. Rose is the light grey and Tam is the dapple.

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This is the best thing ever horses and babies!!!! They are all lovely.

Anybody horsey near me in the south?
 
kellysomer said:
This is the best thing ever horses and babies!!!! They are all lovely.

Anybody horsey near me in the south?

yeah!!! ME

Well like kelly im TTC and i wont give up riding until it hurts too much, during my last pregnancy i fell down a whole flight of stairs and baby was fine, they are well protected in there, and i think you body will give the signal when its time to stop riding.

I dont have my own horse at the minute, but i exercise some hunters as the owners are away on alot of business trips. they have 7 horses in total some i would say are safe and others that i wouldnt be so sure off. but i will ride them all and my partner supports me as he thinks i know my body :rotfl:


I am very jealous of all your horses, i did have one when we lived in spain but due to commitments i had to leave him behind. Im going to loan one after this next pregnancy, then i shall be meeting up with kelly for some hacking!
 
just to add to my post, were getting a shetland for our DD as she went for her first ride the other day and loved it...

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omg - GORGEOUS!! :D

I'm trying to convince OH to get a mini shetland atm...

Gorgeous things :) Cheeky too though!
 
Wow what stunning horses and ponies you all have! I'm loving this post and am enjoying reading some positive feedback to my Q.

mayday wow what a gorgeous gorgeous horse you have, he is stunning! A lot bigger than my ickle compact 16hher!
paradysso that shetland is too cute!
**C** Rose and Tam are both gorgeous :D I love greys. Although I used to have one myself and definatey don't miss all the mud stains that took hours to clean off!

I took Louis out on sunday for some dressage and it was the first time I didn't actually do the competing, my friend (and v good rider) stepped in for me. I thought I feel a bit uspet and jealous to see her riding but I actually really enjoyed it. I enjoyed being on the ground and appreciating how well he was going and how much he has come on. I actually really enjoyed the whole day. So I will still train and school him for the next few wks but Rachel will compete him.

I'm really enjoying your piccies so keep posting them :)

Here's a couple more of my smexy horsie:

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Thank you for your lovely comments :) . He thinks he's lovely too we've just had mirrors fitted to our school and he can't stop looking at himself. Typical man :lol:


I'm glad too to hear there are other horsey mums to be out there. I figured there must be - after all, where do pony club mums come from? They don't just pick up a baby when they are next at the feed store!

Paradysso - was it easy to find a hat to fit your little girl? I didn't realise they made them that small. Our pony is already on order :wink: .
 
yeah it was quite easy, unless Alana has a big head :lol:

I always see tiny hats on carboot sales.

I just cant beleive u kept her balance so well, shes still not that steady on her feet at times.

Ive had some one say they will lend me some land, so for Alanas next birthday or maybe Xmas were getting her a pony, cant wait to see her face
 

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