***THIS POST IS THE REASON WE NEED THE NEW USDA AMENDMENTS ADDED TO THE HPA.***
I found out about a horse that was ridden at The Cornersville Lions Club Show over the weekend. The class is the 2 Year Old Stallions class, which took place on Friday, July 8th, 2011. It was a SHOW affiliated show.
This horse is quite possibly one of the worst examples of a Big Lick Tennessee Walking Horse I have ever seen. Folks, while this is disturbing, WE ALL NEED TO WATCH THIS. You need to see the measures that some people go to just to win a blue ribbon at a small horse show.
VIDEO REMOVED BY REQUEST.
The horses start coming in at about 1 minute, 48 seconds. The offending rider enters at 2 minutes, 34 seconds. You can't miss him--he's the hunched over, spurring, bit pulling, whipping, Justin Harris, riding the sorrel with the flaxen mane and tail and two hind socks. This poor animal is ONLY 2 YEARS OLD. The number is 22. The worst part? This horse's name is Compliant.
Harris, who also "trained" this horse, is fresh off a one year suspension for bilateral soring of a horse, which ended 5/9/2011. He has seven HPA violations under his belt for unilateral and bilateral sore, the scar rule, and for violating his own suspension.
Many people in the industry are upset that this horse was shown. However, it doesn't seem that anyone is doing anything about it. Plus, if anyone who is complaining would take the law seriously, then perhaps Harris would never have put this horse in the ring in the first place. Harris could have been stopped long ago, but no one would take the stand and do it.
The Judge was Jamie Hankins. People are saying there were other horses that should have been excused from the Cornersville show as well, and he didn't excuse any of them. And to wit, Hankins has two of his own HPA violations, and he is also slated to be a judge at the Celebration. Will wonders never cease?
Hankins: YOU SHOULD HAVE EXCUSED THIS HORSE. This is one of the worst things I've ever seen. I've seen some sore horses in my time, but this takes the cake as far as pain and manipulation are concerned. I don't know if Compliant was intentionally sored or not, but even if he wasn't, you cannot tell me he's not in pain.
And guess what? I found out that the DQP at this show also has a horse in training at this trainer's barn. What a nice conflict of interest, which is common in this industry. So of course he let the horse in the ring.
But this is what we really need to focus on: EVERYONE is at fault for this at this show. First, the rider/trainer for obvious reasons. Second, the DQP for allowing this horse in. Third, the judge for not excusing the horse and not allowing him to show at the rest of the show. Fourth, the audience, for sitting on their asses and not doing anything but commenting on it.
The comments in the video are absolutely right: HOW did this horse get into this class? This is absolutely ridiculous. And yes, this IS the reason the industry are in trouble--they continue to allow this garbage to go on.
This is why we need to get your comments in on the USDA dockets. WE NEED TO STOP SEEING THIS, PERIOD. Some people think this isn't a big deal--that this only happens at every few shows. But since there are nearly 1000 TWH shows every year, then this happening at every few shows is a really big deal. We need to see this end, and we need to see it end now. One bad image horse is one bad image too many!
8 comments:
seeing this then seeing the horses in the pics i sent you..makes me more naseous then im already feeling..i think il go hug Star :) (my 7yr old barefoot racking mare)
greatbigbuddy,
I got your comments and approved them, but for some reason they're not showing up in the comments section. Hopefully this is just a blogger glitch.
At any rate, thanks for your concern. To help, you can comment on the USDA docket that is going to have mandatory penalties for all HIOs to adopt. Until now, each HIO made up their own penalties, and they obviously aren't strict enough. So we need the government to step in and make some serious changes. So go to the link in the post that says where you can submit a comment and comment for us. You will help us immensely with saving the TWH!
Who requested the removal of the video?
The person who videotaped it did. This person has it on a public link, but he didn't like me putting it on my blog. But at least some folks got to see it so we can all know why we need to get these amendments added.
do you know where on a "public link" I can view it? What is the name of the vid? thx.
do you people just think this is all just fun and games?? this is the trainers livelihood which everyone of yall are trying to delete. how would you feel if somebody came to where you worked and hassled you 24/7???
meathead, if the trainers want to continue their livlihood, they need to stop soring horses and producing the image of an abused horse. I don't care of they lose their jobs or if the industry falls. The horses need to be saved and the law needs to be upheld. I have no sympathy for people who continue to abuse animals for entertainment and personal financial gain.
Since I'm not doing anything illegal with my work, then no one has any reason to come harass me. These people are breaking a federal law, and if harassment and exposure is working, then that's what needs to be done.
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