Written by
Heidi Hall
The Tennessean
“…accused of abusing 16 horses named in the indictments, either chemically burning their legs or irritating the quicks of their hooves…”
Larry Wheelon / The Daily Times
Maryville, Tenn., horse trainer Larry Wheelon stood outside the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration stadium in August, days after animal abuse charges against him were dropped on a technicality, upset that horses seized as evidence in the case were not being returned.
He’d been attending the sport’s premier event in Shelbyville for decades — a respected show judge and ethics committee member for the Walking Horse Trainers Association — but with the horses he trained in the hands of animal rehabilitation groups, Wheelon couldn’t compete, only watch and insist that he didn’t hurt any animals.
Now, he’ll get an opportunity to defend himself in court.
A Blount County grand jury handed down indictments Monday on felony charges of aggravated cruelty to livestock animals and conspiracy to commit that cruelty in connection with the same investigation that first named Wheelon, 68, in the spring.
Specifically, Wheelon and two other men — Randall Stacy Gunter and Brandon Lunsford — are accused of abusing 16 horses named in the indictments, either chemically burning their legs or irritating the quicks of their hooves.
A fourth man, farrier Blake T. Primm, is named in the case of only one horse. All are due in court on Monday.
The process is called soring, long used by unscrupulous trainers to emphasize the breed’s naturally longer, higher gait because it pains the horse to put its feet down.
After a year-long investigation, workers with the Blount County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other animal protection groups executed a search warrant at Wheelon’s Maryville stables.
What they found was horrifying, said Kellie Bachman, a Blount County SPCA investigator and former police officer who presented evidence to the grand jury. And seeing the charges dismissed against Wheelon for an assistant district attorney’s misstep at a probable cause hearing was devastating.
“The horses were down, they were moaning, they were casting themselves, their legs were all wrapped,” Bachman said. “It was pretty brutal.
“To be able to go before the grand jury and talk to 12 people I didn’t know, to say it in front of (District Attorney General) Mike Flynn, it was therapeutic. Like having a weight lifted off my shoulders.’’
She said 19 horses seized were returned to Wheelon after the initial charges were dismissed. She doesn’t know where they are now….(CONTINUED)
Please click (HERE) to read the rest of the story and to comment at The Tennessean
Additional Information on Soring
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- Prevent Show Horse Abuse (forcechange.com)
Categories: Horse Health, Horse News
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Cold hearted cruelty!! Prayers for the horses whose location is unverified at this time.
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Somebody start gathering the feathers…I’ll heat up the TAR!
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Incredibly despicable
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Tar & feather certainly is a mild cruelty compared to what these creatures (cant even call them animals) have done to these horses. And to have the charges dismissed?
Beyond belief – not punishing these idiots.
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So if what he and his employees did to the horses “didn’t hurt” perhaps he should experience it himself. And to think that he has done this to probably thousands of horses in his lifetime? I hope he and his employees get the legal book thrown at them and are never seen or heard from again – and that is the only way this sort of abuse will be stopped – if they make an example of this guy and hit him and his co-hurts in the pocketbook since they have no heart.
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Your are correct, Grandma Gregg, the punishment should fit the crime for all who exact this horrific torture on horses.
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Very Correct Rocky D.
Carly
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Tall horseshows? She means stacks. Think of them as high heels for horses. They are bolted into the hoof with a nasty looking metal bridgey thing. Those stacks can weigh between 10-12 lbs as we learned at IEC last year. They weigh so much the horse can literally step right out of the hoof. There is nothing humane about soring.
The only thing I can liken soring in humans is this: Remove the heel spurs in both my feet. They look like those old soda bottle openers–those nasty hooky ones. Only mine are pointed downwards towards the ground. I walked on them. Make them run a marathon with them. Go to prison whatever. Barefoot. No foot protection. You will see grown men limping, crying from the pain unable to tolerate being forced to their feet. I know because when my heel spurs went bad I was that lame. They HURT. I mean REALLY HURT.
Those men are lucky because I won’t let doctors operate on my feet. I get only one set in my life. And if I pick up a nasty infection I could lose one or both my feet. But I sure as hell hope these guys get heel spurs and they are forced to endure the pain without any medical intervention just like they did with the horses.
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As I have repeatedly asked who are the vets taking care of these horses? Why are they not held to account when they turn a blind eye to this abuse?
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Oh the pain and agony these poor horses suffer is intense. The are no words to complete the pain scale on this. Severe agony for the horses. Criminal charges must fit the crime and the pain. If only the horses could tell us how they feel. Such abuse and trauma. Anyone how does this could get the maximum jail time and made to work in Siberia. Send them over to the Russians.
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Where’s the big mystery??? Indict this a-hole. Convict this a-hole. Then throw him down a long dark hole.
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