Hi! I’m Rhiann, I’m 24 years old with 2 horses on DIY, a dog and a 5 month old baby. Wondering how I do it? Read on!
It’s not a secret in the equestrian community how demanding the horse lifestyle can be. Horses drain us physically, mentally, and financially. With my son born in December on Boxing Day, I felt thrown into the deep end with my horses. It was the dead of winter and now to add to the chaos I was carrying around a new-born. I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family to form an amazing support circle around me. The first week after giving birth I really relied on them to check my horses were okay and carry out basic care to satisfy their needs. A week after my emergency C section, I was back at the stables with a pram.
Adjusting to being a new mother while also caring for my other dependants (my horses and dog) was so hard. I had to learn what worked best for me and my baby. I trialled and errored different time schedules and routines at the stables until I found what worked, this took weeks! I also had to learn what my baby liked, how to keep him distracted. When I finally figured it out, WHAT A RELIEF!
So here is my secret…don’t rush yourself. Literally, don’t rush yourself! I took a camping chair to my stables, easily to move, comfy and dry. When packing Caios nappy bag, I’d add snacks and drinks for myself. If I have to stop and feed Caio, I’d do just that. The horses don’t discriminate against breast feeding women, and Caio definitely wasn’t going to turn his nose up at me just because we are in a public setting! As I grew more confident with leaving him with others, people at the yard began to offer to babysit (shout out to Cody, Sue and Sian!) Allowing me to exercise the horses more or even be done with my stables quicker so I can return home.
As mentioned before, my support circle is strong. I was able to leave Caio with family while I went to the stables and rode. Now I’m here with my 5 month old baby boy, riding 3/4 times a week and slowly starting to compete again. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my amazing partner, mother and mother-in-law. So shout out to all of you! A lot of people will try and prepare you to give up your hobbies once your baby is here, I say sod’em! You don’t have to lose this huge part of yourself just because you’re a parent. I, infact want to share this lifestyle with my son. I would love for him one day to say “mummy can I come with you to stables?”