Horse & Carriage

I can’t help but be enamoured by horses, and I can tell, they’re pretty fond of me too. They approach, maybe a nod or wink, and pose with me in photos. I didn’t know I was allergic to them until I was on the other side of the world.

I was spending several wondrous days in Morocco with a large group of travellers in 2015. Our evening in Marrakesh began with a horse drawn carriage ride from our hotel to a local restaurant for dinner and a performance. Upon arrival, we took turns taking pictures with our majestic ride. To my surprise, I was suddenly blessed by the gentle touch of its cool, wet nose on my arm. That was not the moment I realized I was allergic to horses. In fact, it didn’t hit me that the incredibly itchy and enormous red bulge on my upper left arm would be from that affectionate horse. Even my tour manager thought it was a nasty insect bite and told me to keep an eye on it throughout the evening. I’m shocked that I didn’t think to take a photo of it with my phone! I applied cortisone cream in hopes to calm down its irritation and I took a Benadryl tablet too. As the trip continued on, it healed, and I had forgotten about the allergic reaction. I don’t recall the moment it stopped itching and when it disappeared. I must have been having too much fun! Took me years of overthinking and reminiscing to suspect that I was reacting to the horse’s saliva. Even a close encounter with a pair of horses in Vienna still didn’t clue me in.

In December 2021, my allergy test confirmed that I was indeed allergic to horses.

The first and last time I rode a horse was at a trail ride during my friend’s party before she departed for an Albertan college with an equine program. Fitting. The docile horses calmly followed each other one by one along a trail. Since I didn’t have direct skin to saliva contact, I didn’t get an allergic reaction. You know what else I didn’t get? A photo. I didn’t have an iPhone back then to easily document that day. Years later, barely an event escapes a quick tap of my phone for photos, and I have collected more equine encounters in my travels.

The Budweiser Clydesdales have their Super Bowl commercials, but they are not the only horses in the beer industry. When I visited the Heineken Museum of Amsterdam in 2013 and Carlsberg Brewery of Copenhagen in 2018, they had their own stables with stunning horses! While the brewing process is fascinating to many, even to an infrequent drinker like myself, nothing gets my attention more than these fabulous creatures! Look, don’t touch! Don’t feed horses! Fine by me. The Carlsberg horses were pleased to pose in my photos, and I couldn’t be happier! To this day, these photos take me back, and bring forth so much joy. I’ll need this photo of Ludvig and Gustav printed and framed one day!

When I’m finally comfortable with travelling again, I’m sure I’ll see a horse and carriage trotting around Old Montreal, or a couple enjoying a romantic ride through Central Park just like in the movies, or I’ll take selfies beside adorable Icelandic horses in where else but Iceland. I’ll be close, but not too close. I don’t want another allergic reaction again, especially on vacation. Until I’m ready to step on a plane, maybe it’s just admiring them from afar on my friend’s Instagram.