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Google"We are three generations who have centered our families around horses and it breaks my heart to see the government doing this to our families," he said. "It's a sad change."
He pointed to a young woman with her horse, leaving the practice barn, where the inspections are held, in tears.
"There's a teenage girl who's had her heart broken," he said. "She works her own horse at home, makes no money off of it."
The teenager, who has no trailer of her own, had friendly neighbors, also showing, who gave her horse a ride to the show. It was a generous act that backfired. After designated qualified persons who were inspecting in the barns decided to get a closer look at the girl's horse, they then said they needed to look at all the horses in that trailer.
The owner of two of those horses, Holly Puckett, was not pleased.
"We took my daughter's horse up there. She's never, ever been turned down. Ever," she said. "The DQPs passed her. The vets passed her, The VMO (veterinary medical officer) said she moved (during the examination) so she turned her down. I never saw her move, but the VMO said she did."
Puckett said she decided then not to show the second horse.
"I'd had enough."
She put her daughters, including the 12-year-old who was supposed to ride that night, into the family vehicle and left to attend her son's out-of-town baseball game. But before she got there, she was called back. The DQPs were insisting on inspecting the second horse.
When Puckett first arrived, she was met, not only by Dr. Rachel Cezar, the horse protection coordinator for the USDA, and DQPs, but security officers, Celebration CEO Doyle Meadows, Celebration board chairman Charles McDonald, as well as a crowd of other owners and trainers.
At first, Puckett refused to have the second horse inspected.
"We'll take the horse back," she said. "I think it's being abusive, the way they're doing this. My daughter is up crying, She's scared to come back here.
"Why are you singling us out -- everyone in our trailer and no one else's? It's not fair."
"I think that's a good question,' said Meadows.
Previously, Benny Johnson, chairman of the show, told one group of owners that the teenager's horse was looked at because "there was plastic on its legs," but groom Lester Fulton said that wasn't true.
"They lied," he said. "They must think we're stupid, bringing a horse to the show with plastic on its feet."
Cezar said the DQPs and other inspectors look at the horses and consider them for closer inspection "when they look uncomfortable."
When her second horse was checked, said Puckett, "they X-rayed her and said everything was fine. Then they said there was an inflammation in one foot in the X-ray."
She then said she was "done."
"People are going to stop doing this," said Puckett. "I'm done. I'll never bring a horse back here."
Despite his worries about the current environment, Kilbern has hope for the industry.
"I think it will all work out," he said. "I'm an attorney and I can read -- they're way over-interpreting the law. They're enforcing things that don't exist. It's messing with a lot of trainers' livelihoods, but look around -- it's families, too."
Results from Friday's and Saturday's classes will be included in Tuesday's Times-Gazette.
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
lawsuit city!!!
I'm confused. I don't show horses and don't regularly attend but I have lived here for years.
I thought all this had been resolved. What is going on?
if you want to see Shelbyville's economy go further down the toilet...just let this continue.
Look around at all the shows that have been held just this year most had 4 and 5 horses per class where in previous years there was 15 and 16 per class.People in the horse industry are not stupid they are not going to risk losing their horses or paying these fees to trumped up charges.
If something does not change soon The Celebration will look like a Ghost Town Show.
Nobody in the horse industry says these horses should not be checked and most have no problems with the checks ... they just need to be checked fairly.
I have never been a fan of the horse show but this does sound ridiculous . . . it sounds like the government as usual has made something more complicated than it needs to be and made a situation worse than better. I dont believe in animal cruelty and if they are being treated as such then kick them out out but this sounds like the inspectors have another agenda or too many hands in one cookie jar.
stardust,
What has happened is there is a "Horse Abuse" action committee that has been mandated by the government to inspect horses that "look" like they are mistreated so they will perform their special walking...
There are so few of these occurrences though. But to secure their jobs, they trump up charges to get fines. Then there are "friends" of these inspectors whom have walking horses that get charges trumped up against competitors as well.
