Bouncing back post-baby
THE reigning Olympic and European dressage champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl broke the happy news last month that she is expecting a second child. If there is one topic that’s almost guaranteed to cause fierce debate, it’s motherhood. Natural births versus caesarean sections, breast or bottle, spoon-fed or baby-led weaning – the list goes on, and the arguments are endless.
Add horses into the mix and things get even more complicated. Is it safe to ride while pregnant? Can you find the time and energy to ride when you have a baby to look after? How do you feel about doing a high-risk sport now you have an infant depending on you?
All this has been widely discussed, but what isn’t talked about as much is the physical effect that pregnancy and childbirth can have on women, and when they should return to the saddle, particularly when riding is not a hobby but their livelihood.
Riders are generally a hardy bunch, and there can be the attitude that having a
