QuestionI am about a month and a half along, I've been told that regular exercise (whatever regimen you have before becoming pregnant) would do. I ride horses, not only for fun but for a living. While I understand that later in my pregnancy my center of gravity and my balance will be altered, making it unsafe to continue riding, but as I am not in any sort of high risk category and I don't feel that my balance is altered at all yet, my question is whether or not it is acceptable to continue light riding (on a well broke/tame horse) for the time being?
AnswerThis is a judgment call for you, since you ride for a living as well as recreation.
Horseback riding is considered high-risk not just because of the shift in the center of gravity which effects balance, but because even the most tame horse is unpredictable. Horses spook, and sometimes just take off. A dog, snake, or other animal can disturb even the mildest animal. So the risk is really to you taking a hard fall, and miscarrying.
Horseback riding always has an element of unpredictability. So you need to draw this line yourself. How much risk are you willing to take? Certainly, I'd draw the line at 20 weeks, at very the latest, if not sooner. Even when you're not riding, a kick to the abdomen could cause a miscarriage too.
Since you work with horses, you know better than I how things can just happen, out of nowhere, that cause injury.
