Horse Protection Act

[Marsha Cassada]

Just read the article in The Journal about proposed legislation concerning inhumane training and showing aids. (I had never heard of "soring".) The Horse Protection Act.

I have never personally seen any of these things done so I might think differently, but I am basically against more regulations, more bureaucrats, more licensing.

It is suggested that veterinarians and vet techs would make up the cadre of inspectors. Who would pay these inspectors? Would show fees increase? Would they have power to close down studs or farms? Would this carry over into all aspects of animal husbandry eventually?

Would it motivate people who do "soring" to develop sneakier ways to enhance, as in human athletes?

Not sure where I stand on this proposed legislation.

 

[Mona]

Marsha, I think you hit the nail on the head with your words: "I have never personally seen any of these things done so I might think differently". INDEED, I am sure you would most definitely think differently! These are savages that TORTURE horses (mainly the Tennessee Walking Horse breed) all for a win. It is sickening! Go to youtube and do a search for Soring the TWH and you'll see so much of it, but here is one "in a nutshell" that will help you better understand the need for these regulations and the reason they have come about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDygeHVZ6qw

I think you will find answers to many of your questions by signing up to the Friends of Sound Horses FOSH on Facebook.

Here is a link to a general youtube search on the subject. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=soring+of+the+TWH

 

[amysue]

While I agree that more regulations and bureaucracy is never a good thing....some of the things they do to these horses is NOT acceptable! I am not a bleeding heart by any means and I get aggervated when people think something normally accepted is cruel (like using a lunge whip or spurs) when used properly, no harm is done and if a person thinks it is cruel it is because they do not understand it. But, the practices in question are downright wrong. I go to horse shows to see the best of the breeds compete where the owners and trainers show off their hard work and dedication, not to cheat, especially at the poor animal's expese! I rode saddleseat as a kid, I practiced for hours every week, kept my horse in shape and my parents worked hard to get me a horse bred to have action, we never cheated, ee got a well-bred horse who was naturally gaited, just wore plates in the front. Many of the people in our circuit did things like this, and it ruined showing for me. I have seen first hand some of the awful things some people will do to win. When confronted about it, the guilty trainers or owners just claim that it is an acceptable practice within the breed. I've seen lots of things at shows over the years that will haunt me forever and not just at English gaited type shows either. The big western show by us was full of people doing things like this. I have seen horses with leg scars from the glass, sand and abrasives, seen hot chemicals or pricks put in between shoe pads and the sole to produce high action, walked through the showbarn one night to find horses faces tied up in the corner of the stall with the hind foot tied to their belly so as to make them tired and sore trying to achieve the nose-in-the-dirt head set with a collective jog look that seemed to be winning. Seen people pour ice water over horses from the loft while cross tied to stiffen them up to slow their gait down, even known of people who bled their horses to keep them quiet in the ring and appear docile. I understand that everyone may see things differently and that some things that are viewed by horse persons as harmless may look off putting to outsiders (tail sets, flip flops or action chains, draw reins, martingales, spurs, whips etc.) But I cannot fathom how any person could sleep at night after soring a horse. And to think of all of the trouble some of us go to to keep ours sound and there some people go torturing them to win a ribbon!

 

[Miniv]

Thank you AmySue for your post....... Many people have no idea, but need to learn the horrible things that are done to show horses.

I didn't know about Soring until a couple of years ago and have signed petitions against it, but it's STILL being done and from what I

understand many judges are STILL looking the other way!

The mini and pony shows don't have as much abuse, I don't think.......but still have some. Things I remember included abusing the "clicker" sound by singeing a horse's whiskers with a Bic lighter and then using a "clicker" in the show ring to get that big-eyed look. And one year someone whacked off

a horse's tail the night before competition to force the owner to scratch it from the class(es) it was entered it. And some trainers would put weights or chains on driving horses at home to make them have higher action. The smart judges would watch how a horse WALKED because those horses don't have a natural walk.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

I blame the judges for pinning those horses. It's WAY obvious when a horse has been altered. My favorite is when they illegally deaden all the nerves to the tail - and the judges still pin the horse. Or way fake animation. That's OBVIOUSLY not natural - not is the half lame WP horse. Why aren't we getting after these judges for allowing it!?

 

[Miniv]

I agree with you, FurstPlaceMiniatures, 100 percent. The judges have the authority to DQ or CALL THEM OUT........

One way to change things is to have the judges be like school teachers......ie......if they see something, they have to report it.

 

[Mona]

The absolute SADDEST thing in this soring, is that VETERINARIANS were knowingly ALLOWING the soring and falsifying the test results!!! There was a big thing I was watching live online here a couple years or so ago about it, when they were trying to have the laws changed to stop this barbaric practice, and there were people speaking, including VETS that admitted to doing this. Thankfully, they eventually got above it, but it was good to hear it direct from them, about just how underhanded so many are, and from the people that we'd least expect it from!

