Rubber Allergy - Help & advice wanted

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After almost a year of allergy investigation we have found out that my mare is allergic to the rubber used in some arena surfaces. She is fine for the first few minutes, but then begins to sneeze and needs to stretch all the time. She doesn't cough at all. I can continue to work her, but have to let her work in a long and low outline, so that she can sneeze when she needs to. This is far from ideal and we have come to the point where we can't really progress with her training.

She is fine to hack and also on surfaces with no rubber, and oddly on some other rubber surfaces. So it appears that it is a particular type of rubber that she is aggitated by. My vet has conducted some research, but has drawn a blank on how we might try and treat / help her with this.

The most obvious answer is not to ride her in a rubber arena, but unfortunately my arena has a rubber / silica sand surface. This also makes it difficult when competing, as I need to know what the surface is before I enter.

I'm really desperate to try to find a way to help my mare with this. She is a really talented mare and only 7 years old. She has huge potential.

Any help / advice / suggestions would be gratefully received.
 
Antihistamines? Gradually reducing the dose if you can, until she can tolerate the rubber. Works for some allergies. Lots of things are allergic to latex-is it natural rubber in your arena?
 
What antihistamines would you suggest?

I'm assuming it is latex based as I know latex allergies are very common.

Do you know how I could find out or get it tested to be sure?

Thanks
 
Not sure on the antihistamines you might use for something like that-never heard of a horse reacting to rubber in that way! Some people use chlorphenamine (Piriton) for pollen allergies in their horses, bound to be some threads on here about it. Maybe ask your vet what they'd recommend. I'd have thought they would have some way of patch testing for a latex allergy though-might be somewhere to start. Could you find out what the suspect surfaces are and contact the manufacturers to see if there's a common ingredient or process? Is she just as bad indoors and out?
 
I will speak to my vet about the antihistamines and see what she would recommend, and good point about checking to see if they are competition legal. I didn't think of this.

She is as bad indoors as outdoors, if the surface is rubber. Within a minute of taking her out of the arena though, she is completely back to normal!
 
I believe antihistamines are among banned substances for competition. The thinking is to find a dose that works and gradually reduce it until you don't need them any more.

Bit of a random thought, but what if it isn't an allergy as such? Could it be the smell of the rubber? Easy enough to find out, mask the smell-bit of Vicks or olbas oil or some other pungent stuff on a nose net perhaps? Just check that that doesn't get her sneezing too!!
 
Have you ever come across 'Nostril Vet'? I'm thinking of trying this as it is suuposed to coat the inside of the nostrils with a protective layer, which should stop the irritation? Oddly, she can't cope with a nose net at all. I tried it for a while when she first started these symtoms, but it just made her shake her head really badly. She didn't like the feel of it touching her muzzle.
 
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