The Gazette didn't tell all the stories. Was there arrests of professionals who refused to sign agreements to do the USDA's bidding?..was the LT Governor here and secretly saw first hand what was going on. etc...come on lets spit it all out. There needs to be a lot of home videos going very public to show what the feds are doing..horses that are shaking flies off thier legs are suspected sore.
It is simple... Stop soring the darn horses. I've been around trainers and the horse industry all my life,... and SUPRISE!!... a horse doesen't throw his foot 4ft in the air when it is SOUND!!! Have you ever seen a "Natural" horse go strutting across the pasture with his feet even with his nose? Furthermore the trainers for the most part are very arrogant and that is what has fueled this whole fiasco. A great start to cleaning up this mess would be takeing the chains and buildups off of the horse "out of sight out of mind". But, they won't do that... Why you ask? Have you ever seen a natural horse throw his foot 4ft in the air without them???? Come on people, use that thing for something besides a hat rack. This has been a long time comming and the Celebration grounds better start having some killer concerts in the outdoor arena if it plans on staying a float!!!!
If the Govt would abide by the rules and not make them up as they go things would be fine. The fact is , they are upset that what they have been finding at the shows doesn't justify their bloated budgets and the millions they have spent to try and prove that the sensationalized accounts of abuse isn't as rampant as they would liked to have believed.
For instance, at the fun show. A horse passed 3 GOVT inspectors and the thermograph machine with flying colors. No "scars", no movement,NOTHING. They even commented on how perfect his feet looked. Then the one GOVT guy overseeing the other 3 told the trainer to pull the shoes. Wtth less than 2 classes to go the Govt wanted him to pull the shoes. There was no reason to pull the shoes. Had their been any stress in the foot the thermograph would have caught it. If the shoes were pulled the horse wouldnt have tome to be re-shod and shown. The owner refused to have the shoes pulled so they gave him a 2 foot scar rule violation that they had just earlier said didnt exist in retaliation.
This industry is being held hostage by the USDA thugs and their liberal, animal rights laced agenda. These horses are healthy,sound and looking better than they EVER have. When are we going to stand up to this harrasment? Are we going to allow the Liberals and their Govt strongarmed jackbooted thugs ruin the economy in Shelbyville and the Middle Tennessee area and the lives of thousands of other business owners who are dependant on the TWH industry or are we going to stand up to them and tell them to get the HELL OUT??
All the while, back in Washington, our compassionate President and Liberal Gov't mourned the death of a baby murdering multi millionaire who gloated about killing over 60,000 unborn children.
And we wonder why things are so skewed??
Leader_not_a_follwer. You said you have never seen a horse go across a pasture with it's feet 4 feet in the air.
Maybe that is true.
But I have never seen a horse run until it's legs flew into a thousand pieces, or it's heart explode, or one jump rails until their coffin bones fall thru the bottom of their hooves either.
I find it hard to believe that our Govt will spend MILLIONS harassing a industry that has a 97% compliancy rate under a VERY STRINGENT checking procedure yet they take a backseat at the race tracks where several thousand horses every year die, due to race/training related accidents.
First, the gov't isn't following the guidelines the same for everyone and that is wrong, there needs to be some resolve to this.
Second, on the other hand these trainers are supposed to be "proffesionals", they are getting hundreds and hundreds of dollars per horse per month to train these horses. Maybe the trainers need to stop being so greedy and do their job and train the horses. that means work them more than 5 min/day.
take a look of pictures of the TWH horse of the century, his teef are not touching their nose.
Nocturnal Jeff,
FYI, I believe Bush was your president that this took place... Blaming Obama on everything just shows you are a sore loser.
There is no need for any top of horse show,dog show,horse race,dog race, cock fight, bull fight or any unnatural or unnecessary in any civilized society.
Economic dependence notwithstanding, it provides no benefit to society and no enrichment of humanity.
There is no need for any top of horse show,dog show,horse race,dog race, cock fight, bull fight or any unnatural or unnecessary in any civilized society.
Economic dependence notwithstanding, it provides no benefit to society and no enrichment of humanity.
