Shame in the Horse Show Ring is one blog I really like to read. She tells it like it is when it comes to show venues continuing to allow abuse of all types in the show ring.
Click here for her latest post about the TWH.
Yes, the harsh language can get hard to read. But I think it's important for people to realize the message that's here. She's angry, and she's tired of the horses being abused for the sake of a ribbon, no matter what breed or discipline.
I know we'll hear all the same excuses: pads don't hurt the horse, these horses passed inspection, blah blah blah. Folks, we're dealing with an image here that makes the horses look tortured. Whether or not they're sored doesn't matter anymore. The horse world and a lot of the general public know the TWH industry's dirty secret, and so therefore when horses are being showcased as crippled, crawling spiders, people are going to think they're being abused.
She also make a great point--people WITHIN the industry need to start standing up. The problem is that plenty of people are willing to just brush off the cheaters and abusers and turn a blind eye to what's going on. Start standing up for your breed and your horses. If you want the bad image of the TWH to go away, then you need to do something about it. Make an effort to end soring for real. The industry will listen if the masses start demanding a change.
"Today, Tennessee Walking Horses are known throughout the industry
as the breed that shows abused and tortured horses."
~ Jim Heird, Ph.D., Do Right By The Horse, February 2010
"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."
~ St. Francis of Assisi
4 comments:
I dont mind the showing of Spotted or Tennessee Walking Horses. I just wanna know why the USDA is coming down so hard on these trainers. i know some of the stuff irritates the horses but i mean look at those horses in the kentuky derby. most years after the race at least one horse will fall over dead. so let me ask the USDA and anybody reading this, is it worse to hurt a horses feet, or kill them. i think there are other things the USDA needs to worry about before horse shows.
TennesseeStud13, the USDA is trying to uphold a federal law. The Horse Protection Act specifically forbids causing pain to a horse's legs to lift them higher in the show ring. There are no laws currently against what is done to racehorses, whether we like it or not. The USDA knows soring still exists and are trying to do their duty in upholding the law. They should come down on the trainers, the HIOs, the owners, and the exhibitors because they are all allowing soring to continue.
To answer your question, neither hurting a horse's feet nor killing them on the race track is acceptable. Just because other industries also abuse horses does not make soring or pressure shoeing okay.
no i understand its not right. but in my opinion i think they should comedown on horses racers first.
But there is no law against what is done to racehorses. There IS a law against soring. The USDA has no jurisdiction over the types of issues that go on in the racehorse ring. So if you'd like for the USDA to come down on racehorses, then start working on petitioning for a law. The USDA is trying to do their job as the law tells them to do it.
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