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Thoughts on riding mare in foal?

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  • 04-09-2008 9:59am
    #1
    ecaf
    Registered Users Posts: 349 ✭✭


    Hi I haven't done this before anyone jumps down my throat or anything.
    Just wanted to know can you or can't you ride a mare in foal up to a certain stage?
    Buying a mare at the weekend, my friend said you can ride them up until a certain stage. I didn't really want to / wasn't going to, but I thought if it were true, it would be OK to sit up on her for a small walk to see how she felt to ride?

    Anyway if you can't it doesn't matter if I can't. Just want to know also how long after she foals do you wait before you can start riding her again? (Gently of course). I haven't had my own horse for 2 years, so I'm not in a big hurry anyway. My baby (16 year cob) had to be put down 2 years ago and I still really miss him. :(

    (Oh she's due at the end of March AFAIK - seen the papers when we seen her again last week).


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    #2
    marlie2005
    Registered Users Posts: 174 ✭✭marlie2005


    You can ride them in foal up to six months af far as I know, I also have a mare in foal but couldn't bring myself to ride her after she scanned in foal, not that I'm saying it's a bad thing to do!! I just couldn't!!


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    #3
    ecaf
    Registered Users Posts: 349 ✭✭ecaf


    Thanks, I'll probably feel the same when I get her here.
    Although I won't have the same attachment yet as you would if you owned the horse for a while.
    Thought it might be up to 6 months though! And I think riding again her after 6 months?


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    #4
    togster
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭togster


    Know of a mare that was hunted up untill the weekend before she folaed :eek: >They thought she was just fat...knobs.

    Anyway she had the foal one morning in the stable unknown to them and both were 100%.

    I heard it's perfectly OK to ride them lightly up untill 6months.

    Enjoy OP :)


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    #5
    eveie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 307 ✭✭eveie


    yep up until 6 months is fine but obviously go easy on them also be careful of colic as they are more likely to get it after been riden while in foal then put out to grass so make sure you give her a good cool down. also a foal is uaully weaned at about 6 months, so from about 7 months after the mare foals you can ride again, the mare can be quite anxious for a while after the seperation


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    #6
    xxkarenxx
    Registered Users Posts: 107 ✭✭xxkarenxx


    Mares can be ridden up until 10 months gestation. Lighter work towards the end but they can still be jumped and worked as normal up until 8 months.

    After weaning there is no need to wait a long time. Once the mare has gotten over any separation anxiety she will be fine to ride.


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    #7
    AngelicRaindrop
    Closed Accounts Posts: 82 ✭✭AngelicRaindrop


    togster wrote: »
    Know of a mare that was hunted up untill the weekend before she folaed :eek: >They thought she was just fat...knobs.

    Anyway she had the foal one morning in the stable unknown to them and both were 100%.

    I heard it's perfectly OK to ride them lightly up untill 6months.

    Enjoy OP :)


    have to say its not that unbelievable.

    We had a mare a few years back we gave to a friend on loan, got her back the start of febuary and started her working. aim was the interschools huntertrials for my cousin. the middle of april i brought her down to a local gallops and let her have a bit of a gallop

    put her out in the field that evening with a big outdoor rug on her

    came out the following morning at 7am to see a foal in the field with her.
    she literally showed no signs only had a bit of weight on her.
    we found out afterwards that a neighbour of the friends had let a teaser stallion break into the field and took him out without saying anything. thinking nothing happened

    little did he know:eek:

    Back to the point, yup last year i rode my mare up to January, she was due in may. did her no harm at all, but in saying that it was very light hacking she did


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    #8
    vkky
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭vkky


    xxkarenxx wrote: »
    Mares can be ridden up until 10 months gestation. Lighter work towards the end but they can still be jumped and worked as normal up until 8 months.

    After weaning there is no need to wait a long time. Once the mare has gotten over any separation anxiety she will be fine to ride.


    also the gentle exercise will keep them fitter making foaling easier :)


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    #9
    needadvice
    Closed Accounts Posts: 135 ✭✭needadvice


    i also knew a mare who hunted while in foal all the above is bang on, enjoy her and the foal.


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    #10
    ecaf
    Registered Users Posts: 349 ✭✭ecaf


    Thanks everyone for the advice. I got her at the weekend and she is a really lovely horse. She's so much bigger than my old horse, and like I said I haven't ridden in over 2 years now.
    I think I'm going to just get to know her and maybe lunge her a bit, and for myself I think I will get some practice on bigger horses and maybe some lessons to get my confidence back again.
    I can see how I get on with her (lunging) and maybe sit up on her once or twice.
    After she has her foal I can think about starting getting her fit again and riding her.

    When I wrote this topic I was dying to ride her, but getting her home and seeing the size of her (16.1 - isn't that big, but it is to me for what I was used to).
    I also realised that I probably won't have as much confidence riding as I used to and I don't know what she's like to ride, so hopefully with a few lessons and practice I will be back to normal by the time she's ready to go. I had a bad accident with a horse when I was younger, but I had my own horse for 14 years after that, and even though I did well with him, he was gentle and I knew what to expect from him.
    Here's hoping for another long friendship! :)


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