From: Leanne
Hi Jessica,
I have been a reader of your letters for as long as I have been on the computer & they have helped me alot being a first time horse owner. I have had my horse for a year now & through these times I have been a very anxious, happy person.
My question is more to do with me than my horse but I hope you can help me.
I was wondering if you think it is safe to ride during pregnancy. I am only 5 weeks at the moment & my doctor said that excersize is good now but everyone I have spoken to has told me that I should NOT ride at all.
What do you think ?
Thanks a lot,
I think your newsletter is a big help to a lot of people
Leanne
Hi Leanne! Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying HORSE-SENSE.
I think that you and your doctor will need to communicate well and work closely together on your "baby project". ;-) Exercise IS good, and women who are fit have an easier time with pregnancy, delivery, and recovery. But riding may not be enough to keep you really fit -- a lot will depend on what kind of riding you are doing and how fit you are right now.
I can tell you that some women ride through their pregnancies and don't stop until they're ready to give birth; others stop when they feel that they're becoming unbalanced in their saddles; some stop riding as soon as they know they're pregnant, and don't start again until the baby is six months or a year old.
It's a very individual decision, and there are only two people whose opinions really matter: YOU and YOUR DOCTOR. People love to share opinions and anecdotes and advice about riding and about pregnancy, and not everything you hear will be accurate or useful. Even information that was accurate and useful for someone else may not be as helpful to YOU. Everyone else will tell you what worked (or didn't) for them, or their sister-in-law, or their friend from college. But you are unique, and so is your baby, and I really think that the best advice I can give you is this: talk to your doctor, explain exactly what it is that you do when you ride, and ask whether this is suitable exercise for you or whether you need to do something more (or something else).
Many doctors don't ride, so you may need to explain in detail. If you're an active competitor in endurance riding or long-distance trail riding, the demands on your body are not the same as they are if you are an amateur-owner show rider, competing over jumps in the 3'6" division.
Eventing, polocrosse, team penning -- all of these make different demands on the body.
If you participate in a high-energy, demanding sport, and your doctor says "Yes, fine, go ahead and ride" because s/he imagines that your riding consists of walking down easy trails, there could be a communication problem that could lead to a real problem later. If your riding DOES consist of walking down easy trails, and your doctor thinks that you're doing much more, there could also be a communication problem -- some riders are told not to ride when pregnant, because their doctors have only seen racing and show-jumping on television, and imagine that those are the activities of a typical rider. In those cases, it can be useful to explain what you do and what safety precautions you take.
According to the obstetricians I know, the first three months of pregnancy do seem to be the most risky ones, at least in terms of possible miscarriages. That's why some doctors will suggest that riders stay out of the saddle during those months, keep themselves fit in other ways, and then resume riding after the third month. But you really need to discuss this with your own doctor. Don't worry that you'll be wasting his time -- you won't. If you do have to take some time off from riding, it won't be the end of the world, but it's really a good idea for you and your doctor to understand each other. You'll feel better if you know the reasons behind the advice you're getting, and that advice will always be better if your doctor has all the information about what you're doing.
Good luck, and congratulations on the baby-to-be!
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
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