Show ring cruelty - chains, soring, stacked shoes and spurs.
Barbara McCarthy shows TWHs barefoot and naturally gaited.
Sheryl Crow's Tennessee Walking Horse was humanely trained.
This summer we told the story of Mr. Biggs, a tortured Tennessee Walking Show Horse now being nursed back to health at a local horse rescue, and we followed up by interviewing Sue De Laurentis about rehabilitating Visten, an abused Tennessee Walking Horse yearling. We've also learned more about superstar Sheryl Crow's talented Tennessee Walking Horse who was humanely trained as an exhibition horse. The 71st Tennessee Walking Horse Championships just a few weeks ago resulted in more than 400 violations, proving that institutionalized abuse of horses still exists.
Today I want to introduce you to an organization called FOSH or Friends of Sound Horses, whose mission is:
- To promote "sound", naturally gaited horses, with a specific emphasis on Tennessee Walking Horses.
- FOSH will only support flat shod or barefoot horses, and will never endorse any event that uses stacks or chains as action devices, nor any mechanical, chemical or artificial means to modify the natural gaits of the horse.
- FOSH focuses on three areas for gaited horses:
1. Educating people on the sound training principals.
2. Sanctioning sound shows & events.
3. Working to end soring.
FOSH needs your help to fight the 'soring' of Tennessee Walking Horses for the show ring.
As fellow horse lovers, Friends of Sound Horses needs your help--to stop soring in our lifetime. If you don't think that this still happens, let us give you the real news.
"Soring" is more prevalent today than ever before. There were more citations written in 2008 than in any year since soring became a criminal offense more than 30 years ago. To make matters worse, there were over 400 citations written by DQPs and U.S. officials at this year's Celebration compared to 187 citations in 2008.
Stop Soring!! Please help us end this abuse. We must stop this abuse! Friends of Sound Horses needs more members. The more horse enthusiasts that know about this practice, the more voices we have to fight it. We need your help and support to make a difference to the horses without voices. Who will help them if not us? They are speechless and helpless and their lives are hell every single day.
If you join Friends of Sound Horses, you will be a part of the movement to end soring in our lifetime. FOSH makes the voices of those that care heard in the horse world.
By joining FOSH you will receive a gift- either Mary Ann Kennedy's CD "Rhythm of the Ride" or the DVD from Imagine A Horse "Lady C goes to Trick Horse School". While supplies last.
Video - Tortured Tennessee Walking Horse Watch It Now wins obscene amounts of prize money for his cruel trainer and greedy owners *.
* According to the HSUS "The 2009 World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse is trained by past Horse Protection Act violator Jimmy McConnell, and owned by William B. Johnson, who only recently settled a previous HPA case involving trainer Billy Gray."
CEO William Johnson made his fortune as the largest Waffle House franchisee in the US. The Johnson-controlled Northlake Foods which once operated some 150 restaurant locations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008. All locations were either closed or acquired by Waffle House within a year. On the other end of the spectrum, William Johnson acquired the rights to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company name in 1983 and expanded the hotel throughout the world. The company eventually sold those operations to Marriott International. W. B. Johnson has also been a Holiday Inn franchisee. Source
Reserve champion Victoria's Secret also suffered in silence for this barbaric "sport".
Judge for yourself! See all the 71st TWH Championship videos.
More information about Tennessee Walking Horses:
- Tennessee Walking Horse Abuse Triples in 4 months - WBIR Knoxville
- The Cruelest Horse Show on Earth
- STARS (Sound Trail and Rail Society)
- National Walking Horse Association
- Enlightened Horsemanship
- Sound Horse Outreach
- HSUS
- USDA Horse Protection Act
- The Sadistic Treatment of Tennessee Walking Horses - US News & World Report
- Stop Soring
- Hoof Beats - Walking Horse Feet
Photo credits: FOSH, Sue De Laurentis of Imagine a Horse, Barbara McCarthy of Falconrath Gate
Comments
There were articles in the local newspaper all summer about Tennessee Walking Horses being abused and even charges being brought.
I don't know if I would have noticed them if it hadn't been for my first reading your articles. Thanks for putting this in the spotlight and keeping it there!
I thought soaring was outlawed long ago....400 citations tells me it was....fine must not amount to much?
This is such a horrible crime. There are rules and laws that have been enacted against this type of thing, but no real penalties for noncompliance.
Since this article is about abusive training in Tennessee Walkers shouldn't it spotlight soring? Chains, stacked shoes, and spurs are not cruel. Spurs are not cruel as long as they are used right, chains cause no pain at all (maybe just a little hair rub), and stacked shoes only absorb contact with the ground. My Walker was shown big lick for about 5 years. He is now and excellent and healthy flat shod horse. It all depends on the trainer in the Tennessee Walker world.
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