ASHLAND —
This year is different promise organizers of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration now under way in Shelbyville, Tenn. It had better because if the same sort of abuses of horses that have occurred at other walking horse competitions are found at the sport’s premiere event, it could doom the future of horse shows featuring the beautiful, high-stepping walkers. Already many who once loved to watch the horses perform have turned their back on the sport because of the widespread abuse.
Organizers of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, which began Wednesday and will continue through Sept. 1 in Shelbyville, say procedures that are used to detect signs that a trainer has applied painful chemicals to the horses’ legs have been changed. The procedure — known as soring — is banned by federal law. But soring is so common in the sport, that at some horse shows in recent years most, if not all, of the walking horses left as soon as federal inspectors showed up.
Tennessee walking horses are judged in judged in competitions for their high-stepping gait. But soring, banned by the federal Horse Protection Act, uses chemicals and other devices that painfully induce the horses to step higher.
In addition to a physical inspection by USDA inspectors to look for signs of abuse, organizers of the national celebration say each horse will be swabbed for chemicals that harm the horse or mask soring. The show’s board of directors on Monday announced that for the first time, it will make the results of those chemical tests public and it will result in trainers immediately losing their trophies and prize money if caught abusing horses.
While in the past the results of such chemical testing could be delayed, the show’s board of directors decided to pay for expedited results so that they will be available during the event.
“The Celebration is the premier Tennessee walking horse event in the world, so it is only fitting that we lead the way in reforming the industry so that all horses are treated humanely and trained in a safe environment,” said Doyle Meadows, CEO of the Celebration.
The industry has long struggled to rid itself of allegations of abuse, and this year the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video taken at a walking horse trainer’s barn of horses being beaten and treated with chemicals to create the “big lick” gait that wins prizes and awards at shows across the country.
In a federal case stemming from the video, horse trainer Jackie McConnell of Collierville was indicted earlier this year and pleaded guilty to violating the Horse Protection Act. He awaits sentencing.
The USDA implemented a new rule this summer mandating stiffer penalties for soring and other related violations, and other walking horse groups, including the Walking Horse Trainers’ Association, have also started new testing and penalties this year.
The procedures now in place at the national celebration should have been in place years ago, but for far too long, those involved in the sport looked the other way while trainers abused the horses. Why? Because soring helps the horses step higher, and it is the high stepping that makes the sport so popular.
Finally, organizers of walking horse shows realize that the widespread abuses were threatening the very future serious threat to the sport’s future. The horses at this year’s Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration may not be stepping quite as high as their trainers and fans of the port would like, but they will be stepping without first being abused.
Opinion
Cracking down
Future of the sport demands zero tolerance to soring
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