The Tennessee Walking Horse is a beautiful, wonderful tempered, ultra smooth breed of riding horse. His signature gait, the running walk, has been bred into him for over a hundred years. It is such a smooth ride that it gives the feel of gliding over water when you ride a good one. Absolutely no bounce!
Pictured here is a classic example of a beautiful and NATURALLY GAITED Tennessee Walking Horse. He's glorious to look at. A horse anyone would be proud to be seen on. Quite simply, he is stunning! Look at how nice the rider looks. He is totally relaxed. The horse is relaxed and gaiting freely. He has a happy, quiet look in his eye. His conformation is beautiuful and he looks to be the epitome of a pleasure horse. A horse anyone would love to have as a riding animal. His back is rounded and his overstride is very evident. He is graceful and full of style. His abundant action in the front is natural. He is not heavily padded. There are NO CHAINS!So why then, would a bunch of morons and lazy ass trainers/breeders want to change this wonderful and graceful breed of horse into what has become known as the horseshow world's biggest FREAK SHOW?? The BIG LICK Tennessee Walking Horse...WHAT A BAD JOKE!!
Take a look at the poor horse shown below. This is the monstrosity known as the BIG LICK show horse (Performance Horse in TWH lingo).
So let's analyze this picture. First of all the horse shown here looks to be in total pain and extremely agitated. Whenever you see the "reds" of a horses eye when he is performing it is a sure sign of pain or agitation. He is obviously stressed, his nostrils are flared and he is heavily lathered in sweat. Now I've seen these classes in the shows. They last all of about 10 minutes. There is no way in HELL that this horse should be sweating so profusely after just ten minutes of work. NO WAY!Next take a look at the MUTANT NINJA TURTLE that is trying to pass himself as a trainer/rider on the back of this poor horse. This has got to be the sorry-ass worst equitation I have ever seen. This guy looks like a tortoise trying to ride a horse. And what's with those hideous toes pointing down? Whatever happened to classic Saddleseat equitation? This is an abomination of a very classic style of riding.
Now let's direct our eyes away from the NINJA TURTLE and back to the poor horse. Why the HELL would anyone nail those monstrous blocks onto a horses front feet?? WHY?? Also, look how his poor heels have been sheared off and his toes grown out to what looks like an insanely long length and then BANDED onto the freaky blocks (Called 'Stacks') with a tight band of STEEL! One clip of his hind feet and he shears off the blocks and half of his front foot with it, most likely crippling him for life.
Wait it gets even better!! Not only is the poor horse being tortured this way in the name of the "Showring" but to add insult to injury, he's got heavy chains wrapped around his front pasterns that bang his already sore front legs with each and every step!
And now let's check out those cannon bones!! What's with all that damaged and curly hair on his legs? (Click on the picture for an enlarged close-up showing the follicular damage to this horses leg hair) They will tell you that the curly hair is from wrapping their front legs for support. Uh...HELLO..... I've had show horses all my life, and I too have wrapped most of their legs for support at shows, when being trailered, etc... and I have NEVER had one grow curly hair on their legs from being wrapped. NEVER! Ask any vet what causes the curly hair and they will tell you... damage to the hair follicles from APPLIED CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES. Now without mentioning anything in particular, I think you all can figure out what that means.
So what is the attraction here? I don't get it. The BIG LICK Tennessee Walking Show Horse is nothing more than a man made FREAK SHOW on four legs. There is nothing natural or humane about this horse.
So ask any BIG LICK trainer why they do this and they all say the exact same thing. "It enhances the gait and it does not hurt them."
You know what I say?? BULLSHIT!! The reason they pick their poor feet up so high is because they are IN EXCRUCIATING PAIN or are so artificially off balance because of their elevated front ends, they have no other choice than to pick their feet up higher than is natural or normal.
What they don't want to tell you is that high leg action can be bred for inherently and can be a natural way of going for many horses. Look at the Peruvian Paso below.
This is 100% NATURAL. This horse is BAREFOOT!! He has NO CHEMICALLY ALTERED HAIR GROWTH ON HIS LEGS. The reds of his eyes do not show. HE IS NOT LATHERED AND SOAKING WET WITH SWEAT. And gosh...lookie here... He has Beautiful flashy action. A gait that was bred into him, NOT artificially created. IT CAN BE DONE!!And guess what?? Their classes can last as long as an HOUR vs. 10 minutes for the BIG LICK FREAK SHOW.... Hello people!!! It's called CONDITIONING!! You actually have to RIDE your horses to get it.
However, to breed for this type of NATURALLY FLASHY and SMOOTH gait takes time, It takes patience and it takes years and years of selective breeding, something that most of the BIG LICK Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders don't want to take. Oh..no... why do it the hard way, that takes knowledge and time, Let's just torture them and get the results we want quicker.
You people and your relentless torture of these animals make me sick.
The best thing you people could do for your breed would be to follow the example of the Peruvian Paso Horse World. SHOW YOUR HORSES BAREFOOT or with a NORMAL SHOE and TRY JUDGING THEM ON THEIR INHERENT QUALITIES instead of their UGLY MAN MADE ONES!!
It doesn't say when the picture was taken, but if it was at the Celebration I can believe the horse dripping. It hits 105 plus in the arena, with 90% + humidity, and of course no one wants to stop the show for the benefit of the horse & rider. Hell, they had a farking thunderstorm with lightning next to the arena while there was a kids' class and they wouldn't stop the show!
ReplyDeleteBut it isn't always that nasty in the South. They can't always blame it on weather. Why the trainers hunch over is a mystery to everyone, and they all do it, even the pleasure riders. You'll see a few who don't but they are rare.
You'll also see some fantastically gaited horses working, clean, but the crowd wants that freak motion. Telling them it's cruel means nothing. They want extreme and don't care what it takes. Trying to reeducate them is a huge task. You can get trianers on board IF the money goes away, you can get owners on board IF they aren't starving for that $5 ribbon, but that screaming crowd is what people like to hear. They'll pair up horses and "race" to the infield and the crowd goes insane. The judges try to ignore it but they're human.
It's also sick the way the crowd treats the pleasure horses. They boo and some do their best to spook them. The ushers stop them when they can, but it gets bad sometimes.