Salutation must be “Dear Judge Mattice”
I sent:
Dear Judge Mattice:
I am writing as a horse owner to you today to respectfully urge you to reject the plea deal for trainer Jackie McConnell. To allow this man to get away with his vile abuse of horses, will result in hundreds of more horses being abused by his hand and by the people he has trained to continue the history of soring.
Again and again, we as U.S. citizens watch as abusers of animals get slaps on the wrist, only to see the abuser return to the behavior time and again. We must speak for the animal that has no voice.
Thank you for your consideration.
Susan Elise Auten
Forever Free Farm
[QUOTE=Wiccangirl;6335751]
Saddlebreds are sometimes sored even though ASB will not admit it. They trot higher they just have to do it on both front feet. Pressure shoeing and driving nails into the quick…dirty little secret that they try to distance themselves from. The trainers are sick that abuse, but, even worse are the owners that allow this to happen.:no:[/QUOTE]
T, stop being such a troll.
You have been shunned time and time again for your constant lies and drama. Stop trying to stir the pot with your inane ramblings.
fixed up post 970 - thanks oliverreed and ChocoMare
Yes, we ALL know who she is. Troll/pot-stirrer…banned from so many boards…banned from this one…how many times now? Two? Three? Just keeps popping up with new names. Just a matter of time before she goes “poof” again.
>>>I’d like to see the story around this piece of legislation as a follow-up report on Nightline.<<<
I’d also like to see follow-up national media coverage at the Celebration (Aug. 22-Sept 1) which takes place “before” the sentencing of O’Connell: Interviews, coverage of performance classes, etc., could be quite revealing. It would turn up the heat on folks and make 'em jump around a bit–watching 'em prevaricate on national TV.
Re the Ford sponsorship, I posted earlier that the Ford trademark was removed from the TWHBEA/Celebration site right after the uproar over the video began. When I first went to the site it was there, a few days later it was gone. Either sponsorship was removed or the Celebration is protecting its sponsors. Continued hammering at Ford may not be as effective now as writing to the judge, legislators, and media.
Seen on the Celebration sponsor page: “…action packed and heated competition.” No kidding “heated” (like “hot legs,” per chance?).
Thanks for that greygirls i also noticed the Ford loge go poof from the Celebration site, but wondered if they were still sponsoring. The latest correspondence that GGR got indicates they are not sponsoring this year. They maybe should have said they had been but pulled sponsorship. Anyway GGR’s letter is way different than mine from several days ago that basically said that Ford’s hands were tied in that the mid-south dealers could do as they chose but Ford corporate was not sponsoring.
Big change of stance ! WooHoo
And you nailed it greygirls saying: “Continued hammering at Ford may not be as effective now as writing to the judge, legislators, and media.”
The way it went down, even if sponsorship was truly dropped was not as forthright as the action that Pepsi took. I thanked Pepsi but am hesitant to thank Ford for (being forced into) doing what is right.
Couple of points"
Be careful that all horse owners and breeders in Tennessee are not painted with the same brush. There are many breeders of many breeds who would never think of dragging a horse behind a truck, stabbing it or skinning it alive.
In the laws, I noticed no burning objects to be applied to livestock. This does make sense BUT…do they not brand cattle in Tennessee?
[QUOTE=Fairfax;6336652]
Couple of points"
Be careful that all horse owners and breeders in Tennessee are not painted with the same brush. There are many breeders of many breeds who would never think of dragging a horse behind a truck, stabbing it or skinning it alive.In the laws, I noticed no burning objects to be applied to livestock. This does make sense BUT…do they not brand cattle in Tennessee?[/QUOTE]
Uh shouldnt that be all instead of many? Merely my coth ite opinion.
[QUOTE=Rudy;6335609]
A tail set is the harness like rigging on to which a tail brace or bustle is hooked. The tail brace is a metal cradle which has generally been heavily padded by the user(each horse has a different preference on padding). A bustle is a oversized padded leather crupper. The tail brace holds the tail in an elevated position. A horse which competes in a braced tail division (TWH performance divisions, saddle bred 3-gaited/5-gaited) generally will wear one.
