TWH abuse

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Bruce Weary

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May 17, 2012, 1:53:36 PM5/17/12
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  I have ridden TWH's almost exclusively in endurance for the last eight years or so. I have owned several, and
the one thing they have all had in common is a kind heart and the absolute inability to ever harm a human being.
What I hope for Jackie McConnell (and others like him) is a lengthy prison sentence, with a 300 lb inmate "girl friend"
named Bubba, who can make endless overtures to him while "Dueling Banjos" plays in the background.


   Yeah. I'd be okay with that.         Bruce Weary
 

Linda Hedgpeth

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May 17, 2012, 2:21:57 PM5/17/12
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Yeah, I’d be ok with it too. 
 
After having worked with inmates for 21 years, I can say that a lot of them won’t take
kindly to an animal torturer......and they WILL find out what he did.   A lot of them are desperate for an animal to love.
I have seen them adopt spiders, lizards, baby birds fallen from the nest, etc....and they love them and take wonderful care of them.
 
Yes, sir....karma will find Mr. McConnell in the big house.
 
Linda Hedgpeth
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Patricia Clark

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May 17, 2012, 3:02:55 PM5/17/12
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I agree with Bruce,
They are the kindest and most gentle creatures. I've rehabbed ex show horses and some of the pads we removed were torturous. Only the gentlest of souls could tolerate that kind of torture. We removed pads that had nail heads pressed against the soles of the hoof and we removed one set of pads that had a piece of metal, like half a golf ball wedged between the pad and hoof. They have so much heart and soul and that is why the sound TWH is proving itself a great endurance horse. It is just a shame they have to carry around the backward ideology of the show world.
 
Patricia

 

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Linda Hedgpeth

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May 17, 2012, 4:13:31 PM5/17/12
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You are so right.  I wish they could have shown the horrors of pressure shoeing in the ABC piece.  The metal items placed between the shoe pads and the hoof sole are as bad, if not worse than the chemical soring.
 
I hope there is a “special room” in hell for the people that do these things.
 
Linda
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mor...@morganreed.net

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May 17, 2012, 4:36:54 PM5/17/12
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these horses must be tough to put up with this crap. and gentle to never fight back.
Training methods: bleeding tongues and chins, from bits designed to pinch, curb chains designed to cut thru.. Twisted chain twitches on noses , tongues and ears. then the raw pasterns from chains and kerosene. Pressure shoeing. Metal bands tightened over the front of the hoof turns the tip of the coffin bone down,  like in founder. The whipping and the spurring. Oh yes, the cut tails: tendons underneath so they can bend it 180 degrees over that 'setting' device. And the cutting of the stifle ligament to help them drag back feet. Geez did I leave anything out?
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 12:02 PM
Subject: Re: [RC] TWH abuse

Stacey Campbell

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May 17, 2012, 5:18:58 PM5/17/12
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You forgot stewarding which includes beating with a baseball bat, burning with cigarettes, using a cattle prod, kicking, punching, putting wire in the mouth. Those are just a few of the things they've been caught doing.

The Walking Horse has a huge heart and is very forgiving. I can't imagine life without one. It breaks my heart knowing that so many suffer because of greed. I've had several BL supporters tell me endurance was cruel, what a joke. They will deny to their last breath that what they do is wrong. Until the owners are prosecuted along with the trainers and everyone involved is banned for life from the show ring, I'm afraid the torture will continue.

Stacey Campbell
Avon Independent Sales Representative
(281)756-7079
www.youravon.com/alvinstaceycampbell
Alvin, TX

Sandy Adams

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May 17, 2012, 5:35:27 PM5/17/12
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I so wish we could do to those people what they do to their horses
Sandy Adams
Deep Sands Arabians










Truman Prevatt

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May 17, 2012, 5:53:13 PM5/17/12
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Back in the late '80 when I got my beloved mare, I heard that her mother was still around.  She (the mother) was a rare bird - a palomino walking horse.  So I had some interest in finding her.  I did and I was able to save her from the killers by paying the owner 250 bucks (the killers offered him 200 bucks).  When I got her she was a mental train wreck.  I do not want to know some of the abuses she went through and I know there were many since I found out some of the people that owned her but could not handle her.  She was a spit fire.  

