Fyi, some allergists will not administer allergy shots for horse allergies as they are one of the most likely to cause a severe reaction upon injection.
signed,
mildly allergic to horses and my allergist refuses to give me the equine injection
My husband is allergic to dogs, cats, and horses. We have a dog (his idea,) two cats (our idea,) and a horse (came with the package with me!) He lives on Zyrtec and manages pretty well. He can visit the barn, interact with Tip, etc. but not spend all day. For my part I try not to track horse hair into the house (so clipping clothes go immediately into the wash) and segregate barn jackets from other clothes to minimize fuzz transfer, and we vacuum very often. It works for us.
So happy to see this thread! My SO is mildly allergic to something in the barn- weāre not sure what, though not severely so. Just enough to start itching and sneezing when heās in the barn or indoor. I try to just try to limit his exposure to when weāre riding outdoors and thereās a breeze, as that helps. All of my horse gear stays away from his clothing and I shower before getting too close. All it does is make him sniffle, but thatās annoying enough for both of us.
Keep horse stuff out of the car - prolonged exposure to the air circulating in the car affected me. Also, Timothy hay gave me rashes - but the shots worked so well. That asthma is the most terrifying feeling, not just the sniffles.
Just chiming in for support ā my husband seems to be allergic to the inside of a barn or arena, not the horses, but he really cannot be inside either one. We had the ER trip at an indoor horse show once. He can be around horses outside, to a limited degree, and my clothes donāt seem to bother him. But, he canāt come to the barn or anything like that. Hopefully the BF just will be content to be a spectator from afar, and support you. The other suggestions (bag clothes, etc) seem reasonable to mitigate the allergens around him. Good luck, you can make it work.
Instead of shots, he can see if there is a doctor in your area that does Sublingual Immunotherapy. I hate shots and I hated going to a doctors office once or twice a week, spending 1+ hour waiting & driving. Instead, you put oil droplets under your tongue every day for about a minute or so.
As suggestedā¦allergy testing to find out what his trigger is.
If it is horses or something integral to themā¦and there are no kids etcā¦find someone else.
A friend of mine married a great guy, they had 2 daughters and one wanted to ride. Surprise! Heād never been around horses and was seriously allergicā¦as in dangerous allergic response. He built them a room in the garage with their own shower/changing room/washer & dryer and a car they could bring to the barn that was kept outside. He even had an exhaust fan to pipe the air outside. When she had a horse show, heād go in his car and watch her ride with the windows rolled up and go to the carwash afterwards. Heād do anything to support her, so she could ride. I think he was a bit nuts to risk his lifeā¦but it worked for them and luckily, they appreciated what he did.
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Agree with Trakehner on this. I have a junior rider whose dad is severely allergic to horses and hay. He is super nice and supportive of his daughterās riding but the family does a real watusi around keeping the home and car allergy free. They have a serious decontamination procedure that Is very hard and limits what the family does socially.
I have a child who is allergic to horses, and we live on a farm with horses. Itās a hassle but eminently doable. His allergy sounds just like your BFās ā hives everywhere if he touches them, wheezy, etc.
I do what a lot of other people here do ā he stays away from the barn, and I shower when I come in the from the barn. I am able to wash our clothes together but I always use the allergen/sanitize cycle for everything. If I wash horsey items like saddle pads, I run a load of towels with bleach before I do human clothes. Iād do the same if I had a lot of horsehair on clothes, like after body clipping/etc. I wash my barn coats separately from his stuff.
It has been very manageable for us, easier by far than his severe peanut allergy! You can do it and it sounds like he is willing to experiment with you since heās amenable to trying different things and will still even come to the barn! I might not encourage that much because no need for him to suffer unnecessarily!
My dad was allergic to everything when I was a kid. Serious life-threatening after chemo. We had decontamination procedures, as well. I never went into the house before changing when they were at their worst and would shower as soon as I got home. Thankfully they subsided a bit.
Definitely have him get to a doctor and talk about prescriptions after he gets allergy tested. As many have said- it may not be the horses but the hay etc. You wonāt know until he gets tested.
If all else fails, sorry it didnāt work out with him. Sounds like a great guy 
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Thanks everyone! All are great suggestions 
@Pennywell Bay LOL, my thoughts exactly