-- Posted by gottago on Sun, Jun 7, 2009, at 7:47 PM
The same could be said for Nascar, Football, Baseball, Soccer, Tennis and certainly Golf.
Dianatn,
I can't believe you just said that. There is hardly a comparison.
People CHOOSE to participate in sports. Each participant makes the decision to put his/her body through the necessary training that these activities demand. The horses/dogs/bulls do not.
Dianatn,
I'm inclined to agree with you about golf, though. lol
"Evil Monkey", Under Obama the USDA's budget has nearly doubled. Is there any wonder why the PETA, HSUS and other radical, ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORIST groups supported him?? People that support imprisoning someone for denying medical care to a dog but see nothing wrong with a woman partially delivering her child and then severing it's head while it tries to defend itself??
We live in a society where a human child isnt guaranteed the chance to experience life, but the quality of life of animals is enforced by a court of law.
The posts by the loonies, out of touch, mental midgets like gottago and others prove my point.
They put more worth in the life of a animal than they do that of a human.
The sad truth is most of these "abused" walking horses are taken better care of than most children.
gottago
I am not one to advocate animal cruelty but anyone who believes these Walking Horses are mistreated has got to be nuts. These horses are the livelihood of these people and worth thousands of dollars. Hurting these animals would be comparable to Jeff Gordon taking a baseball bat to his car, it would hurt him in the long run ... these are not circus animals who are left chained and unfed. These horses have a very full and rich life.
Say there is such a thing as reincarnation and when you die, God says "gottago, I am giving you a choice of going back to earth as a Tennessee Walking Horse or a plow horse. If you choose to be a Tennessee Walking Horse, you will work hard and be a beautiful animal, many people will adore you. You will live in air conditioned barns and eat only the best of gains" If you choose to be a plow horse, you will live at a old farm house in a barn that is hot in the summers and freezing cold in the winters. You will pull the plow thru your masters fields from sun up until sun down. Your meals will consist of whatever grass you can find and broken bales of hay in the winter" Which would you choose?
Diana darling, It is people like yourself that need to be educated on how most professionally trained show horses are really treated. I'm not not trying to defend or defeat to TWH industry but the truth is the truth. First of all, you can't train a horse to perform naturally by only riding them 15min a day, nor can you make them pick their hoofs more than a foot off the ground "naturally". If it wasn't for innocent citizens like yourself who "Belive" all of the smoke and mirrors, the TWH industry would have hit the bottom years ago. The whole problem is, most of the trainers are scum bags who are a few hundred IQ points from being a personal injury lawyer. If they had any concern for a horse, they wouldn't drive nails into the bottoms of their feet, or drive a golf ball between the corks on their shoes and make the horse stand on them all day long. This bruises the coffin bone and guess what... The horse wants to pick its feet up farther and further to releive the pain for as long a possible. The list goes on and on. Thought it was magic didn't you??? What kills me is everytime I look @ the T-G and they are glorifying this cruel industry. I'm not a a PETA activist, boy I love me a good steak! Just trying to alieveiate a little ignorance.
Careful, Nocturnal, who you call a mental midget. I, by no means, fit that bill and am certainly not out of touch. Your name calling 'liberal thug' and 'baby murdering millionaire' does nothing to enhance YOUR intellectual image, anyway. Also your right wing vitriol has no place here as this is not a political discussion.
We can all agree that these majestic animals are treated very well. But ultimately, that is not the point I attempt to illustrate.
The economic windfall of this show still does not prove that there is any benefit to it. The city's continued veneration of this dinasaur has impeded exploration of other possible sources of revenue(and even fame)and has left Shelbyville with the reputation as being non-progressive. Too many people in this area have become dependent on the walking horse industry. However such dependence has blinded folks to the reality that there are other viable, more progressive ways to create economic prosperity. New industry (during normal economic cycles), an increase in professional services, expanded educational programs can bring jobs and positive press to the city. Such effort is tough, is painful, and should have been 20 years ago.
leader_not_a_follower darlin it is people like you who think because a couple of cruel trainers years ago thought that they could make their work easier by hurting the hoofs of the horses that every trainer is a scumbag and mistreats their animals...that my friend is the furthest thing from the truth that I have ever heard in my entire life.