I threw her in the pasture for a year and didn't do anything but feed and groom her.  I got some weight back on her and one day I decided to try to ride her.  She hated the bit.  She would throw her head up in the air to avoid it.  When I looked closer I found her tongue had been severed about 1/3 of the way across where the bit went.  Then I see serious bruising on her bars where he bit sit.  The bars were black. I then found out that the "good old boys" probably used bicycle attached to long shanks ( we are talking 8 to 12 inch variety)  to "set their head" which was and probably still is common practice.  

I searched for a bit and found a "happy mount" bit.  I tried it and she relaxed.  I started riding her - a little at a time.  If she wanted to go fast - we went fast.  If she wanted to just meander around the neighborhood and munch on grass - that is what we did.  She loved to go fast and I expect that was where most of her problems arose.  After a year of slowly bring her back - she was a relaxed easy going horse.  She was 17 when she did her first endurance ride.  My mare was with foal and I decided to try her.  She loved it because she loved to go.  Then after the mare got back, my wife rode Stormy.  Stormy was a hoot.  She loved to go but she wanted to make sure your were with her.  If you started to fall off, she would move over under you - you were not going to miss out on the fun.  I've seen my wife both in tears and a smile on her face after a few times the mare and Stormy decided to "race"  and those two girls loved to race one another.  Of course I got blamed because that is what husbands do - get blamed.  

Anyway.  Stormy did endurance and CTR until she was about 20 and an old injury started to bug her.  But we still rode her and she was a happy horse.  This horse truly loved to go our for a ride.  My only hope is we gave her a good enough life in the last years to make up for the the 15 years of abuse prior. I still makes me angry every time I think about looking closely at her tongue and seeing the damage.  How could anyone do that to a horse.  Who ever did that deserves the Bruce Weary treatment and if they survive that have all their toes chopped off with an ax and be forced to run a marathon with people following them in a cart whipping their sorry butts to keep them going and if they survived that shot.

 Truman

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mor...@morganreed.net

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May 17, 2012, 5:56:15 PM5/17/12
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Ugh!. "Stewarding" yup. ya and the beating with a garden hose because it doesnt leave any marks. Bicycle chain gag bits, thats a nice one.
Instead of boycotting the TWHBEA, if we were all to join it and voice our opinions and become active members on the board of directors and other vocal activities, we could work from within and change the system. They had their chance to change the organization when they almost went bankrupt, but sound-horse supporters left in droves and only the performance horse money making group was left. I am a TWHBEA member. Always will be.(when I can afford to eat also that is.).
Be vocal, work from within the system. Enforce the HPA , laws that are in place now. 
 
----- Original Message -----

Keith W. Kibler

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May 17, 2012, 8:27:45 PM5/17/12
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Like you Morgan, I still belong to TWHBEA as well as to FOSH and am proud to use twhs in endurance. TWHBEA has sponsored 3 awards for endurance the last two years and is doing so again this year.  I hate the thought of someone hurting one of these fine horses.  That being said, I also am cranked at people who yell about horse abuse then treat one of these horses as a pet dog, stall it up and feed it to death.  Don't really see how either of those are different. It is all horse abuse.
  So, my wife and I choose to try and change things and attitudes from being involved with more than one organization and proving what these horses are capable of. I submit stuff to Twhbea, write for Fosh and speak at Fosh. Meanwhile, 
  To finish is to win, and see you at the finish line.
Keith

Kathy Sherman

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May 20, 2012, 5:45:12 PM5/20/12
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It made me sick to see those horses punished, hit and prodded, as they
struggled in pain to even stand up. For anyone wishing to sign a
petition regarding this type of abuse, go to:
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-u-s-senate-stop-the-abuse-of-tennessee-walking-horses

A letter will be sent to:
The U.S. Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives
The Governor of TN
Executive Director, Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors'
Association (Ron Thomas)
Director of Office Operations, Tennessee Walking Horse National
Celebration (Connie Allen)

I know online petitions may not do any good, OTOH, it surely won't do
any harm to ask for stricter regulations and for those regulations to
be enforced to try to protect these horses.