The high set tail for the brace is achieved in one of two ways. 1) A ligament on each side of the underside of the tail is cut, the tail is wrapped, put in to the brace, and heals. Or 2) The horse has it’s tail stretched by hand gradually over time. The horse wears a small leather bustle on the set instead of the brace and every day the tail is raised by hand to stretch the muscle. Gradually a larger bustle is added and the process continues until the horse is limber enough to wear the brace and even the height of it can be altered.
I prefer method two, but as with some people that cannot ever perform the splits, some tails will never be limber enough to handle a brace with simple stretching.
A common misconception about the tail set it that horses must wear them 24/7/365 and this is generally simply not the case. During the off season, a horse will generally not wear the brace unless for some reason their tail likes to tighten back up quickly which isn’t too common. During the show season the tail set is wore while stalled. It is taken off for a few hours every day, and is removed when the horse is being worked or let out for turnout.
How long before a first show of the season a horse starts to wear the set is also a very individual thing. Some horses take awhile to get back in to a set while others you can start putting them in a set a week or two before a show.
Other common misconceptions about tail sets it the tail is broken to achieve it. The break in the tail is the arch formed in the tail while it is up. The tail is never broken. Some say thebhorse cannot use it’s tail after it has been in a set. While a horse does have limited range of motion while wearing the brace due to how it is shaped, they have full use of the tail while wearing a bustle or while the set is removed.
A braced tail will go back to normal or near normal once use of the brace is stopped.[/QUOTE]
And all totally unnescessary for the welfare of the horse and only a whim of fashion. I have seen some that have never “gone back to normal or near normal” and alway fall to one side.
And to the other poster, I too, have never seen a Saddlebred sored, as said, it wouldn’t work. The TWH has a naturally head bob so a lot can be hidden with that breed that would work with others.
[QUOTE=Rudy;6335609]
The high set tail for the brace is achieved in one of two ways. 1) A ligament on each side of the underside of the tail is cut, the tail is wrapped, put in to the brace, and heals. Or 2) The horse has it’s tail stretched by hand gradually over time. The horse wears a small leather bustle on the set instead of the brace and every day the tail is raised by hand to stretch the muscle. Gradually a larger bustle is added and the process continues until the horse is limber enough to wear the brace and even the height of it can be altered.[/QUOTE]
Here nor there, it looks un-natural, and some-what painful. Nuff said.
Arabian Shoeing Regs (AR103 in the USEF rulebook):
Horses less than two years of age must be shown barefoot. Horses two years of age may be shown with a shoe in accordance with AR103.2. However, the use of a pad(s) of any type or configuration between hoof and shoe is strictly prohibited.
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Any machine made shoe (keg), or handmade shoe made of magnetic steel, mild steel, aluminum, rubber or other non-metallic shoe is allowed. No part of the shoe may exceed the dimensions of 3/8 inch thick by 1 1/8 inches wide (nail heads and/or toe clips are not considered when measuring the shoe). Aluminum, rubber or other non-metallic shoes are exempt from the dimension requirements. The shoe may be of any type and configuration except in the case of a bar shoe, the bar may not extend below the ground surface of the shoe. If a shoe band is used, it may be attached to the shoe, or the pad if present.
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Maximum length of toe is 4 1/2” for purebred Arabians. Maximum length of toe is 5” for Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians.
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The use of pad(s) (either full or partial, including rim) made of leather or plastic, is allowed as long as the overall length of toe measurement (See GR510) does not exceed the maximum toe length of 4 1/2” for purebred Arabians or 5” for Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians. The introduction of a foreign material within the pad, between the pad and shoe or between the pad and hoof (other than accepted packing material such as oakum, pine tar, silicone, foam rubber, etc.) designed to add additional weight or enhance action is strictly prohibited. Material with anti-concussive qualities (such as rubber, silicone, latex, etc.) may be used between the pad and hoof for additional support, provided such material does not extend beyond the inner rim (edge) of the shoe.
Just for reerence, the ASB shoe in my above post is from this horse:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1345396188897.2050467.1051037955&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=1783837589658&set=a.1345396188897.2050467.1051037955&type=3&theater
The Morgan shoe is from this horse (last year showing English Pleasure)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1332820874522.2049132.1051037955&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=1855858230129&set=a.1332820874522.2049132.1051037955&type=3&theater
The horses must move fluidly, boldly and happily. Not unhappy and labored like the big lick horses.
