riding a pregnant mare

[stormyskies]

My stocky welsh x trad mare will be covered at the end of this month.

I have battled endlessly since buying her to get weight off her and am worried she will just balloon is out at grass all summer. She has also clicked very well with her young jockey and they nave great fun hacking, pleasure rides and jumping.

I never ride my in foal mares but am thinking Alice would benefit from this.

What will she be able to do? Will it affect the foal? And up until when can she be ridden? It will only be fun riding with some jumping initially but not high.

Tganks

[oberchis]

I don't ride my pregnant mares either but I believe they can cope with normal work load until 3-4 months before due date. If your opting for natural covering I would recommend getting her back checked before getting on board as i've known mares be very tender over withers/back after covering and they're deposited there rider

[sarahp]

Draft mares used to be used almost all their pregnancy, and then go back to it quickly with foal running alongside!

I rode mine as normal all summer, and only stopped when her winter coat was so thick I had to make the decision to either stop and turn her away, which is what I did, or clip her for welfare reasons. I know that sometimes they cover racing fillies and race them through the summer too. The HOYS M&M Ridden Ch last year was in foal at the time. And it is not unusual to hear of mares giving birth to totally normal foals having been hunting or some such the day before, not exactly desirable, but mare and foal were fine. I'd go for it, you don't say how old your young jockey is but maybe reassess when/if she is going back to school/uni in the autumn?

[FF]

I rode my mare till the saddle didn't fit anymore, I still popped on bareback for a bit. That was about 3 months ago now, she's due in 6 weeks. I only did the odd walk round the block though just to keep her ticking over as I have another horse to ride and then I had a bad back.
A friend of mine didn't know her mare was infoal and she'd been to the beach the week before the foal arrived. She'd been ridden quite hard as they were trying to get her to loose weight. lol

[sarahp]

Come to think of it, I knew one a few years ago that was ridden hard to lose weight, it had been lent out to ride and owner/breeder swore couldn't be in foal but was, ridden until bagging up and vet checked it. Legs a bit wonky at birth due probably to unsuitable diet but straightened up absolutely fine, otherwise it was totally normal.

[stormyskies]

Ok thanks. Will give it a go. Jockey is 15 so by sept Oct mare will hopefully be 5 or 6 months

[Guestless]

I've always ridden mine - usually regularly up until Christmas and then the odd hack after that.

[drea]

keeping a pregnant mare fit is a big benifit when she comes to giving birth, she will have a much easier time of it than a unfit mare, you know your mare best, and im sure she will let you know went the time comes for her to take it a bit easier

[equus]

I normally ride a in foal mare until they are around 6 months then stop. When I say riding I mean gentle work nothing too strenuous or stressful for them

[Deleted]

My friends mare is due next week and we were still out hunting in november. I had a lesson once on a mare I commented on how large she was and she was 8 months gone, I did end my lesson there and then as I didn't agree with it. I have always ridden mares till they showed signs of discomfort often bareback with no problems. Only hacking though no schooling.

[b]

Many years ago a friend bought a little mare from a very good dealer who had taken the mare in from a stud. The stud had tried unsuccessfully to get the mare covered so sold her on.
Liz spoke the stud who clarified this, they had never been able to get the mare in foal so after having her for 4/5 years decided to sell her.
She was used as a jumping pony/PC etc for my friends 9 yr old daughter & ridden daily. She had put a little weight on but nothing too much just looked healthy, as she was just slightly under weight when purchased.
Some 5/6 months later, the pony was prepared on the Saturday, ready to go show jumping on the Sunday and nothing untoward was noticed, the little mare was just the same as she always had been.
Then on the Sunday morning my friends daughter screamed on entering her stable & yes there was a beautiful foal.
The vet was called and both mum & foal were given a full bill of health.
I wouldn't say ride up until the end, but on this occasion it didn't do either any harm.
Although a shock, the little foal made up for the child's disappointment of not going to the show.
If in doubt always as your vet.

[holiday]

I would personally say my mares stay as brood mares, however that is because we have ridden horses as well. There is no reason why a mare cannot be ridden if she is happy to be and im sure you will know when she is too uncomfortable and obviously stop then. Certainly to the last trimester should be no problems. However I would leave out the riding whilst is is actually put in foal (between covering and preg test) as if she got sweated or heated she may not take or could absorb the embryo. I would like personally to have seen the heart beat present at 28 days before I did too much with her.

[pattendown]

my friend did the black horse champs with her mare and she had 6 weeks left to foal

[Deleted]

I had a mare jumped into the stallion, I had her injected and scanned not in foal! we carried on riding her believing she wasn't in foal, she hunted, qualified nps fr qualifiers etc, we got a surprise one morning, no sign of her being in foal, no udder nothing, it was a first foal!
I also rescued a tb mare many years ago, bought as not in foal, I hunted her all season, she foaled about 2 weeks after we finished.
No problems with either mares or foals.

[shwmaeCP]

Not read the above - Well I believe it can be good for a mare, when putting my TB mare in foal the vet said I would be stupid not to carry on working her as that is what she was use to and it might upset her and make her despressed and consequenctly abort the foal if she were to be chucked in a field and forgotten about (not literally) while in foal. He advised to ride her and others until they let you know when it was time to stop

[stormyskies]

Thanks all.

My next question was about riding just after being covered. Someone mentioned not to ride for 1st month after being covered. Is this right? I know holiday has touched on it, but am worried my pbw will pile weight back on and my cob may stiffen up again.

[holiday]

If you need to ride her due to health issues, I would try not to stress her or sweat her up so maybe light quiet hacking to keep her moving but personally would steer away from jumping or any excess cantering or galloping.

Its a two edge sword really the health verses the costs of breeding and a viable foal at the end of it.

Once a heart beat is visable the pregnancy will be safer and it will be up to her really to hold it.

As mentioned above many mares have a very successful pregnancy even being worked without the owners knowledge of being in foal, but the risks are there. The less weight the mare is carrying the easier she will get in foal and long term for foaling down too much weight can cause problems.

[stormyskies]

Thanks holiday. Would just be walk and trot hacking to keep them ticking over. I hate the thought of it but I feel for health reasons this time needs must!

[holiday]

Im sure she will be fine!!!!! Good luck getting a successful pregnancy!!!!!!