Pedigree Query

I thought this was interesting.

http://news.aol.com/article/horse-has-g ... y%2F394194

I saw that yesterday on the news in Utah. I would wonder if it is the specific grass that shes allergic too or could it be in the soil?
Karen

You would think since grass is the lifeblood/basic building block for all equines and after millions of years of genetic selection, there would be no horses left on earth allergic to grass.

Poor horsecan't be a horse

My first horse was allergic to grass. This was about 20 years ago, when allergy shots either weren't around or weren't widely used, or maybe they wouldn't have worked for her. There are tons of allergies, all a little different.

She had grass heaves, so even one bite of grass would leave her coughing for days; she would be heaving her guts out. She could not eat green (live) grass. She could eat "dead" grass, so after the first freeze, she could be turned out safely. Once spring came, it was back inside again. Hay was fine for her to eat, because it was dead. The solution was pretty simple. She lived in a stall during spring and summer. And since I was a kid at the time, she got tons of exercise; I would ride for hours every day. She was a perfectly happy little pony, and didn't "suffer" because she couldn't go out. She suffered much more if she accidentally got a mouthful of grass.

It was pretty strange to explain her condition to people, and I compared it to a fish being allergic to water. But she lived a happy healthy life, was not deprived of 'being a horse' and was far from anything I would describe as being miserable. Other than not being able to eat live, growing grass, she was completely normal. It worked well for her, and really was not the inconvenience or torture it seems like it would be. I won't lie, I felt like I was always cleaning her stall, but it sure was nice to always have a clean pony!