Horses can be trained to pick their feet up high without abuse..in fact it happens everyday. Horses have a natural fear of fire but yet many are trained to jump into rings of fire. Bears are trained to stand on rubber balls and dance a jig.. my dog has the natural instinct to be outside and hunt his food and do his business in the grass yet I have trained him to do his business on a pad inside and eat food from a bag gee he even barks on command and has never been mistreated one day in his life but I guess that is all natural instinct according to you. The next time I am in the Smoky Mountains I will be sure to look for those dancing bears along side the road.
I have found most animals are much smarter than "most" people and can be trained to do just about anything..which is more than I can say for some people.
Ph-leze do not come here and speak to me in a condescending tone when evidently you have no idea what you speak of..
And the idiots have spoken once again.
Gottago, It seems I hit your nail on the head. The fact is politics has EVERYTHING to do with this. COosidering my tax dollars are being given to the USDA thugs to harass and falsify charges against my friends, my horses, and my industry.
Let me guess, you support the legalized murder of children, but want to protect animals from anything you see as "discomfort".
You think a man who admitted to murdering over 60,000 children in an abortion clinic is a hero for human rights, but a Walking horse trainer is a menace to society and needs to have his life and livelihood stripped from him and criminal charges placed on them.
As long as MENATL midgets like yourself continue to rear their ugly heads and try and forces your radical agendas and bogus, propaganda and 1/2 truths down the throats of people I will be here exposing you folks for the borderline domestic terrorists you really are.
it is sad that a organization like the HSUS, that has been proven to be a radical organization that LIES to people and actually KILLS animals instead of helping them can somehow be carrying the banner for animals protection.
You folks are radical nutcases that need to move back to California with the rest of the Anti American and form your own country.
What is really scary is people think that the harassment by a Govt entity is acceptable.
The falsified charges, the intimidation, not being able to find anything on a horses foot, then 5 minutes later, after they have showed the horse that just passed with flying colors is now non-compliant and given a ticket.
Horses that dont pass on Thursday night passing on Friday night, etc, etc, etc.
This is all a sham. I know how it works and why it works. I work with the USDA on a daily basis with the company I work for. They will laugh and admit the TWH industry is the whipping boy for them.
This isnt about "animal rights" to them. it is just a way to test how far the American people will allow the Govt to push and shut down private business and livelihoods.
This is coming from the same Govt that wants to tax cow farts, the air WE exhale, force everyone to drive suped up lawn mowers, and is trying to make people pay taxes based on a lie called Global warming.
The inmates have escaped the asylum and are now running this country.
You know what's funny, Nocturnal? I am hardly a liberal,I am very American and a I am NOT making this about cruelty to animals.
Many of us who tend to dwell slightly to the right of center are, quite frankly, emabarrased by those like you who have hijacked the conservative viwpoint and who have made anyone with any hint of conservatism look like an uneducated idiot.
I do agree with you that government interference grows daily, and such interference is despicable. Again that was never the real point. I just feel that horse industry has outlived its usefulness and Shelbyville needs to wean itself off of the teat of a dying animal.
BTW, no one who posts here is an extreme radical liberal or a borderline terrorist, but if you hop over to the blog section you will find someone just as paranoid as you. Great friends you guys should become.
leader_not_a_follower, you appear to be either very misinformed or very ignorant of the true facts of the walking horse's natural ability. Everything you said is a joke. A quarter horse can get his feet a foot off the ground. I have personally raised and watched my walker lift his legs naturally high enough to impress the best with nothing more than good care and physical excercise. So many people are just misinformed by idiots that don't know what they are talking about. Years ago yes there was a problem, but in todays shows, there is very little to worry about. If you don't believe and understand, go to a show and watch, listen and ask your questions.
Jeff,
But Bush started it... So what if Obama doubled it. He didn't start it. Stop blaming Obama for this mess. A select few trainers abused the horses, so now all of the trainers must pay for the deeds of the few. Same with the dress code in the school system, because a few didn't abide, every student needs to dress like a fast food employee. Be fair about your assessments of the government.
