Advice please! Daughter's allergic reaction

Q

quantumturbo

New User
Joined
3 September 2025
Messages
3
Visit site
My 1st post here.
My fab 16 year old who's whole life is around horses ( apart from tiktok obvs 🤣) has in last week had some serious allergic reactions.
She's owned horses for years and ridden with pony club. 5 weeks ago she got a place at a jockey training college which has been her dream. In the last week or so she developed hot itchy legs that I put down to maybe washing powder at the college. Then on Monday she had an extreme reaction with more of same and face eyes and ears but all over. She went to hospital and got some antihistamines which she needs to take one a day and another if extreme reaction. Ok for a day whilst she recovered but as soon as she went into yard similar happened. She's banned from the yard ! Poor love 😭 😭😭.
I know it's possible to develop allergies but wondered if anyone has any thoughts, advice or experience?
Many thanks.
 
Sorry this happened, It's a real worry isn't it.. My daughter moved out just before covid lock downs and started having allergic reactions to things, completely out of the blue. She was taken by ambulance to hospital one night it got that bad.
They never found out why, she was given an epi pen which luckily never got used and it just stopped happening as randomly as it started. * touch wood!!!

I also get allergies to different horses. I'm fine with mine but If i was to go brush someone elses off I'd be sneezing, unable to see, itching etc. It's really odd but I suppose I build up immunity to certain horses perhaps! I have been officially diagnosed as allergic to horses :confused:
 
I would try to get her allergy tested, will be quicker going private if that’s an option.
Possibly being a bit stressed about stuff has made her more sensitive?
I worked with and rode horses most of my life while living on antihistamines, eyedrops, inhalers and nasal sprays. I still came out in blisters if I got their saliva on me.
I hope she can find a way to manage it. Poor girl.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your replies. I know I was allergic majority of my life till the last few years, which is why I never had anything to do with horses and never joined this forum before! If I walked within 20 feet of a horse or horsebox I used to get streaming eyes and nose. She hasn't got any respiratory symptoms which is what I'd normally associate with horse allergies. She hasn't inherited this from me as she's not from my blood line...
I will let her know to try and stay calm She's not generally the stressy kind, though she can hold it inside and hide it...
So weird that she's been around all sorts of horses in pony club and for the 1st 3 or 4 weeks at college and then this. Though maybe she was kind of ignoring the leg rashes. I'll find out when they started. She's gone 4+ hours away so it's all being done through messages and phone.
 
I have very mild hay-fever which I mostly don't even bother with anti histamines for, however every now and then 1 of the big bales of hay will give me really bad reactions, feels like I'm chocking, really itchy eyes, hives all over my arms, all within a few minutes of touching it. There's obviously a plant / grass in one of the fields that I'm extremely allergic to but all his other bales will be fine.
 
She's been living on a farm lately and still getting bad reactions. no horses but other animals. The best bet is that it's something in the hay or straw, but really don't know. She has to take PRN antihistamine when it happens and then a she gets really tired. She's going to go for allergy testing on NHS soon. So sad for her as the outdoor life and especially horses are her world. She wants to live and work on a farm ideally if not as a jockey. 😔
 
quantumturbo said:
She's been living on a farm lately and still getting bad reactions. no horses but other animals. The best bet is that it's something in the hay or straw, but really don't know. She has to take PRN antihistamine when it happens and then a she gets really tired. She's going to go for allergy testing on NHS soon. So sad for her as the outdoor life and especially horses are her world. She wants to live and work on a farm ideally if not as a jockey. 😔
Click to expand...
Antihistamines knock me out, I take one every day at bedtime. That helps me. It’s not ideal, health wise, but compromise is all sometimes.
I do feel for her.
 
quantumturbo said:
She's been living on a farm lately and still getting bad reactions. no horses but other animals. The best bet is that it's something in the hay or straw, but really don't know. She has to take PRN antihistamine when it happens and then a she gets really tired. She's going to go for allergy testing on NHS soon. So sad for her as the outdoor life and especially horses are her world. She wants to live and work on a farm ideally if not as a jockey. 😔
Click to expand...

Encourage her to take pictures of the rashes etc and force the immunologist to look at them. It can help them decipher between a true allergy v an intolerance v another underlying issue that masks as allergic reactions (I have one of these conditions so while it's uncomfortable I know it won't kill me) I hope she gets to the bottom of it and can get it under control.
 
I would spend the money and get her privately tested, it will be quicker and hopefully enable her to carry on with her role if they can identify the source. Could indeed be the bedding/hay/straw etc.

I feel for you both, what a frustrating situation!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top