 

[amysue]

Very true, if this sort of behavior was NOT winning, then there would be no reason to continue it. Unfortunately, some veterinarians choose profit over ethics. Marsha brought up a few really good questions that got me thinking...if caught soring horses, would the owners/trainers get arrested/charged with animal cruelty? (I think they should), furthermore, would the veterinarians responsible for either performing the procedure or for covering it up lose their licenses or get charged for cruelty? I feel that if there were serious consequences for the actions, maybe people would refrain from doing it. At a local horse show last summer, a rider was arrested for heavily patting her horse on the neck after completing her round (spectators thought she was smacking him for not winning) and someone called the police and animal control. If I remember correctly, she was actually arrested for resisting when confronted by the police and show steward, but was fined by animal control for the infraction. Everyone in this neck of the woods was up in arms about it. While I'll admit that around here, people take things waaay too far (I've had animal control called on me for riding my horse out front with a whip in my hand) but it seems that in other parts of the country we go from one extreme to the other.

 

[Mona]

AmySue, this is exactly what they are working towards. Yes, the trainers ARE being charged. FINALLY things are starting to be taken more seriously. No, the veterinarians were not being charged. The USDA now wants to be the governing party at these events, because that way, they will enforce the laws without having anything to lose. The vets that allow these lawbreakers to continue torturing and abusing these horses, could lose mega $$$ by losing clients if they "wrote them up", so they let it slide. It is known that is is going on that way, so they are working harder to implement new rules to bypass that. It has been many years in the making, with people trying to fight against the soring, but they kept getting away with it. In recent years though, they have been making great strides to end this!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Thanks for posting this Marsha, I had no idea that someone or anyone for that matter , could get away with something like this.

This is certainly one of those moments in time where the Human race "Disgusts me"

The trainers , Judges and also the horse/gear inspection team at shows and events are all to blame equally in my opinion. I am not sure how prevalent this is in Australia, though i am sure there are plenty of owners that try other inhumane things just to win, as Amysue posted above.

Someone was telling me on another thread here at LB that they once attended a show and a lady was caught putting Ginger in the horses bottom to make them "more spirited" .

I wonder how the trainers would like it if we chased them up and down an arena with a cattle prod ?

 

[chandab]

Someone was telling me on another thread here at LB that they once attended a show and a lady was caught putting Ginger in the horses bottom to make them "more spirited" .

I wonder how the trainers would like it if we chased them up and down an arena with a cattle prod ?

I don't know if it happens any more, but Arabians were known to get gingered, as it would make them throw their tail up over their back (even more so than many do naturally).

 

[amysue]

Yes, ginger salve used to be readily available at a well known saddlery for English horses. They put it under the tail dock to get the flagged tail look or rub it in cuts on fetlocks to get high stepping action. The catalog description listed it at a "natural aid for tail sets". I wonder how the trainer would feel with a chunk of ginger root in their crack?

Funny story.. one time my shoer (with a bad back) put some arthritis ointment on his back before working on my horse. It was very hot out and he began to sweat.....well once that capczasin ointment ran down his crack he took off like a bat out of heck across the barnyard.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Yes, ginger salve used to be readily available at a well known saddlery for English horses. They put it under the tail dock to get the flagged tail look or rub it in cuts on fetlocks to get high stepping action. The catalog description listed it at a "natural aid for tail sets". I wonder how the trainer would feel with a chunk of ginger root in their crack?

Funny story.. one time my shoer (with a bad back) put some arthritis ointment on his back before working on my horse. It was very hot out and he began to sweat.....well once that capczasin ointment ran down his crack he took off like a bat out of heck across the barnyard.

A Natural aid for Tail sets - OMG !!! Thank goodness its no longer available at that saddlery. The things people will go to for a "win"

I dont show currently , though I am hoping to enter some low level eventing comps if and when my coccyx heals. After reading this though, there is every chance id be escorted from the ground if I witnessed the mistreatment of any horse or animal , that would be after I let the Tyres to their car and float down with several nails

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I'm thinking the issue here is not the inhumane things people do to show horses, but whether more legislation will fix it. If laws and regulations are already in place against these practices then the issue should be enforcement of them, rather than more laws and more bureaucrats. I am basically against giving central government any more power than it already has.

The ideal would be the showing community, competitors and judges and stewards, recognizing the practices and disqualifying the competitors. Perhaps some extra training for judges and stewards concerning these issues would be appropriate.

Where prestige and money are at stake, I doubt there will ever be a perfect solution.

 

[Jean_B]

Where prestige and money are at stake, I doubt there will ever be a perfect solution.

