Tennessee Walking Horse Soring Issue *Update post 1*

[bayou_bengal]

[QUOTE=subk;6328986]
bayou_bengal you are much more effective when you talk about things you might know about. Obviously you have no clue about Middle TN and I would appreciate it if you would stop bashing it with your ignorance.

And to add I frequent at least 5 different tack and horse supply places in Middle Tennessee and I can guarantee you without a shadow of a doubt that none of them deal in anything in any shape of form that would be used to train TWHs.

Yes, there are small pockets of the state that have a real vested interested in the TWH industry, but it is by no means the economic behemoth for the whole region that bayou_bengal seems to think it is.

Carry on.[/QUOTE]

Well-- I think 10 visits to the Celebration as well as trips up to the area to buy horses and attend seminars on horse breeding and farm management at MTU and dropping a bundle of $$$$$ in the process in a 20 year period makes me pretty darned entitled to talk about Middle Tennessee.

And it is the people IN Middle Tennessee who act like the Big Lick TWHs and the Celebration are such an economic behemoth. Middle Tennessee is hardly what I would call a “small pocket”-- it covers a lot of territory.

I never have been a Country Music fan, and Elvis is dead so Nashville dosen’t hold much interest for me. But we did fly in and out of there a couple of times whern we were not headed to “The Cradle of the TWH” south of there to buy horses.

And far as Lynchburg and the distillery there-- well, I don’t drink and my husband drank rarely-- and when he did drink it was a single malt Scotch, not Bourbon.

Oh, and we drove American trucks and German and French cars, so really we didn’t pay much attention to the auto industry there. Only reason I had even heard about the Saturn plant is because of the publicity surrouding its destruction of a hallowed Walking Horse Farm in Spring Hill. But really I haven’t been to Middle Tennes in more than 20 years.

And I can think of three tack shops in the area right off the top of my head that probably still have the stuff needed to sore horses, have action devices, or stock what it takes to put them up on those stacks of pads with the bands and the heavy shoes-- the initials are WCHE, NBS and BT.

The reason I quit going to the area is-- I don’t like being around people who sore and beat horses, and people who “look the other way.”

[War_Admiral]

[QUOTE=bayou_bengal;6329050]
WCHE, NBS and BT.[/QUOTE]

Yes, those are the 3 I’d be thinking about, but all 3 of them also cater to other breeds that are ridden saddle seat, Morgans, Arabs, ASBs and the like. It’s not like the Big Lick is their sole source of income.

[bayou_bengal]

[QUOTE=War Admiral;6328999]
No, you really don’t. The plea agreement has already been signed between McConnell’s counsel and the federal prosecutor. All that remains is for the judge to accept the plea agreement tomorrow or not accept it. Sentencing will be done later, not necessarily by Judge Carter.

This is a federal case, not a state or county case. The county attorney cannot do anything here.

Tennessee did just recently enact an animal cruelty law, but it was pretty toothless, and IF memory serves, I think it even contained a specific exception for “training practices”. :rolleyes:

I’d offer to go tomorrow and live-tweet but I don’t think they allow electronic devices in the courtroom unless one is accredited media, which of course I am not. I’ll ask around if any of the Chattanooga media are planning to attend, and report back.[/QUOTE]

As usual, everything already decided behind closed doors, under the table and swept under the rug-- How does 52 counts become JUST one?

I wonder if HSUS and PEta protesters will show up there tomorrow. THAT would make it interesting, if not just a little crazy.

Why wasn’t McCopnnell charged with cruelty under state law by local county authorities? Wait, I think I already know the answer to that.

Do you think that Tennessee lawmakers concider beating a tied horse with a bat in the face, and repeatedly shocking one with a cattle prod a legitimate a “training practice”? Jeeez.

It would be interesting to hear about what goes on in court tomorrow from a member of the horse-owning public.

[pony4me]

Email sent.

Wonder how much Walking Horse industry money is powering those lawyers?

Just another craptastic day in the neighborhood.

[subk]

[QUOTE=bayou_bengal;6329050]
Well-- I think 10 visits to the Celebration as well as trips up to the area to buy horses and attend seminars on horse breeding and farm management at MTU and dropping a bundle of $$$$$ in the process in a 20 year period makes me pretty darned entitled to talk about Middle Tennessee.
No one is suggesting you are not entitled to talk about Middle Tennessee. Just that if you do so you might try to do it with at least a little bit of accuracy. I’m not talking about your opinion. I’m talking about facts that are pretty easy to verifiy.

Saying the area has no industry when obviously it does and that ALL the tack stores are involved in the TWH problems is absolutely incorrect. There is a large and thriving sport horse industry that has absoultely NOTHING to do with TWHs in Middle Tn. And yes, we’ve been shunning the TWH industry for decades.

