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Laney Humphrey said:

> I've never heard of a horse reacting to poison oak,
> ours even love to eat it.
Mine like to eat it too, and when I asked my vet if I should be
concerned about this he said "no."

> But then too, ours have lived with it for years
> so maybe they've built up an immunity.
In humans, generally, a reaction to poison oak gets worse with more
exposure rather than better.  It is an allergic response, and, as with
most allergies, the more you are exposed to the allergen, the more
sensitive you become to it.

I discovered this myself when I would first go out on trails that had it
and would actually cut it back as "I don't have a problem with poison
oak."  To which my brother responded, "You don't have enough respect for
that stuff, the more you get into it the worse it gets."  HE had been
hospitalized for the last time he had gotten into it despite the fact
that "at first he didn't have a problem with it."

It is unlikely that continued exposure has conferred immunity.  More
likely that horses generally don't have a problem with it at all.

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)

p.s.  EVERY Southern Californian should be able to recognize Poison Oak;
it is not a plant to be messed with, and it is rampant around here.  The
Malibu ride used to be notorious for it; don't know if it still is.



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