So true! I used to have quarter horses, and it was a dirty little secret that some of the less than stellar trainers were bleeding out the horses in order to get them so exhausted that the low head set was not trained in, but rather, they simply were unable to lift their heads. Some would tie their heads up in the air so that their front feet were barely touching the ground, so that the horse's neck was so destroyed, it could only drop its head. It's not just in the Walkers, that's for sure! And while the vast majority of those showing truly care about their animals, there will ALWAYS be those who look for the easy way out, and rules be da-----!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

So true! I used to have quarter horses, and it was a dirty little secret that some of the less than stellar trainers were bleeding out the horses in order to get them so exhausted that the low head set was not trained in, but rather, they simply were unable to lift their heads. Some would tie their heads up in the air so that their front feet were barely touching the ground, so that the horse's neck was so destroyed, it could only drop its head. It's not just in the Walkers, that's for sure! And while the vast majority of those showing truly care about their animals, there will ALWAYS be those who look for the easy way out, and rules be da-----!

Winning horses with rows of ribbons--we all know incredible competitors who have made the grade without fakery. Kudos to them!

 

[Cayuse]

Marsha's post was perfect.

All the laws in the world will not help unless they are enforced.

I was at a hunter/jumper show years ago and in the pony divsion a kid was excessively using her spurs to the point the pony was bloodied on his sides. In an area about an inch x two inches his fur was worn off and raw, bleeding in spots. I kept waiting for the judge to excuse the pony, but the judge kept pinning the pony FIRST.

There was no way the judge could miss it, it was a white pony and very obvious. I finally pointed this out to the show steward and the response was "yes, we are aware". Nothing was done and the pony continued to show the entire show.

So my point is more laws won't matter if the stewards and judges won't enforce them for whatever reason. And by them ignoring obvious abuse issues,they will have a hand in making the sport look bad, ruining it for everyone in the long run.

 

[BSharpRanch]

Here is the link to the proposed changes. Take note as it WILL apply to the miniatures and Shetlands as well. "Any action device, including chains, boots and rollers...". How many trainers and Ammys use chains, rollers and flip flops on their show horses? https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/horse-protection-amendments

 

[Strangeaddiction]

Sadly, I agree with what many of you saying, are more laws and legislation going to do anything? I think that taking away the padded classes (Big Lick) will help as they wont have the stacks/chains. But sadly when money is involved, big time trainers, ribbons, prestige etc. there will always be this happening. I have heard of people at mini shows hammering lead in their horses feet to make them heavier to get more lift, I haven't witnessed it happening but you will see lead all over the ground at some shows. Even down to stupid little things like dying horses coats etc. are done right in front of stewards and nothing is said, if the little things get a pass then people start to go more extreme. All of these things are in our rule books, but until there are people enforcing it, I don't think much will change. We can have all the laws we want and people can still turn a blind eye to everything that we all know is happening...... I am a horse advocate but, I just go show my horse and try and stay out of the politics of horse showing, sometimes people place higher just because the judges see their well known trainer head their horse at the end of the class.... sad but true. It's all politics of the horse industry. Until we get stewards with the guts to report everything, nothing is going to change, even with laws in place.

I do think making pads and chains illegal will help, but it makes me wonder what they are going to resort to doing at home during training when they cant have pads and chains in the ring.....

 

[Mona]

I'm thinking the issue here is not the inhumane things people do to show horses, but whether more legislation will fix it. If laws and regulations are already in place against these practices then the issue should be enforcement of them, rather than more laws and more bureaucrats. I am basically against giving central government any more power than it already has.

The ideal would be the showing community, competitors and judges and stewards, recognizing the practices and disqualifying the competitors. Perhaps some extra training for judges and stewards concerning these issues would be appropriate.

Where prestige and money are at stake, I doubt there will ever be a perfect solution.

The problem with this is, there were many in those particular positions that were hiding things and letting them go...turning a blind eye/overlooking them and making false statements on reports. They are all a part of the big picture. They were supposed to do it. That is why people against the practice are up in arms over it. The "good guys" in many cases, are the bad guys. Thankfully, with a lot of public awareness, they have been able to get the public involved in taking a stand as well, and boycotting the shows. Some very big sponsors have dropped them, as well, a children's hospital that was being given much of the proceeds of these "big lick" shows have refused to accept any more of their "blood money". They are making progress with putting a stop to it, and yes, people are being charged and convicted, and hopefully they if stay hard and strong against this and keep enforcing the rules, eventually it will stop!

And yes, with the new laws, they will have the power to go in and immediately shut down a training/showing farm, and I guess a breeding facility as well, if there is clear evidence of these horses being abused in this way. They have already done so to a big lick trainer, and taken all the horses from there.