BTW, if you want to see a young girl on a flat shod horse compete
against the big lick horses at the world championship, watch this:
http://www.walkinonranch.com/celebrationrides.html Of course the
outcome is predictable, still, it was a nice to see what these horses
can do without the stacked shoes and pain method of training.

The show starts at about 5:30 min into the video. It's interesting how
the judges move in close and seem to touch the flat shod horse during
the inspection part of the show, yet stay back from the big lick
horses. And can anyone tell me why during the "reverse your horses"
the big lick horses spent a lot of time stopped on the rail? Did the
teenage rider make a mistake there when she reversed and kept moving
or is there a problem reversing with the stacked shoes? Just curious
about all this.

Kathy

Kathy

Katy Vernon

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May 20, 2012, 10:28:52 PM5/20/12
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I have been to a lot of these shows and more laws will not stop these people.  They are oblivious to the pain and agony these horses go through.  Many of them have said to my face that they wouldn't hurt their horse and how much they love them!  They need the change in the pocket book.  They honestly believe that this doesn't hurt them because it is only for a few minutes.  I have seen 2 YEAR OLDs with scars!!  I saw 10 yr old boys learning this and BAWLING because their horse was found to be sore and couldn't be shown. 
HSUS is a pretty worthless organization for stopping this abuse.  THey only make their obligatory statements when it suits them so I am pretty surprised that someone actually filmed something.  It was a very dangerous thing to do (I don't know how they could stand there and not do anything, however!) 

The TWH abusers are dangerous people.  THey have slashed tires on the vehicles driven by the USDA personnel.  They threaten them and yell at them and try to prevent them from doing their job.  They drove one of the HP coordinators from his position by threatening his wife, calling their home many times after midnight to harass them and other things to numerous to mention. 
How do we stop the abusers of any breed/animal organization? TAKE AWAY THE MONEY!!!  Meanwhile, maybe protestors should go to shows and film and live feed things seen and get the publicity out there.  Many small shows are held to raise money for band uniforms, Chamber of Commerce, etc.  Maybe they will find another way to raise money. 
My 2 cents worth!

Buddy

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May 20, 2012, 10:39:43 PM5/20/12
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When GOD made man all he had left was spare parts. And we are not
perfect. So our animals that depend on us for care and SAFETY but the
two legged human animal has no clue as to what good care and safety is
all about.
> On Sun, May 20, 2012 at 4:45 PM, Kathy Sherman <shermanj...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > It made me sick to see those horses punished, hit and prodded, as they
> > struggled in pain to even stand up. For anyone wishing to sign a
> > petition regarding this type of abuse, go to:
>
> >http://www.change.org/petitions/the-u-s-senate-stop-the-abuse-of-tenn...
> > ridec...@endurance.net
>
> > To post to this group, send email to ridec...@endurance.net
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to:
> > ridecamp+unsubscr...@endurance.net

D'Arcy L. Demianoff-Thompson

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May 21, 2012, 12:21:07 AM5/21/12
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I absolutely agree the only way that will affect change is to imply economic sanctions!

Sent from my iPhone

D'Arcy L. Demianoff-Thompson

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May 21, 2012, 12:24:28 AM5/21/12
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Thank you, Kathy, for initiating this petition. This abuse, along with all other abuse, must be stopped!

Sent from my iPhone

Kathy Sherman

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May 21, 2012, 12:24:01 PM5/21/12
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Well, I didn't "initiate" the petition, just signed it and shared it
with ridecamp (:>) I do hope it gets hundreds of thousands of
signatures though.

Kathy

On May 20, 9:24 pm, "D'Arcy L. Demianoff-Thompson"
<cest.mon.vir...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you, Kathy, for initiating this petition.  This abuse, along with all other abuse,  must be stopped!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 20, 2012, at 2:45 PM, Kathy Sherman <shermanj...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > It made me sick to see those horses punished, hit and prodded, as they
> > struggled in pain to even stand up. For anyone wishing to sign a
> > petition regarding this type of abuse, go to:
> >http://www.change.org/petitions/the-u-s-senate-stop-the-abuse-of-tenn...
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to ridec...@endurance.net
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mor...@morganreed.net

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May 21, 2012, 1:59:03 PM5/21/12
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seems to me the only way to stop it would be to make the performance horse
illegal (the horses with stacks and chains) TWHBEA says they are not
responsible, yet they take most of their money from those people as
memberships and as advertisements in the Voice.
Stacks, bands and chains is SORING. period. These things destroy tissue in
the foreleg; thats why it 'works'. Chemicals is the tiniest part of the
problem and has largely stopped, that is part of their prevarication.
This would put the TWHBEA out of business and they would have to build up
again as a pleasure horse breed. Sick people often cannot do what is right,
even if it means going to jail.

