Can you ride a foal

If your mare had any issues during or after pregnancy or delivery, then you need to consider how these will affect her ability to be ridden.

Bruising and minor tears will usually heal within a week, but serious complications require proper veterinary care and time to heal. Is there any swelling? Following pregnancy, fluid can accumulate in the lower legs and belly, which regular movement will help to expel. If your mare shows any other signs of health problems, then you should contact your veterinarian for professional advice.

How old is the foal? Our granddaughter is anxious to ride her pregnant barrel racing mare. A healthy pregnant horse can be ridden during much of her pregnancy. Otherwise, it is ok to ride your pregnant horse. Many horse owners avoid riding a pregnant mare; however, this is not necessary, and often pregnant mares benefit from being ridden.

But there are some essential things you need to keep in mind when your mare is pregnant. Breeding domestic horses is a goal-oriented science directed to produce high-quality foals with characteristics to excel in specific equine events. It is a time-consuming and expensive undertaking, and owners want to take every precaution to ensure the health and safety of the foal and broodmare.

After a mare is bred, she should be pampered for at least 30 days to ensure the safety and viability of the embryo. These days are the most precarious of her pregnancy, and riding should be forbidden. At 30 to 35 days post-conception, a veterinarian can confirm the mare is pregnant by palpation or ultrasound. If the horse is pregnant, the goal is to keep her healthy through pregnancy and then deliver a normal, healthy foal.

Mares are individuals, and their fitness level before pregnancy must be considered when formulating a riding plan for a pregnant horse. All pregnant horses need to be eased into an exercise program for the first two months of their pregnancy. But older mares and overweight horses need special attention and probably should be not be ridden at all. Work with them on a lunge line and take your time to increase their fitness level.

Stress caused by overworking a horse can lead to loss of the embryo. Anything you do to keep her calm and comfortable creates a better environment for her to have a successful pregnancy. Mares have a long gestation period, eleven months. During most of their pregnancy, the embryo grows at a steady but relatively slow pace.

A fit pregnant horse can be ridden and even compete until the eighth month of their gestation period. One of the luxuries afforded to foals born to mares being bred for a one-off foal is that their foals might not be on the same sort of weaning timeline.

However, these mares often have other jobs, and owners generally wish to get them back under saddle as soon as possible. You can certainly ride a mare with a foal still at foot, although it has its unique challenges. The first important consideration is whether your mare has fully recovered from her pregnancy and delivery.

A mare that experiences a straightforward birth should be ready to go back under saddle six to eight weeks after foaling. However, if your mare had a complicated birth, it might take far longer. I strongly recommend that, as women have a post-partum physical with their doctor, you have your veterinarian check your mare and give her the all-clear to return to work.

The second challenge is what to do with the foal while you ride. If leaving it with another horse, make sure to carefully introduce them ahead of time, because not all adult horses are kind to foals. Make sure the space where the foal is left is safe and expect a lot of calling between the foal and the mare. It would be ideal to have a helper on the ground monitoring the foal just in case things get out of hand.

Bones and soft tissues will need to be reconditioned, and riding while the foal is still nursing is a great time to log lots of walking and slow trot work to build up a strong aerobic base. If to date your mare has received adequate calories during her pregnancy and lactation, then she should be in good condition and only few adjustments will be needed. This would be true for the underweight mare, whether you were planning on riding her or not; but riding her without some increase in calories will slow potential weight gain down.

Finally, hydration is an easily forgotten but very important consideration. Riding has the potential to increase fluid loss as sweat, especially in early fall when temperature can still be warm and humid. I have other friends who wait until the young horse is 3 or 4 and ready to be broken in!

When these lessons are established, teach him to walk into a float or truck. When your foal is relaxed and confident, teach him to step over some easy obstacles.