May 2020 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN May 2020 Page 19 Email: eschfence@gmail.com - Fax: -- WHOLESALE & RETAIL Phone -- By Malorie de la Mare Dear Mal… I know how this will sound, but, heck, I’m going to ask anyway. I love my horse; he’s been my treasured companion for 10 years. Nothing in those years has come between us—recession, job loss, break-ups with boyfriends—noth- ing. Here I am, apparently inde- pendent, living with a wonderful new boyfriend and terrified by coronavirus. Deep breath here. My horse lives at a very small barn, and I rarely—if ever—run into anyone when I go to see him (no riding these days). Boyfriend, who has always been amused and Go ahead...Ask da Mare Coronavirus at the Barn? occasionally snarky about the fact that I have, love and ride a horse is suddenly horrified by the thought that I might visit the barn and bring coronavirus home. To him. I’ve as- sured boyfriend that, for one thing, horses don’t get coronavirus, and for another thing, I neither see nor interact with anyone when I’m at the barn. I’ve been wearing a mask and gloves to the barn, and I disin- fect my shoes (and leave them out- side), and my gloves when I come home. Boyfriend says that he heard a tiger got coronavirus; therefore, according to him, horses can get it too, and my horse probably has it. I’ve asked the vet about it; she says it’s impossible. Boyfriend, who has become more and more obsessed by this issue, today told me that it’s either the horse or him. My heart is breaking. How could this happen to me? Is there any way I can prove to him that I’m taking every possible precaution, and that horses are not carriers of this horrible disease? Please help me! -Desperate Dear Desperate… I’m so sorry you’ve found yourself in this terrible position. Let’s go back to your deep breath, okay? Your boyfriend has been snarky about your devotion to your horse. He suspects that you’re bringing a lethal virus home—to him. He ignores all the measures you’ve taken to ensure both you and he are safe. He also ignores how deeply you love this horse. He manufactures horror stories about virus-infested tigers and the likelihood that somehow the tiger who has the virus has infected your horse and, by extension, him. Are (Continued on page 23)