Kathy Sherman

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May 21, 2012, 3:05:32 PM5/21/12
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I got an answer to my question about the horses with stacked shoes
standing at the rail so long when asked to reverse. Just in case
anyone else is interested here it is:

"Anyway it said that the horses are so winded after hauling themselves
around like that, that they stop on the rail to let them blow. And
even when the announcer calls for them to turn around they stay there
and wait as long as possible until the horse will be willing to go
again."

Maybe someone else has a different explanation?

Kathy

D'Arcy L. Demianoff-Thompson

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May 21, 2012, 3:09:19 PM5/21/12
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I am curious , Morgan, have you ever trained a horse? If you have trained do you have references?

Sent from my iPhone

mor...@morganreed.net

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May 21, 2012, 3:25:59 PM5/21/12
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ya, I take a few clients each year. I have references , sure. Arabs, TW,
little of everything. Riding/training Tw over 40 years. You can email me
privately if you like.

Dolores Arste

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May 21, 2012, 3:38:12 PM5/21/12
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I don't know how anyone can watch the stacked horses against that
pretty champagne one and like the exaggerated movement of the stacked
horses. That flat shod happy horse was so cute. I used a walking horse
to pace my Morgan when we were training for our 1st 100. Mine walked
like a snail but he sure did want to keep up with that TWH who could
really walk on. That TWH too his previous owner to school about 500
miles away. I'm told they walked along the road the whole way. Very
cool horse. I love the breed.

Warmly,
Dolores

Daniela Desilets

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May 21, 2012, 4:26:38 PM5/21/12
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I agree!  He looked happy, relaxed, and like he could go all day comfortably.  Not only was he flat shod but he wasn't ridden in those long shanks either.  Sure, not as "flashy" looking but a HECK of a lot more realistic and reasonable.  The young lady rode well.  I thought the original idea behind the TWH was to have a comfortable horse that one could ride all day - the only one I saw that could do any such thing was the champagne one that sadly got no recognition at that show.  There is a whole lot of wasted energy in that exaggerated movement, let alone the abusive training involved.
 
 
> Date: Mon, 21 May 2012 15:38:12 -0400

> Subject: Re: [RC] Re: TWH abuse

mor...@morganreed.net

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May 21, 2012, 4:30:14 PM5/21/12
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I love them too. all the way. As a child I helped chain/sore show horses at
a big TW show barn. I didnt know what it was but I quit at 15 because I knew
it was just plain wrong.
If you want to see more about me or pleasure walking horses, read my small
book on Amazon. Link on front page of my business website.
www.morganreed.net
or
http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Heart-Gallops-Thee-ebook/dp/B007LTPZM6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337632097&sr=1-1

Jody Rogers-Buttram

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May 21, 2012, 4:39:27 PM5/21/12
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Go and watch these dressage videos of him.  I have been a follower of this horse for some time...he is really super special.
 
 
Jody

--- On Mon, 5/21/12, Daniela Desilets <danielade...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Carla Richardson

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May 21, 2012, 10:50:59 PM5/21/12
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The "flat shod" champagne stallion moved so nicely and if you noticed he was able to canter and wasn't stressed at all.  Pretty to watch.  But the crowd and judges weren't impressed with him at all and did you notice how the crowd wildly applauded the freaks after that?  The audience actually likes that horrible gait.

Those poor horses trying to canter, now that was an awful sight. 