And yes The Celebration is a big deal for Bedford county. A county of 45,000 people in a state with 6.5 million people makes it a “pocket” not a region.

By the way Elvis is from Memphis which is 4 hours away from Shelbyville and has nothing to do with either Middle Tennessee or country music…

[bayou_bengal]

[QUOTE=War Admiral;6329058]
Yes, those are the 3 I’d be thinking about, but all 3 of them also cater to other breeds that are ridden saddle seat, Morgans, Arabs, ASBs and the like. It’s not like the Big Lick is their sole source of income.[/QUOTE]

Well we were NEVER were BL people, but that is where we went for our tack and supplies because there really there wasn’t a place that DIDN’T stock the stuff the BL people use -including but not limited to–various kinds of “work grease,” DMSO, salicylic acid (for wart removal- HA HA), various kinds of wraps and stockings, action devices, pads, heavy shoes, hoofbands, various kinds of wound dressings, exacto knives, tail sets “hair goods” and vet supplies.

I guess the BL has been under pretty steady attack now for at least 20 years. They are nothing if not smart business people, so they probably have been building their customer base in other disciplines and breeds against the day when-- heaven forbid-- the BL stuff is finally totally prohibited in the show ring.

WCHE always did have a foot over in the ASB camp since its owner also published two show world newspapers-- one for the ASB people and one for mainly the BL TWH peopple-- but they didn’t mind taking those ad $$$$ from us flatshod show people either-- even back in the day when you might see one or two ads touting flat shod walkers amid a sea of BL horse ads.

Personally, we preferred to advertise in The Walking Way-- a magazine for the flat shod sound horses and their owners.

When we first went to Middle TN, you could hardly find a western saddle or any western tack or clothes, but as soon as the flatshod people began making inroads with the Western Pleasure flatshod classes, boy did their shelves fill up with Western stuff.

But really the big money was always in the BL horses, and those tack shops always had whatever was the latest 'fashion" in the BL classes.

[jetsmom]

Email to the judge sent, pleading with him to not accept the plea bargain.

[War_Admiral]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: “This Jerk Needs Stewarding”

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=War Admiral;6329114]
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: “This Jerk Needs Stewarding”[/QUOTE]

That’s well said.

[bayou_bengal]

[QUOTE=subk;6329101]

[QUOTE=bayou_bengal;6329050]Well-- I think 10 visits to the Celebration as well as trips up to the area to buy horses and attend seminars on horse breeding and farm management at MTU and dropping a bundle of $$$$$ in the process in a 20 year period makes me pretty darned entitled to talk about Middle Tennessee.
No one is suggesting you are not entitled to talk about Middle Tennessee. Just that if you do so you might try to do it with at least a little bit of accuracy. I’m not talking about your opinion. I’m talking about facts that are pretty easy to verifiy.

Saying the area has no industry when obviously it does and that ALL the tack stores are involved in the TWH problems is absolutely incorrect. There is a large and thriving sport horse industry that has absoultely NOTHING to do with TWHs in Middle Tn. And yes, we’ve been shunning the TWH industry for decades.

And yes The Celebration is a big deal for Bedford county. A county of 45,000 people in a state with 6.5 million people makes it a “pocket” not a region.

By the way Elvis is from Memphis which is 4 hours away from Shelbyville and has nothing to do with either Middle Tennessee or country music…[/QUOTE]

Well Elvis really was FROM Tupelo, MS-- but I never cared much for Elvis or Country Music. I prefer classical music or the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

I’m glad that the area has apparently diversified in the 20 years since my last visit. When we where last in Middle Tennessee-- no matter where in Middle Tennessee, we heard the same mantra— “If it wasn’t for the walking horses this would be a dirt poor area-- If it wasn’t for the walking horses we wouldn’t have jobs. The people who want to stop the Big Lick horses want to destroy our economy.”

Sorry, but in reading some of the stories in the wake of the McConnell horse-beatiing video-- I keep hearing the “same old song.”

Middle Tennessee is more than just Bedford County-- there are 40 counties considered as part of Middle Tennessee.

The BL TWH industry is MORE than “just” The Celebration and Bedford County—And there probably MORE BL Tennessee Walking Horse training barns in Tennessee than in any othe state.

And that includes more than just Shelbyville–and Lewisburg as far as towns. Some other towns linked to the TWHs that I can recall are Franklin, Wartrace, Bell Buckle, Murfreesboro, Clarksville, and Spring Hill – and oh yes, let’s not forget Collierville- home of Jackie McConnell.

According to an agribusiness report from about five years ago, the top five breeds of equines in TN are TWH, QH, Donkeys, Mules and Spotted Saddle Horses in terms of numbers and in that order. Beford County had the most with nearly 6,000 horses, mules and donkeys but Greene county had the most actual horse farms.Gee, Warmbloods and Sport Horses are not even mentioned.

