From the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle
“The video showed the horses, in obvious pain, having trouble standing and being whipped until they did stand,”
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — One of four men who pleaded guilty to soring Tennessee walking horses will not face more jail time.
According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/MhiyXN ), John Mayes was sentenced Monday to the time he has already served and ordered to write an article about horse soring. Soring is a banned practice of using chemicals and chains to train horses to perform high-stepping gaits for shows and competitions.
U.S. District Court Judge Sandy Mattice included the writing of the article as a community service requirement of Mayes’ one-year supervised release. The court said the article must include how widespread soring is, who it is done for and how it affects horses.
Horse trainer Jackie McConnell, Jeff Dockery and Joseph Abernathy were indicted along with Mayes and charged with violating the federal Horse Protection Act. The 52-count indictment was returned Feb. 29 by a federal grand jury in Chattanooga.
Mayes pleaded to a lesser charge.
The charges followed wide distribution of an undercover video shot by an agent of the Humane Society of the United States, who got a job at McConnell’s Whitter Stables in Collierville.
The recordings show McConnell, Mays and others applying mustard oil and similar caustic ointments to the pasterns and hoofs of walking horses from March to May 2011. The video was posted on the humane group’s website and aired on television.
“The video showed the horses, in obvious pain, having trouble standing and being whipped until they did stand,” according to the plea agreement entered in court documents.
Keith Dane, the director of equine protection for HSUS, earlier said that while horse shows offer cash prizes, more significant money comes from breeding and horse sales for walking horses that are show champions. Those that exhibit the “big lick” gait are highly valued.
McConnell, Dockery and Abernathy were scheduled for sentencing Sept. 10.
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Categories: Horse News
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
How could that judge be so lenient on someone who has applied the big hurt so many times to these precious, innocent horses?
I can only pray that, whereas jail time may have not improved this defendant’s character, writing that paper will cause him to face himself honestly in the mirror, be horrified with what he sees, thoroughly forsake his old actions, and be transformed into … an undercover investigator for Animals’ Angels!
Also, I hope other conditions of his probation include having to pass a lie detector test verifying the accuracy and completeness of his paper, and having to share his paper on the Internet in a place where we can all find it and share it with the world. May he help bring the whole rotten “sport” to its knees — consign it to the waste basket of the past.
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What a joke. Probation? write an article as part of his community service? Judge should be removed from the bench.
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ABSOLUTELY this judge should be removed. Is he part of the problem? How many Walkers does the judge own and who is paying him off?
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Jo-Claaire I agree. That is the most disheartening thing I have read in regard to the soring. They all deserved jail time, and removal of their licsenses, if there were any.
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Probation is a joke, and he’s probably yuk-yuk-yukking it up with his buddies right now. It’s unfortunate that so many government officials in that state are involved somehow in that disgusting industry. I had hoped the judge would use him as an example, but probation for 52 counts just clears the way for continued abuse.
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Sounds like the judge should be “sored” he might have a different opinion.
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This just cannot be allowed to happen, these horses are in so much pain, day after day and all the perpetrator gets is PROBATION, that is just crazy. It’s obvious that the judge has his own agenda here and he/she should be investigated. I can’t believe that this ‘sport’ is allowed to happen at all. Unfortunately there is always someone willing to push the boundaries just that ‘little’ bit more to get that extra $$ and extra ribbon and it doesn’t matter what or who suffers in the quest for it. Tennessee Walking stinks.
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Ordered to write a paper? Are they serious. Why didn’t they just have him write on the chalk board 100 times, I will not abuse animals anymore? The reason animal abuse is so prevalent in our society is because these sentences are so lenient. Serious jail time needs to be mandatory to get the message across, but I guess we’d rather fill up our prisons with pot smokers.
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I can’t believe that a judge watched that film, and gave the monster probation !!! The proper sentence would be that he had to live as a TWH in his own barn, and be treated as he treats all of them.
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This is not enough by a long shot. Judge Mattice will also preside over the September hearings for McConnell and the others. I hope he does not make a mockery of justice when he contemplates what to do to them. They want to plead guilty and avoid time. I think they should go to trial and be sentenced to jailtime.
What was done to those horses and continues to be done, is monsterous and the people in the Walking Horse industry have turned a blind eye to it for years. The entire state of Tennessee should be ashamed of these men.
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terrible. evil. these horse’s suffering is on the judges head. shame on him. it will be nice when that trainer has a heart-attack.
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all for the sake of money, prizes, and fame??
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Figures.
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As usual the punishment does not fit the crime. How many suffered under this man’s hands for how long? A year of probation just doesn’t cut it. Our legal system is a farce when it comes to protecting animals and children. Those who do petty crimes that don’t involve violence, cruelty or harm to living beings often get the book thrown at them, while those who hurt the voiceless and the innocent skip right out of court, laughing, to do it again. Shameful and a disgrace to all those who suffered at this sub human’s hands.
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UN FREAKIN BELIEVABLE, the BULLCHIT sentencing just shows the CORRUPTION in our legal system, this judge should be DISBARRED!!!!!
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How any reasonably intelligent human being could sit at one of those shows & cheer while they’re watching these horses – Big Lick? What a crock. This is entertaining to watch? How could anyone not know this is unnatural? Showing them with 3-4″ lifts on those shoes and CHAINS? Tennesse Walkers are great horses & their natural gait is so smooth & easy to sit. These brutal morons have made freaks out of these poor horses. They appear to be the same mentality as the ones who butcher horses. NOTHING is worth putting animals (or humans) thru this torture.
Isnt there any way to finally stop this? This has been going on for decades & every once in a while there will be lip service about changing it. Why are the judges still rewarding these creeps at the shows?
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How can any humane person watch that video of those horses in so much pain & not DO something about it? TWH breeders should be bombarding their breed organization to stop this. Are they all so accustomed to this kind of behavior that noone cares?
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This has been going on for years and finally someone got a chance to video tape it? Why wasn’t this done sooner? This is not the end to this! Alot of the judges are corrput in the TWH world! It just is not the owners and trainers! Why the hell is more being done to stop soring of Walkers? It seems like an endless battle that never ends and never will!
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