From Princes Harry and William to Lady Louise Windsor and Princess Anne, almost all of the royals take after Queen Elizabeth II in their passion for horse riding, but Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have rarely been seen enjoying the sport.
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Prince Andrew's daughters haven't been seen riding since childhood, and we suspect it might have something to do with their mother, Sarah Ferguson. Sarah underwent serious surgery on her feet in 2019, with the 62-year-old saying that horse riding was what made her need the operation.
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"I think my toes were ruined by all the riding I did when I was young," Sarah said – and perhaps the mother-of-two advised her daughters against riding to avoid them suffering a similar fate.
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Of course, the princesses could be like their cousin Princess Kate, who avoids horse riding because she's allergic to the animal, but Beatrice and Eugenie are often seen at the races, suggesting they don't have an allergy to horses.
Princess Kate opened up about her allergy to Australian author Kathy Lette during a polo match. When Kathy asked the royal why she didn't play herself, Prince William's wife said: "I'm allergic to horses."
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie haven't been seen riding since childhood
Two years later in 2011, Clarisa Ru, wife of Santa Barbara Polo Club president Wesley Ru told PEOPLE that Princess Kate was attempting to overcome her allergy through exposure – also known as immunotherapy.
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"I got a chance to have a conversation with Kate," she said. "I asked if she was into polo before she met William. She said no. But she's been riding horses for a while and she hopes to play polo one day. She said, 'I'm actually allergic to them, but the more time one spends with them the less allergic you become'."
Sarah Ferguson could have dissuaded her daughters from horse riding
She's not wrong. Exposing yourself to the allergens from horses works in the same way as immunotherapy, which the NHS describes as "being given occasional small doses of the allergen" with the aim "to help your body get used to the allergen so it does not react to it so severely".
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