Tennessee is ranked FIFTH in the US among states with income generated by horses and horse-related activities. Now not all of this, I’m sure is due to the BL walkers, but I bet a bunch of it IS— or enough people in Middle Tennessee THINK it is-- why else would they cling so fiercely to their BL tradition that is so tainted with the soring and abuse of these horses?

[hurleycane]

[QUOTE=War Admiral;6329114]
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: “This Jerk Needs Stewarding”[/QUOTE]

Roy Exum for President!!

[Gnalli]

Bayou Bengal…you do realize that DMSO and wraps hair goods, tail sets, and vet supplies are not just for BL horses don’t you?Also,you do realize that salicylic acid is used for acne on humans, right?Just checking…

[katarine]

selling TUBS of salicylic acid at a tack shop is not some good ol’ boys Proactiv, you do know that, Gnalli, right? Just checking…

[bird4416]

^^^^clapping hands^^^:)

[WalkInTheWoods]

[QUOTE=War Admiral;6329114]
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: “This Jerk Needs Stewarding”[/QUOTE]

Roy Exum - you rock !

[subk]

bb if we’re going to fight the BL THW problems it might be wise to do so with current information and not what you remember from your last trip here 20 years ago which was obviously a very skewed observation even back then.

[bayou_bengal]

[QUOTE=subk;6329439]
bb if we’re going to fight the BL THW problems it might be wise to do so with current information and not what you remember from your last trip here 20 years ago which was obviously a very skewed observation even back then.[/QUOTE]

Well, meow!! The important FACTS are that the people in the BL part of the TWH world are STILL beating and soring horses- that hasn’t changed in 60 YEARS! STILL MAKING EXCUSES, TOO.

If you want to be the Chamber of Commerce for Middle Tennessee- go right ahead and be my guest—but the facts are still the same-- Big Lick TWHs are perceived by many people there and elsewhere as a MAJOR factor in their economy.

THAT hasn’t changed either-- just read the current stories coming out of Middle Tennessee and look at the TWHBEA, WHTA, SHOW and the Celebration peeps scrambling to distance themselves from one of their own BECAUSE HE GOT CAUGHT!

I’m done discussing your take on Middle Tenneesee’s ecomony. Really, I bet most people here could care less how much or how little the BL part of the TWH fancy contributes to the economy.

If you have something positive to suggest about what can be done to stop the abuse of the TWHs, especially the BL horses then post it— unless, of course, you don’t think they ARE abused-- in which case- I will just put you on ignore.

[bayou_bengal]

[QUOTE=Gnalli;6329239]
Bayou Bengal…you do realize that DMSO and wraps hair goods, tail sets, and vet supplies are not just for BL horses don’t you?Also,you do realize that salicylic acid is used for acne on humans, right?Just checking…[/QUOTE]

Yes, sure-- everyone needs what looks like GALLON tubs of special “working grease” to fight acne, warts, and wrinkles.

And its not just the vet supplies-- its the SIZES and AMOUNTS some of this stuff is sold in-- really.

As Guilherme has said-- some of this stuff does have LEGITIMATE uses-- THAT is what makes policing the soring so hard. But really, I doubt it is needed in such copious amounts for legitimate reasons.

I’m on record as wanting all the artificiality removed from the TWH show rings and grounds-- that includes those stupid fake looking tail caps, switches and braces as well as the stacks of pads, heavy shoes hoofbands AND ALL action devices.

If the other breeds’ owners’ want to festoon their horses with hair from other DEAD horses- fine- then they can look as foolish and fake as the Big Lick TWHs do now.

You do know that the “hair goods” sold at these shops have taken from horses that have been sent to slaughter- don’t you? Sometimes, the dealers go ahead and cut the hair from their slaughter-bound horses and sell it themselves-- sometimes it is “harvested” at the slaughterhouses along with their hides-- and, of course, their meat. Just another FYI.

[sunridge1]

bayou_bengal you are killing me…:lol::lol:

[nashfad]

The Celebration has been a big deal financially for the local folks. Some locals actually have long standing contracts with some of the exhibitors to rent out their entire homes during the celebration. They move in with relatives or go on vacation. The locals also park cars in their yards to make a few extra dollars. And the food sales, etc. And many organizations, Boy Scouts, Kawaians Club, Rotary Club, the high school band, etc., run food stands at the show for the 10 days/nights as their main fundraisers for the year. The entire county has fed off the Celebration for yrs. and depended on it financially. Don’t know what’s going to happen now. I feel bad for them. It’s not like Bedford Co is one of the top financially stable counties in the state. I’m just saying.

For the record: I do not support the soring or abuse of any horse/animal.