# Excercising pregnant mares



## Chestnut_filly14 (30 July 2008)

Okay, can I firstly say I am only fourteen and not planning to put any mares in foal or anything! [partly because I don't even own a horse - and partly because the horse I look after is a gelding]

 But I just wondered, and to you guiys this will probably sound unbelievably dense but I have no knowledge of breeding WHATSOEVER except that the mummy and daddy share a special hug! Or the daddy's "hug magic" gets transferred to the mummy.

 Anyway - if you had a pregnant mare, would you excercise it and how? Like, lunging and long-reining? Would you ride it? If so, how long up to?

 We had a teeny pony called Crystal at the the riding school and she was ever so grumpy and kept bucking people off so she had to go, and it turned out she was pregnant!!!! 

 So... yeah that's it. Thanks and don;t shout at me for being thick and dense!!!


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## CrazyMare (30 July 2008)

Well everyone is different, and every mare is different. Personally I kept mine is work, hacking and light schooling up to five days a week. Others will stop, others will continue to jump/dressage and compete.

TB mares are allowed to race up to day 150 of their pregnancy.

Some mares become very grumpy (one on the yard is in a foul mood, very close to foaling) while some become more cuddly, mine isn't very 'into' people, but was very keen to be brushed and scratched towards the end of her pregnancy.

So really, there is no definitive answer, other than to listen to the mare, and use some common sense. Hope that helps.


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## TarrSteps (30 July 2008)

I've known more than one mare that finished out the competitive season after being bred.  In at least one case the breeding was done in part to keep the mare from coming back into season!  (Fantastic jumping mare bred to a good approved stallion, so not exactly a whim really.)

I also know someone who uses his broodmares (again approved warmbloods - the produced a horse that won at Nation's Cup level) in his riding school!  His theory is the activity is good for them and if they're not going to cut it as broodmares then at least they'll be saleable as general riding horse.

I think the general consensus is the mare shouldn't start anything new or have her work increased after being put in foal but if she's happy and comfortable there's no reason to stop riding, at least until you can't get a big enough girth.


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## lornaA (30 July 2008)

I think this is funny because i don't think i'm goning to ride my mare now she's pregnant.  I was all up for it before hand and until she came home but now she's home i'm too scared that something goes wrong and i'd end up blaming it on me riding.  This is really weird cause i have a 5 year old son and whilst i was pregnant with him i rode every day up until a couple of weeks before he was born!!!


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## the watcher (30 July 2008)

lorna, you may not be doing your mare any favours. She will cope better if you keep her reasonably fit.


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## tikino (30 July 2008)

i have been riding my mare since she has come back from  stud and to be honest with you she seems alot happier when she is in work than when she is not doing anything i have been doing mainly hacking with the odd riding club showjumping. my friends mare has been playing polo since  she was put in foal and is doing great in fact she is going to ascot on friday with her mare and gelding for ladies tournoment. she will be traveling from kilwinning in scotland so quite a trec but mare doing fab going to slow her down afterwards


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## toffeesmarty (30 July 2008)

My vet positively encouraged me to keep riding Toffee. I stopped late Autumn when she was getting uncomfortable. Can't wait to start again soon!!!!!


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## PapaFrita (31 July 2008)

PF is 5 mths pregnant and I'm still riding her (stopped jumping though!) I'll carry on until she gets uncomfortable. Hopefully our flatwork will improve no end


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## Bubble734 (19 September 2010)

There's a mare at the riding school I work at who is pregnant and came back from the stud about 4 months ago i think. She's not being used in lessons (as generally they are quite hard work for the horses at my stables) and when you ride her you are not allowed to kick, only squeeze. I rode her yesterday (just me and one other rider in the school) and had a long stick and squeezed. She went really well! Mainly she is being used for hacking out (usually only walk and trot) and she can't be worked too hard, so when I rode her I gave her a walk on a long rein between canters, making sure she wasn't breathing too heavily.


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## lauren1988 (19 September 2010)

My mare is almost 4.5 months in foal (she's a maiden mare) and I'm still riding her 5 times a week, a mixture of schooling and hacking. I'm not competing her anymore becuase under BD rules you can't once they are 4months, and I'm not having lessons on her so she isn't working quite as hard as she was but I'm still cantering and schooling for about 30/35minutes at a time. We had a really good canter out hacking last week which she loved - I let her go at her own speed but she pulled ahead of the other horse we were out with! 
My vet said to carry on riding for as long as she seems happy - she will soon let you know when she doesn't want to work anymore and the fitter she is the easier it will be for her. She has a check up in late October at 5.5 months and I'm anticipating that her workload will be cut down a bit but will just listen to the advice of my vet.


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## Toast (19 September 2010)

We rode our mare up until her girth didnt fit anymore, and she told us she didnt want to do anymore. She only hacked lightly as thats all shes fit to do but when she stopped enjoying it she would just turn round and go home, and we took the hint. She really just didnt want to go out anymore and we knew shed had enough!
x


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## Tempi (20 September 2010)

My mare is in foal, due in April.  She had one foal previously (2years ago) and i rode her up until about 2months before she foaled.  The last 2/3 months were just hacking once a week in walk though.  At the moment she is schooled twice a week (30mins schooling and then round the gallops afterwards), does an hours hack and is lunged once a week.  This wil decrease gradually according to what i think she wants to do, she will tell me once shes had enough.


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