Horse abuse in America

[Twisterdog]

ETA: I did not know about soring before until fairly recently. Thought I would add a link about it that tells more about it: http://www.thegaitedhorse.com/morethansore2.htm

I'd like to add ...

I had NO idea this went on. OMG.

These people are just as bad as dog fighters. Is this not illegal?!?! Can these people not be prosecuted under animal cruelty statutes? I am hoping there is an especially hot place in the inner circle of hell for anyone who would do this to an animal.

[Vela]

It is against the law to sore horses. They send agents to as many shows as they can to check for it, but some still get away with it and some of the "inspectors" are dirty. Some still do it and/or get away with it.

The flat shod walkers are not sored, as they are trying to have a forward rolling gait, rather than a high stepping gait, but if you want to show a walker here in Utah you have to pay an extra fee to have your horse checked before entering the ring or you cannot show. They don't even show Big Lick walkers around here. It's disgusting and I look forward to a day when this does not happen anymore.

http://www.walkinonranch.com/CNN.html

This is a video link showing people soring horses or trying to cover it up. You can see the horses are obviously in pain.

[zippy-kat]

I told myself I wasn't going to post here as the original topic was lost in the continued debate about racing.... but here I am. Like Twisterdog, I had no idea about soring. But I've always been partial to QHs and Morgans and haven't really studied other breeds.

That HAS to be the worst canter ever! I don't like anything about it, including the posture of the riders. Lurch. Stop. Lurch. Stop. Weren't TWHs originally bred to cover lots of ground at a fast, smooth pace? That looks anything but smooth. Give me the sweet rocking-horse motion anyday.

Vela (and/or Jess), I'm not familiar with TWHs, are there ways to produce the big lick without harming the horse? Or is such a high step entirely man made? Someone once told me that once the headset was in place, the gait came natural to racking horses. Does that include the high step? (Is there a difference between racking and walking horses? One in the same isn't it?)

I had some other TWH horse questions but forgot them at the moment. If I remember I may post 'em in Pet General, so as not to hijack this thread.

[K9soul]

Vela can probably answer more knowledgeably, but I do not think any horse naturally gaits that way (the big lick gait). From what I understand, weights and chains are usually used to train them to walk that way but not everyone uses soring. A great many do though, and find ways to hide it from inspections. Their natural gait is just nothing like the "big lick" gaiting.

Here is a little clip of a walker foal gaiting from birth. It seems natural with them the way retrieving is often innate in retrievers from birth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HSkwF586ro

Racking I think is another type of gait a little different from flat-shod walkers but again that's not an area I'm as well educated in as Vela is.

[Alysser]

The thing that bothers me most is people who know NOTHING about something and say it's abuse, it's horrible, etc. It seems many people still listen to stupid organizations like PETA. Vela, I agree 100% with what you are saying and I always have. Like I've said in a different thread horses, or animals in general, can't be FORCED to do something they don't want to. I am sure there are types of cruel horseracing such as one in Texas or some other state where they run down a hill as fast as possible and topple over one another, and underground racing to. How can anybody compare dog fighting to horse-racing? Horses aren't forced to kill each other, they aren't treated poorly, there is NO comparison at all, not matter what anybody tells me. There were times when I would use the crop on my horse during horse back riding lessons. You are telling me lightly tapping a horse is abuse? It's a signal, it's not abuse.

[Twisterdog]

horses, or animals in general, can't be FORCED to do something they don't want to.

How can anybody compare dog fighting to horse-racing? Horses aren't forced to kill each other, they aren't treated poorly, there is NO comparison at all, not matter what anybody tells me.

Of course animals can be forced to do things they don't want to. So can people. Do you think the horses in those video clips want to trot around a ring with terribly sore hooves? Do you think the cart horses in cities in the past wanted to pull heavy loads every day of their lives on pavement until they literally dropped dead of exhaustion in harness? Do my dogs want to heel on a walk? No, they want to run amok and pee on everything. I force them to walk beside me. Do you think animals who are abused want to do unnatural, painful things? Do children who are sexually abused want to participate?

If you are referring to my post about dog fighting (and I don't know if you were or not), I said people who sore their horses are no better than dog fighters. I did not say horse racing is no better than dog fighting. It is ... but I said I doubted it was any better than dog racing - something I do know personally about.

[lizbud]

Of course animals can be forced to do things they don't want to. So can people. Do you think the horses in those video clips want to trot around a ring with terribly sore hooves? Do you think the cart horses in cities in the past wanted to pull heavy loads every day of their lives on pavement until they literally dropped dead of exhaustion in harness? Do my dogs want to heel on a walk? No, they want to run amok and pee on everything. I force them to walk beside me. Do you think animals who are abused want

Thank you for this intellegent post Twisterdog. I was about to post a
similar thought. Saying an animal can't be forced is not true. It's done
all the time.

[Vela]

That HAS to be the worst canter ever! I don't like anything about it, including the posture of the riders. Lurch. Stop. Lurch. Stop. Weren't TWHs originally bred to cover lots of ground at a fast, smooth pace? That looks anything but smooth. Give me the sweet rocking-horse motion anyday.

Vela (and/or Jess), I'm not familiar with TWHs, are there ways to produce the big lick without harming the horse? Or is such a high step entirely man made? Someone once told me that once the headset was in place, the gait came natural to racking horses. Does that include the high step? (Is there a difference between racking and walking horses? One in the same isn't it?)

I had some other TWH horse questions but forgot them at the moment. If I remember I may post 'em in Pet General, so as not to hijack this thread.

The Big Lick is not something that they do naturally. It is acehived with artifical aids, not necessairly soring, but the heavy leg weights and the chains. There are SOME horses who do naturally step higher than others but the Big Lick is completely artificial. I don't like the chains or the weights, i think to does permanent damage to the internal structures of the legs. They never used to walk like that on plantations, how would you get anywhere if they did? It's idiotic. I also don't like the posture of the riders. I prefer the natural gait, the forward rolling plantation walkers, and that's what I promote in my boy. As Jess showed, the come by that completely naturally.

Racking is basically a very fast gait. A TWH horse can sometimes be registered as a racking horse, but not all TWH can rack at speed and not all racking hores are TWH, some are saddlebreds, or a combinatio of the two. Jake does not do it. He can't maintain his rhythm at super high speeds, although as I get him in better shape he maintains it better and better. At one point they used standardbreds (harnes racers) to increase the speed of the gait. Here is a video link to a racking horse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DytqyLjJd0A

Racking horses do come by it naturally, they can't really do anything artifical to make that gait with speed. They either can or can't. I'd love to get a racking horse someday.

As far as quarter horses go, they have their fair share of collateral damage =/ They sometimes inject alcohol in the base of the tail to "kill it" so they can't move it anymore, because heaven forbid you don't want a western pleasure horse's tail to move in the show ring. They do nasty thing to them to get their heads low too, and have a nasty 4 beat canter (supposed to be 3 beats) that makes them look like they are lame.

[cassiesmom]

I read about a program similar to this in Reader's Digest. I wish there were more such programs, working with people that need skills and encouragement in their life.
http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.co...-in-Prison.php
My mom used to ride before she and my dad were married. I never got into it. I'd rather stay behind and pet the barn cats! I don't like to watch horse racing, but I like to see horses in fields and pastures.