Source: Written by Sue McClure as published in the Tennessean
“Tennessee is getting a reputation as being a horse abuse state,’’
A man whose name is synonymous with Tennessee Walking Horses says the inhumane practice of soring horses must end — or the walking horse industry itself will die.
Bill Harlin of the famed Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, home of two-time world grand champion horse Midnight Sun, says the use of pads, chains and caustic chemicals to achieve the horse’s signature gait, known as “the Big Lick,’’ is wrong and efforts to stop the abuse aren’t working.
“Tennessee is getting a reputation as being a horse abuse state,’’ Harlin said. “Pads and chains are killing the industry. And I don’t know how long we can wait for proper enforcement before the industry dies.’’
The practice of soring Tennessee Walking Horses has been a dirty secret in the industry for years, but it has received national attention after the release of a disturbing undercover video of a West Tennessee trainer soring a horse.
Trainers use mustard oil, diesel fuel and other caustic chemicals to make a horse’s skin sensitive, then they place chains or other “action devices’’ around the tender skin, causing the horse to develop a high step in response to the pain. Soring also has evolved into the use of “pressure shoeing’’ in which a foreign object or epoxy foam is inserted under the pad and shoe of the horse, causing extreme pain.
The time has come — in fact, it’s long overdue — for these practices to end, Harlin said. “We’re now in a fight for survival of the breed.’’
Breed registry falls
Harlin cites figures showing that the number of registered Tennessee Walking Horse foals has dropped from a high of 15,526 in 2000 to just 3,358 in 2010. During that same period, the number of individual breeders fell from 9,306 to just 1,870.
It’s a terrible fall from grace for a distinguished breed that Harlin watched be established at a 1935 organizational meeting of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders Association…(CONTINUED)
Click (HERE) to read the story in it’s entirety and to comment at the Tennessean
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Categories: Horse Health, Horse News
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Hopefully the end of such pernicious competition will not effect the breed. Tennessee Walker’s are great horses out of the show ring. Case in point:
The horse Trigger Jr (1941-1969) was a purebred Tennessee Walking Horse named Allen’s Gold Zephyr who was bred by C. O. Barker of Readyville, Tennessee.
Paul K. Fisher of Souderton, Pennsylvania, who claimed to be the world’s largest breeder and dealer in yellow horses, sold Trigger Jr. to Roy Rogers in 1948 when he was still registered as Allen’s Gold Zephyr. Fisher often took his horses to the Madison Square Garden Rodeo to show or sell and Roy stated that it took him six years to buy Trigger Jr. – finally succeeding after Fisher was forced into a well publicized dispersal sale in 1947.
Trigger Jr. had beautiful conformation and a very stylish way of going. He was perfectly schooled and could accomplish a variety of difficult tricks including high stepping dances – always a crowd pleaser on Roy’s national tours and the perfect protege to Trigger.
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Several breed registries are in decline, American Saddlebreds, Morgans, Arabians.
It is due to the economy. The TWH is part of this group.
The TWH will re-bound at some point along with the above and hopefully without the “Big Lick TWH.”
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You can see this issue is getting noticed internationally too. Just this past week a Canadian series called “Heartland” did an episode on an abandoned TN walking horse that had been left behind because it was hurt on an old farm when the trainers moved the other horses to a new barn so they would not be found out. They not only showed the horse sored but also how they had cut the microchip out so the owner could not be traced. Their story line followed the same as the trainer that was just found guilty for soring but showed how they can cross the borders and continue their horrible practice. But because of this horse knowing “horse whisperer” they were found out and arrested. You could tell by the way they talked about it that this was a new subject for them up in Canada. I love that show!
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This goes back to the trainers and judges. If the horse has the action, you will see it as a baby. All you haver to do is watch them at play in the pasture. Just about all of the breed associations are guilty of some abuse by trainers and yes judges.. The abusers should be banished from the show ring and not allowed to breed any horses. Have you seen the western pleasure horses lately? Peanut rollers, ground grappers, and the like can be seen in the show ring? That sure isn’t natural for a horse of any breed. And how about the cruelty of the 4 or 5 inch PVC pipe to keep some reining or western horses from keeping their mouth open? A person was suspended from the Arabian horse association for doing cosmetic surgery on a stallions neck..we as horse owners should not tolerate this. But year after year some idiot will come up with some inhumane treatment just so they can place in the shows ring. The Arabian horse association has an established committee -the equane stress committee that addresses these issues as they come up. Its there own fault for tolerating and rewarding these trainers, judges and breeders.
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Gail, youre right – every discipline has its cruelties. I do remember (over 28 years ago) when western pleasure didn’t mean the nose to the ground & so called “jogs” where the feet scuff the ground – then the canters(?). I had friends that were showing their filly in halter – couldnt stand it – these 2 year old babies being yanked on to keep their heads down. Dressage has its own list, as do they all. The walking horse people certainly take the cake, tho. That’s deliberate torture. And all done to such beautiful, sweet riding horses.
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The rules can change! Switzerland banned Rollkur this month:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/33144/switzerland-bans-hyperflexion-use-in-competition-training
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