Hold the people who check the horses accountable, document, record, video tape, whatever it takes to show how much crap the trainers go through.
There are and always will be a select group of trainers who are sneaky, dirty and underhanded. Most of us know who they are. I have personally stood and watched the inspection process, talked to the DQP and met the lovely Dr. Cesar. I have also seen the way the young lady who shows a natural gait horse, Champagne Watchout, is treated by her fellow trainers. I wonder if that duo ever gets turned down or cited.
Evil Monkey Said..."Hold the people who check the horses accountable, document, record, video tape, whatever it takes to show how much crap the trainers go through."
We ahve tried. The USDA rarely allows them to be filmed. Just last week, when they realized they were being recorded after saying a horse was compliant then turning around and saying it wasnt but not showing the proof of what they found, they ordered the cameras filming them to leave the premise.
The "What a Horse" TV show has some awesome examples of their harassment on tape and has posted them on their website for all to see.
As for my assessment of the Govt. it is m,ore than fair. I didn't see the animal rights nuts and domestic terrorists supporting the so called "conservative" party. What I have seen is the current President quadruple our national debt in less than 100 days and increase the budgets and give millions to the every groups that want to see our industry erased.
Gottago, If you are embarrassed my truthful posts and common sense take on this situation then you have just proven what a fake and a fraud you really are.
It seems you are offended by the truth.
We have a Govt that murders children and defends animals.
We have a Govt that incarcerates people that denies food and water to animals, but legalized the dehydration and starving of the elderly and ill in our hospitals.
My arguments and posts have EVERYTHING to do with what is wrong in this industry.
I think some of you missed the whole point of this story (including im_just_saying). A young girl and the back yard horse that she loves and would never ever do anything to hurt, who has probably never been in training with a trainer, gets rejected at a horse show by an overzealous employee of the US taxpayer,for no reason other than the poor horse was probably getting spooked from being handled by so many strangers. If this horse can be turned down, your Champagne Watchout has the same chance, for no other reason than he has feet more suitable for a plow horse.
I don't believe for one second that the people I personally know that are involved in the TWH industry have ever or would ever purposefully injure a horse to make it walk a certain way. I am not saying that there are not a few bad apples out there (there always is), but the horse people I know are in the business because they love horses and they love to show and train them.
My simple take on this situation? Please keep in mind that I have nothing to do with the walking horse industry, although I know many people that are. My take on this situation is that the inspectors are out of control.
I would like to know what type of qualifications the inspectors have to have their jobs regarding determining the condition of the animals.
Do the inspectors have experience in the horse training industry?
Just looking in from the outside, it appears to me that these "inspectors", are getting a little too control happy with the power that they have are their disposal. An inspector's job is quite simply to enforce code standards. It appears to me that the "codes" concerning these horses are based too much upon an inspector's opinion.
A horse is a dynamic animal that has a personality and is affected by the environment that it is in, just like people are.
A building inspector, for example cannot or should not go out on a job site and use his/her feelings or opinions during his inspection for construction.
Just my simple thoughts.
Brett the soon to be QB for Minnesota Vikings? What the heck am I thinking, omg.
Lara, you are correct. They were turning down spotted ponies owned by Amish folks that were being ran thru a sale in Kentucky last year because they had a "foreign substance" on their feet. That "foreign substance" was ...DRIED SOAP where they had washed their ponies before they ran them thru the sale.
Brett Favre, the inspectors are not all familiar with horses. I have seen some that didn't even know how to pick up or hold the horses foot top inspect them. One woman admitted she didn't know what a "scar" looked like, but before the night was over she had written several scar rule tickets.
The ones I have come to know rather well are on the verge of being radical animal rights nuts.
So the poor little girl learned a valuable lesson, hopefully. Life is often unfair and the government is corrupt. Her horse was turned down and sometimes you dont get picked for that ballteam or cheerleading squad. Is it newsworthy when this happens? I think not! Her family is no stranger to the nonsense of the industry. Why are they so shocked by these events?
