Horse riding after c section

To be honest, I waited at least 12-14 weeks before I went back on my horses. I didn’t push myself to go any earlier and have done ground work and what not before, but I knew if I didn’t let myself really heal, I would have more problems in the long run. Just remember they’re going through 7 layers of your body…that’s a LOT. You use a LOT of abdominal muscles when you ride. I still felt pulling when I would step a certain way up until around 13 weeks. I’m also a nurse and a Search and Rescue K9 handler. I went back into work with my K9 partner around 9 weeks PP, but I limited our wilderness search areas/hiking until I built up more strength which actually helped when I got back in the saddle. I thought I would have some tugging/pulling when I would get back in the saddle, but since I gave myself an extra couple weeks and took it easy, it was like I didn’t skip a beat. I did a Western Equitation clinic and did all sorts of obstacles and jumped small cross rails without issue. 💜

I went for a extremely steady hike at 4 weeks....I was back to jumping at 16w (I have a extremely good recovery rate from operation with very minimal bleeding during theater) so honestly depends on how you feel and how your healing xxxx

I was back on at 5 week jumping/competing at 6/7 week but listen to your body like people said above it’s not just a small procedure it’s a huge operation let your body heel they say no driving for 8-12 weeks so just remember that if you get on too soon and you tear your going to be off even longer

Thank you all so much ! Yes I’ll definitely wait till I’m ready and won’t over do it, x

I’m coming up to week 5 pp now and I don’t feel ready just yet but I think in a few more weeks I’ll be ready to get back on. My lad is 16.3hh and won’t stand at the block for me to mount so I need to make sure I’m ready to jump on from the ground! Plus he might be a bit spicy from not riding him in a while lol xx

Id definitely say a minimum of 6-8 weeks before getting back on. Riding is so much more core strength than we think (because we are so used to it) and you'll likely find that you'll be extra sore or uncomfortable getting back to using those muscles. You can start belly breathing immediately after surgery and that's a great place to start recovering. Like everyone said, listen to your body and build up your strength slowly and steadily. You can find great deep core exercises on YouTube or google

People I watch on YouTube they set up a horse riding thing when she was recovering on accident and said it was horrible. I’d honestly wait till after like 10+ weeks and that bouncing isn’t fun or great so I would wait till you feel amazing your incision is fully shut you aren’t in a lot of pain. I’d wait for like 4 months