Hard to understand the TW show crowd.  Unfortunately it is also a class in Arabian horse shows and they use the stacks too.  Ugh

Carla

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Keith W. Kibler

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May 21, 2012, 11:35:55 PM5/21/12
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I sure do hope you all understand that not everyone that has these fine horses has anything to do with abuse, pads, stacks or even showing for that matter. My wife diligently apply ourselves to developing these horses for endurance and are constantly amazed by how good they can be. They are almost uniformly good natured, sound, calm and a wonderful partner.  The idea that someone would abuse one of these horses to get it to do an unnatural gait for the purposes of money or fame makes me think of public stockades.   Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that all twh folks are like the horse abusers.
 
Keith and Sandy Kibler
Shawnee Sunrise Farm

Kathy Sherman

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May 22, 2012, 12:41:14 AM5/22/12
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I know which horse I'd rather ride around the plantation all day. How
in the heck did they ever stray so far from desirable pleasure riding
horses to this freakish froggy looking movement (:<( They sure don't
look comfortable to ride.

Kathy


On May 21, 7:50 pm, Carla Richardson <richardson.ca...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Maryben Stover

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May 22, 2012, 1:27:24 AM5/22/12
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And then there was my friend Kay.  She has a big bay TWH named Go Boy Sun's Mack.  His great grandfather was a celebration champion.  Anyway, she showed him in driving classes with an old doctor's buggy she bought.  She trained him to trot (oh the horror of it all).  She would just cluck to him and say Trot Mack and he would.  Yet she showed him in plantation classes and he won those doing his perfect TWH gait.  I even won some western state championship on him in a plantation class.  He was such a classy horse.

I still have a wool cooler I used for years at endurance rides that said Go Boy's Grey Boy on the side.


----  mb ----


Date: Mon, 21 May 2012 22:35:55 -0500
From: KWKi...@frontier.com
To: ride...@endurance.net

ride...@juno.com

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May 22, 2012, 7:47:05 AM5/22/12
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>>>>I sure do hope you all understand that not everyone that has these fine horses has anything to do with abuse
 
Can't imagine anyone considering those of you who ride them in a natural state "part of the problem". You guys are the cure!  I have an uncle from near Shelbyville who LOVES his Tennessee Walking Horses. His are just barefoot in the field and he treats them like his babies but he also LOVES the Celebration. He's in total denial. Chattanooga actually had a mounted police force for a while and they put one of their officers who was a "horseman" in charge. This numbskull was one of the "problem" TWH types. We had poor police horses patrolling on pavement all day in those stupid stacked shoes. They couldn't do crap if they'd actually tried to use them to go after somebody. I'd love to see the heavy weighted shoes and stacks made illegal. Don't even get me started on the people who do that to Arabs!
 
 
Angie, (who has seen these idiots riding horses down the trail in their ridiculous stacked shoes)


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Truman Prevatt

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May 22, 2012, 9:05:59 AM5/22/12
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Back in the old days before all this nonsense in the TWH show ring and before there was a celebration and when the TWH registry was a division of the Saddlebred (Saddlehorse at that time) registry, and the Tennessee State Fair in Nashville was the biggest show stage, Midnight Sun would was know to win the three gaited (walk, trot and canter) division saddle horse class and turn around and wind the TWH division class. 

Truman
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"Say what you will about the ten commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them."  H.L. Mencken

Katrina Mosshammer

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May 22, 2012, 9:14:44 AM5/22/12
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If you look on her site she tells the whole story (which was nearly a 3 year ordeal) and she says that one man actually handed out pamphlets to the crowd telling them to ignore her horse. I was flabbergasted when I read everything that they went through just to be able to show her horse. Crazy!
 
Katrina Mosshammer (AERC # 5763)

"Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only that the cat died nobly." - Arnold Edinborough

"A Tevis completion does not require a super horse with a super rider. It requires a well conditioned horse of almost any breed with a rider who has his/her head screwed on right and a big dream inside it." - Julie Suhr


 
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 9:50 PM
Subject: RE: [RC] Re: TWH abuse
 

The "flat shod" champagne stallion moved so nicely and if you noticed he was able to canter and wasn't stressed at all.  Pretty to watch.  But the crowd and judges weren't impressed with him at all and did you notice how the crowd wildly applauded the freaks after that?  The audience actually likes that horrible gait.

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