Tennessee Walking Horse Torture Continues—Federal Officials Get Harassed as Well
Reader Comments
about the abuse of tennesse walkers
I am writing a paper for my writing class about the abuse of tennessee walkers. Many people see this as glamorous entertainment. I know about soring but I was wanting to know about other abuses as well. Does keeping them in their stalls for long periods of time cause them to be more suseptable to colic? Where else can I find more information on this? I have to have more than one source.
Oh the time is near
Well, the weeks are counting down and the trainers are scratching their heads. Should I show or not show, should I wait and just show at the celebration? What should I do? If my customers find out that these high dollar horses cannot pass the USDA inspection, will the leave my barn? How will I make it? Fixin and ridin padded walking horses is all I know.
Well it is payback time, the USDA will not back down and are going to descend on the Celebration and as was said when "Free The Breeders" took control of what they thought was destroying the Padded Show horse, The Gates of Hell have been held at bay but the doors are open and will be spewing tickets this year at the celebration.
As I have said many times before, the owners and trainers of the SHow TN Walking Horse have created this mess and will all go down with the ship. Hope you have enjoyed the ride!
For those that read this, please be aware that the Show TN Walking Horse is only a fraction of the overall TN Walking Horse Industry. he fact that some very ignorant owners and trainers have taken the docile, beautiful, and graceful TN Walking Horse and have put a black mark on the rest of the Industry.
The truth
The truth is that Soring does occur. The celebration was practically shut down because of the humane society. However that does not mean that everyone does it. ALot of us like natural action, action that is the hard work of breeding the right lines and training the correct way. However if you pay close attention to her blog she says that exact thing in the first line, so dont yell at her if you cant comprehend the entire article. THATS what gives us a bad name.
She is a hero
I spent many summers in Shelbyville before and during the Celebration. In the 1970's, it was not uncommon to smell tne noxious oil of mustard in many of the top trainers barns just walking down the aisles. No other breed would put up with the abuse inflicted on these magnificant creatures. Well, acutally, there was a mare in the 70's, does "Ragin Cajun" come to mind? The story is she would kick a trainer through the wall when the torture would begin. I think there are a lot of these fat asseed, untalented hicks that should be put in cross chains, have oil of mustard painted on their ankles, wait a few hours, and then let them run a 5k with chains banging on their ankles. Their "gait" might not be a normal runners "gait". Someone said that a society will be judged on it's treatment of it's animals. Watch out Walking Horse Trainers. You will get yours someday. Leave these sweet animals in peace and go out and earn a living in a decent gentlemanly manner.
To horserider000 of MS
I believe you need to get your facts straight.
The names of hundreds of violators are on the website: www.fosh.info Yes, hundreds.
Ms. Erbe is not telling lies and the walking horse industry deserves all the bad press it receives. With the exception of a few organizations, there has been no effort to clean up soring.
If you love the Walking Horse breed, open your eyes and do something to rid this industry of the abuse of soring or it will not walk on forever.
twh
Erbe you need to get your dag gum facts straight.. we of the walking horse world do NOT sore our horses, So quit filling everyones minds with lies.. im sick of people giving the walking horse industry a bad name. I've rode walking horses, and they wernt sore at all. You never owned a walking horse at alll have you??? your allications are so hipocritcal of a freaking newspaper writer.. just something to write about.. I love the Walking Horse Breed, and It will Walk On FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!! sso apologize to all of the owners that you offened by this hypocritcal ad
Jo Anne
Ms. Erbe has her facts straight. She did not state there were threats to government employees at this year's Celebration. She referred readers to the Lexington Herald article which spoke of threats in 2006.
You are also incorrect about this year's Celebration. There were substantially more sore horses at this year's show than last year's show and it was NOT for scar rule. Further, a scarred horse is a sore horse, like it or not. And, "scar" is the shorthand expression for a horse that evidences tissue damage due to soring.
The breed is better than 1961 but there are still hundreds, if not thousands of horses sored every year. That is not a small number? Why can't the industry get the number down?
Ms. Erbe's columns has been accurate and has the facts; your response does not include all the facts and is misleading regarding the number of horses that were sored at this year's Celebration.
tennessee walking horse
Bonnie, you need to be much more specific about your knowledge of this breed. We just had or National Celebration and I was in attendance. What you say about the threats to government employees is just false. We were 93 plus% compliant with the HEPA laws on all horses exhibited this year and only a very few were violations for being sore. Most were what is known as scar rule and can mean that the horse had a few hairs missing. Many of these horses were shown one night, passed the government came back and were turned down by the same inspectors only to return the next night and pass. This is a very subjective ruling by the government and sounds like the horse has scars caused by action devices when it is really about hair missing. No one would take a horse up for inspection with an actural scar. The government has done an excellent job of cleaning up what was in the past true cruelty to this horse. I have owned and shown in Tennessee Walking Horses since 1961 and I know what I am talking about when it comes to cleaning up this industry. We the owners, exhibitors and breeders have worked both with the government, our trainers, and the DQP's to make sure that our horse is compliant with the law. If you are going to print information about this wonderful breed and the people who own and love them, at least check your facts and get the correct inromation out to the public. All we ask is that you be fair amd know of what you speak.
Animal Abuse
Hi Bonnie, I'd also like to see more investigation into Palin's views on Aerial Wolf targeting in Alaska. I'm frustrated with hearing about population control etc. It's a load of bull. I find her Ecological philosophies disturbing and her motives for all things "wildlife" regulatory just an excuse to further her hunting campaigns. Having her in the Big House would not help the plight of ANY animal on this planet.. especially the polar bear.
Keep Up The Great Work Bonnie
I am happy you are committed to not letting this issue drop. The violators are not just a small drop in the bucket. If you visit www.fosh.info, you will see a link at the bottom of the page to view the names of the HPA violators on suspension for various lengths of time since July 2007. There are hundreds of names on these lists.
Friends of Sound Horses has worked tirelessly to collect and analyze data in order to assist the USDA in its effort to eliminate soring. This is just one of many of their efforts to abolish soring.
