Following Up on the Torture Visited Upon Tennessee Walking Horses

I want to follow up with readers on my "Torture Litany: Horrors Visited Upon Tennessee Walking Horses" post of last month.

I was contacted by USNews.com Reader Services and told, "Several angry trainers/owners and others in the industry insist that [certain comments responding to the blog] be taken down." I have informed Reader Services that I am comfortable with however that department wants to handle this and whatever is standard in the industry. (Sometimes the Internet reads a bit like the Wild West, so I'm not sure what is appropriate and what is not.) Clearly, four-letter words are inappropriate, hate speech is intolerable, threats of any sort, etc. Beyond that, I would hope people would refrain from making nasty comments to each other, à la: "You idiots should have listened! Now, you have really screwed the system up and pushed great people away from the breed and have held on to some real scum. After you all slink away into your holes, the people who are really concerned about the TWH will pick up the shambles you leave behind and restore integrity to the breed."

I, of all people, understand the personal emotions raised by this and other animal-related topics. But, please, let's keep this civil and intelligent, folks, rather than devolve into insulting generalizations. Most of you have done so. Please, let's all follow that code.

By the way, I will be posting again on the results of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration this year, as soon as politics cools down. Cheers and best to you all!