Here is an idea for the USDA. Invest in a breathalizer and some drug screens for the exhibitors, and start handing out fines for that.
What an "intelligent"post by im_just_sayin, LOL!! It goes to show just how pathetic, sick, and lacking of rational, fact filled arguments the anti padded walking horse folks are.
Maybe you need some Champagne. Just chill and Watchout for those convicted "offenders" roaming the streets.
Being a former government employee, let me tell you about a certain subject. The Feds have awards, such as SSP and QSI, as much as companies do. And one gets them by doing their job above the standards for that position. So, being a VMO at a horse show is a bit like a traffic cop who has to meet a quota: the more tickets they give out the higher their rating.
And for some of the VMOs, their last job was probably inspecting chickens or other livestock as they don't have enough equine VMOs to cover the whole industry.
WOW!
Let me ask everyone one question... Everyone seems to have the same outlook, "This use to be a problem, but not anymore" My question is,... What has changed? My argument is: If the TWH industry has "Cleaned up", then why to the horses have the same "Gaits" or "Performance" that they have always had. So.... What has changed to keep the horse's perfomances consistent without the abuse or soring? I would like for some of you "intelligent" folks to just fill me in.
leader not follower the gait has changed on the compliant horse. They are not as cramped and a lot freeer going. Some people have posted some thing could come along and replace the horse shows well friend it took 70 years to build the celebration along with a great tax base. Shelbyville has several new resturants and stores here and you can bet your next years taxes they didn't come here for a Tarctor Pull. When the horse is gone and your taxes go up to replace the loss you remember where you stood in line I'm sure those who know you will.
Have winning horses been sored in the past? Have non winners been cornered into soring their horses to be able to compete? Probably yes to both. This should have been nipped in the bud a long time ago. I understand the need for outside interference, to get things back to basics. If trainers/owners fear they will get caught they will avoid soring the horses.
On the other hand it seems inspectors are unqualified and overbearing, leaving speculations of payola and show fixing. Shelbyville can not afford to lose this industry...period.
Hopefully soon, the Fed will move on to something more productive like getting rid of all the illegals in Shelbyville(Tax drain), and leave the Walking horse industry(Tax revenue) alone.
The world renowned Equine Veterinarian Group, "Rood and Riddle" from Lexington Kentucky http://www.roodandriddle.com/
went behind the USDA and checked horses that were turned down at some local padded shows over the last few weeks and come to the conclusion that the USDA is harassing and willfully making up charges of abuse and soring against many of the horses they have turned down.
Basically,they made the USDA look like the fools and liars they really are.
USDA sends letter wanting videoing of checking process banned.
http://www.twhnc.com/images/Letter%20to%...
What do they not want the public to see?? Their harassment, falsified charges of soring and "scars"?? If this abuse is so blatant and obvious why dont they want it seen and recorded??
Leader_not_a_follower said...." If the TWH industry has "Cleaned up", then why to the horses have the same "Gaits" or "Performance" that they have always had. So.... What has changed to keep the horse's perfomances consistent without the abuse or soring? I would like for some of you "intelligent" folks to just fill me in."
Well, you just proved you rarely , if ever, have attended a walking horse show or been around the industry for any period of time longer than it took to read a propaganda filled diatribe by one of the anti padded horse repetitive "sound horse" groups newsletters or websites.
Gone are the days of cramped up, crawl walking horses of the 70's and 80's. The horses move freely and have a more pacey gait than they did as recent as the late 80's and early 90's.
What has changed?? Better breeding, better quality of show horses where those who cannot afford a naturally talented horses can artificially enhance their horse to be able to compete with the "big boys".
The downside..... Not everyone can afford to compete leaving many folks left out of the industry.
If you are going to continue to read and believe the FOSH types and their 30 year old pics and videos than you will never see the truth and accept the facts.
Now the USDA is writing people up for "violations" for things they cite as legal in their own laws and rules.
People need to see this for what it is.....HARASSMENT!