Padded horses are abused to show. There are no good actors in the padded horse world. The whole thing is on par with dog fighting and cocktail fighting.
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They always are.
I think their concept is great but their messaging is generally wacky.
I remember the βbanning of horse events in Californiaβ craze. It was one county and mainly messaged to Rodeo specially (minus Barrel Racing). While I get the importance to fight it in even one county due to the domino effect, their messaging sent a lot of fear mongering and false truths around the entire equine community. And it didnβt work - the ban on Rodeo events still happened, unfortunately.
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The TWH big lick people are above and beyond what any other discipline has done. I have good friends with direct experience interacting with that world and from everything Iβve seen and heard there is no ethical way to do the Big Lick type horses. They absolutely earned their Act of Congress.
Iβd say further that the discipline has pushed out people who truly love this type of horse and enjoy them in their natural state into other venues and sometimes related breeds.
Just go watch a video of these horses βcantering.β The still pictures I had seen did not prepare me for watching big lick TWH in person.
The horses themselves are lovely, and as one of my friends put it, the fact that you donβt hear of more people hurt or killed by Tennessee Walking Horses is a testament to their amazing forgiving temperaments.
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He whines in the podcast about having to present horses for inspection unsaddled for a while.
I know why that happened, OP.
Do you?
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All the attention given to big lick is deserved. Their practices are horrendous. Their backing by politicians is equally horrendous. In all sports, one rotten area can bring in retribution on all areas. We failed to police ourselves, so now, we get babysitters. Thatβs what happens. If you arenβt doing it wrong, you should welcome spot checks to ensure fair play.
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witequestrian on IG was a big lick rider as a young kid- obviously through no fault of her own but she feels tremendous guilt. From what I remember she had a falling out with her parents over their participation. She witnessed the abusive practices and in 2024 went back to the big TWH show (Celebration?) with someone from the humane society (and a bodyguard because the big lick people are nasty and violent) to see if anything had changed from when she was a kid. Unfortunately it had not. She took some video and it was heart breaking. She is doing a lot of work to try and ban the big lick practices but this is obviously an uphill battle as like @moonlitoaksranch said the practices are backed by the politicians.
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This x1000.
I am as furious with the owners as with the trainers. So many owners cry βbut I didnβt know!β Itβs your business to know, itβs YOUR horse. YOU are paying for this abuse and thatβs the only reason the trainers do it !!!
The owners have the power to stop it instantly. Stop placing their horses with Big Lick trainers. Stop paying. Stop participating in Big Lick. It ends on that day.
The owners have been alerted and warned and messaged for decades. But they βdidnβt knowβ.
The only reason these abuses ever happened in the first place, and the only reason the abuses continue, is so very simple: The owners pay the trainers that do it.
All credit to those owners who have stopped. Who are active against Big Lick and the abuses.
But overall β The βTWH loversβ have not protected TWH horses, overall. All credit to those who are trying. But overall β they did not. And too many still donβt. And the other breeds/channels that are also practicing these same abuses.
Shame shame shame on the lot of the Big Lick owners & trainers.
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Soring isnβt exclusive to padded horses, itβs just worse. Flat shod horses can endure the same abuses in pursuit of animation. Iβve seen it 1st hand.
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I showed flat-shod TWHβs for years. Only the really big shows had DQPs and even then, it was a quick process. Palpation of the coronary band/pastern area and inspection of the bit. Inspectors were always nice and willing to answer any questions (not vets). Inspectors are not required with this new rule and the government doesnβt have the resources or manpower or probably the desire to go out and spot check every show going on in the country. If youβre not abusing your horse, you really have nothing to worry about. My horses were inspected hundreds of times and I never had a problem.
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Well there more than one who believes just riding or working a horse is cruel.
That is before getting to the weight of the rider who in many cases would exceed recommended weight of no more than 20% of the horseβs body weight, the 20% includes the riderβs weight and tack (10% for those in UK)
So weighing the horse, and the rider with tack might be the next little thing that is enforced
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A bit of historical news to remind us of how the USDA tried to get updated regulations through in 2016, going through all the rulemaking and public comment, only to be blocked by Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander in the Senate successfully lobbying the Trump Administration to scrap them because USDA did not have them finalized by January 2017.
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wouldnβt that be a drama fest. Yes some people are too heavy for their horses but 10% is insane. Iβm 110lbs so me and a saddle is too heavy for my 15.1hh pinto of average build (who never had any issues passing a vet at baby level endurance - shockingly no sore back, lameness or exhaustion from carrying a horrific 13% of his body weight 15 miles)
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Are there any horse show managers that have notified APHIS of upcoming shows? Are horse show associations actually following this or just ignoring it?
I have not heard of any local events reporting anything, but I have not directly asked any local show manager much about it.
USEF handles notification for any licensed competition, including outreach. They tout this as a benefit of licensing shows .
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Just saw a video from Western Justice saying that every horse entering every show will have to be inspected and that fly spray will be banned. That is not anywhere near what the rules say but all of the Stock Horse people are sharing this video.
Who is behind this organization?
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Someone who likes membership fees.
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One person promoting them is saying every horse in wedges and pads will be banned from showing on TikTok. Even in those guidelines vet exemption is permitted so Iβm not sure where she was getting her info from but was point people to them.
I bet that is the same video I saw that Western Justice was promoting
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