Walking horses - tradition or cruelty?

Question

Of course many walkers are just family pets and are ridden for pleasure, but I am talking about the show horses. I have found out from talking to vets and ferriers about some of the "training methods" used on these guys. (of course this is only some) Their hooves are cut unnaturally and then huge pads are added keeping them from enjoying life outside the stall. Often medicines are injected on the legs to make them sore so the legs are lifted higher. Tails are broken and tendons are cut so the tail can be "set" high - making it useless for swatting flies. Straps are attached to the rectums to help them "squat" as they gait. I have even talked to ferriers who have witnessed golf balls and nails placed between the hoof and pad to cause pain so the legs come up quicker. Many a vet has told me of the walking fhorse barns that are filled with down, lame horses. These methods are very "hush-hush" but they are done.

Why do we allow this? Is it ignorance? Is it tradition? What?

Answer 1

I get really hot and completely out of sorts about this issue. Cruelty, hands down. People don't want to change and they don't care, that is the only reason this kind of jacked up showing goes on. If some claim it's tradition, then they should just call it exactly what it is: a tradition of cruelty.

ADD: They also use chains and acid to sore for higher leg action. :::Puke:::

Answer 2

It's cruelty, if you see this at a show report it to a judge or whoever is in charge and for some of the stuff you said they can get disqualified. I'm glad that you brought this up it's about time that someone had.

Answer 3

Whenever the concept of "win" is involved, and especially when it's tied in with anything to do with "money" or "business" or "profit", then sooner or later someone will find a way to cheat to beat the competition....then the next guy does it and the next, and the cheating gets more bizarre and cruel and before you know it you have a tradition of cruelty that people are actually willing to defend, because if they don't lie to themselves, they couldn't sleep at night.

Answer 4

Its a dirty little secret. Yes I have heard about it and have even seen some of the training methods before.

I have heard of them putting mustard oil on the feet to intentionally make them sore and step up more.

I think that some believe it is tradition, but when you think about walking horses, they are not one of the most purchased and bred horse breeds. I truely think that the bad rep they have when it comes to horse treatment when it comes to their breed shows contributes to it some.

That being said, I do know a local breeder who breds walkers for endurance and trail riding. She explained to me that proper and smooth gating is not what alot of the bred show people are doing, but rather they are going for looks and flash.

One can hope that the treatment of the walking horses has improved over time and that these methods are not in active use currently.

Answer 5

OMG i didn't know that that is so totally cruelty, poor things, i see why they do that but cant they find a different way?

Answer 6

This is the case in a lot of Walker shows and it's horrible. They're all driven by money and ambition and that's not how real people who really love their horses do things.  

Answer 7

Not all Walkers are treated this way, I have 5 and they're all naturally gaited and two are going to be shown English pleasure and one will compete in Dressage/Hunter Jumper.  I do, however, have two former performance show mares.  That is what you are talking about, is performance showing.

My older mare, Delite, has thick scar tissue on her hind legs and a few bald spots on her front.  She is scared of the farrier because she still connects the experience with pain.  If she sees any sort of chain, she spooks.  Her tail is broken.

My youngest mare, Harper, has had it the worst of any of mine.  She was shown in the padded shoes, which had marbles in them at one time, and golfballs with screws at another.  She has white spots and bald spots on her forelegs from kerosene and other concoctions to make her legs sensitive.  The day she came to my place was the first day in her life she was in a paddock.  She was born in a stall, and spent her life in a 10x10 space with pads on her feet.  Her face has scars on it, not from human cause, but from self destruction from boredom in her stall.  Because of this injury, there is no lip on her lower eyelids and they are always watering (vet says she'll be fine).  She is just now 'finding her feet' and still trips quite often, she is 6 years old and has had pads on since she was 2.  Her tail is also broken.  And she's a 2 year old High Point champion.  She shows an insane amount of potential as a dressage, hunter jumper, cart, and english pleasure horse.

Please, don't generalize us.  I have had so very many people assume that because I have Walkers, I torture them like some of their former owners.

I believe it's a tradition thing, and a money thing.  You can find a good natural gait Walker for under $1500, while a "bad" performance might be twice that.  This is where the money is, and until we stop funding it, it will continue.  The USDA is doing nothing to enforce the laws against it, so we as private citizens have to.

I love this breed, but as with any, it has a sector of people who abuse it's natural ability.  We aren't all like that.

Answer 8

In the past of the Tennessee Walking horse, there were a few horses with high and flashy NATURAL movement.  Folks were jealous, and wanted to duplicate the motion in their horses.  So, some trainers resorted to using chains, padded shoes, soring agents on their horses, so the pain would create higher action in their horses.

These days, the USDA is monitoring the show ring for TWH and other gaited breeds.  They have DQP (Designated Qualified Person) people who go to shows, and physically palpate the front legs/ankles of horses that are going into a show.  If they detect that a horse has been sored, they pull it from the show, and give a fine to the owner.  This has helped cut down on the number of horses being hurt, but it hasn't stopped it completely.  FOSH, Friends of Sound Horses, is an organization that works towards getting gaited folks to stay away from such harsh training methods.

I raise, train, ride & show gaited Rocky Mountain horses.  We have DQP's at our shows, but we don't have many incidences of soring at all.  I ride my horses very naturally...no harsh bits or funny shoes.  Once the rider learns how to help the horse gait, then other devices aren't necessary.  People need to ask their horses for what they are physically capable of doing in the show ring...not putting extra gear on them (or hurting them) so the horse is gaiting unnaturally.

Answer 9

When these horses are shown and the judge rewards the ribbons to the horses with the more exaggerated walks and those who pick their feet up higher and faster people will keep doing what ever it takes to win.

Makes me sick.

I would never harm a horse like that to win.

But then I think those "big l**k" horse look really strange when they walk like that. In their natural gait they are a joy to ride and they move so nice I am not sure why it is so popular to make it so much more extreme.