ASBs and Morgans are NOT big lick. The talent has to be there, the shoe, pads and weight just aid in the cadence and timing more than anything. Trying to create motion with weights and pads makes the horse look labored.
I have a 17.1 hand ASB in for training that we jokingly call “The Elephant” because he pounds the ground at the trot. He has a right front that wings out…a lot. It throws his timing off as that foot takes longer to travel than his left front does, so he slams it down.
I can’t tell you how many shoeing changes, experiments, resets, weights, etc. we have been through just to try to get his timing evened out. We had to speed up his hind end, slow down the left front, speed up the right front, deal with uneven angles up front. We have tried various pad/leather configurations, various lead weights to try to minimize the winging.
Like most padded ASBs out there, he has shock absorbing gel between the pad and hoof that we pay quite a bit for to ensure that our horses feet are kept healthy and pain-free.
If a horse pulls up lame, one of the first things we will do is pull the shoe to make sure none of the nails are “close” nails. We do NOT drive nails into the bottom of the hoof and our Wiccan poster knows this.
We know who the Wiccan poster is. She and her sister own an ASB that has shown in Show Pleasure and Country Pleasure, she recently boarded and rode with a very successful trainer that I routinely do business with and I know this trainer does not conduct herself unethically or do any such things.
Freeze branding is pretty popular around here so it may be a way of getting around that rule in TN.
Amwrider - thank for post 966 which shows what pads look like and what TWH mountain of heavy crap pads look like.
[QUOTE=WalkInTheWoods;6336719]
Amwrider - thank for post 966 which shows what pads look like and what TWH mountain of heavy crap pads look like.[/QUOTE]
Ditto.
[QUOTE=Renae;6335970]
And this is why this “technique” works only on a horse that is only shown at a 4 beat gait and not a horse who is shown at the trot.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. The TWH who is sored in front simply throws even more weight onto his hind end. A trotting horse can’t do that.
[QUOTE=hurleycane;6336484]
We need to seiously send real horseman over to TWHBEA and the like to set new standards - cause they are blind with ignorance.[/QUOTE]
That’s exactly my sentiment. The people at the top of the TWH industry - trainers, owners, and riders creating the Big Yuck - clearly have lost all touch with reality. It boggles my mind that any of this has been taken at face value for so long. I truthfully understand and have seen many of the abuses that take place in other disciplines, I do. But the abuses in the top TWH world are so egregious, and they seem to be right out there in the open (ie, Roy Exum’s column delineating the # of HPA violations in the HIO).
I guess that’s what is so scary to me - how did otherwise normal horsepeople begin to think ANY of the Big Yuck was desirable, much less ethical??
To Renae,
Regarding your comment about FEI rules and the inspections for little shows. Well on this side of the pond I AM governed by FEI rules in every class in the SJI. From ponies, to 80cm’s through international. So yeah I get it.
Terri
A tail set is the harness like rigging on to which a tail brace or bustle is hooked. The tail brace is a metal cradle which has generally been heavily padded by the user(each horse has a different preference on padding). A bustle is a oversized padded leather crupper. The tail brace holds the tail in an elevated position. A horse which competes in a braced tail division (TWH performance divisions, saddle bred 3-gaited/5-gaited) generally will wear one.
The high set tail for the brace is achieved in one of two ways. 1) A ligament on each side of the underside of the tail is cut, the tail is wrapped, put in to the brace, and heals. Or 2) The horse has it’s tail stretched by hand gradually over time. The horse wears a small leather bustle on the set instead of the brace and every day the tail is raised by hand to stretch the muscle. Gradually a larger bustle is added and the process continues until the horse is limber enough to wear the brace and even the height of it can be altered.
that is totally disgusting. The entire process must be very uncomfortable and unpleasant for a horse, and for what purpose?
Why would anyone do that?
if you want a horse to hold its tail up high, breed for it. We have breeds that naturally hold their tails up- arabs, anyone?
The bigger question is, why is it legal to show a horse with an artificially set tail?
