[Peppah<3]

It is midnight, I walk across a lonely field out in the vast countryside. The grass, even in the darkness of the night, looks bright green, as if someone has come around the field with green paint to make the field look more impressive. There are few trees or water sources in this field, it's just like something you'd plant crops on.

In the distance there are some twinkling lights, coming from a house. A large house at that, even from this distance I can see it has many storeys. I can also see the fainter lights coming from a large yard. Whoever owns this place must be rich.

I continue on through the field, not really sure what I'm doing here. Perhaps this is a dream, or an illusion. But, nonetheless, I continue, my feet brushing gently against the soft grass. I raise my head, blinking sleepily at the moonlight, and then I stop in my tracks.

In the slash of the moonlight, standing in front of me is a horse. I stand, taken in by it's beauty and magnificence. His head his held high, almost proudly, his coat is gleaming like copper. His eyes are large and wise, his mane flows in the soft breeze. The horse stands still, ears forward, watching me carefully. I stand still, not wanting to startle him, as he is so much taller and stronger than I.

When the horse appears to relax, I slowly walk towards him, aiming to just walk past him, not wanting to disturb him. As I get closer, I then notice the horse has his bridle on. The black leather is impeccably clean, and I'm sure if I came even closer to the horse I'd be able to see my reflection in it. But it's not the leather that caught my attention. In the mouth of the horse is the longest bit I have ever seen. It is attached tightly to the bridle, and I realise, with a jolt, the horse's mouth is open in a silent scream.

At that moment, reality begins to hit me. The horse's eyes aren't large from wiseness at all. They are large because of the insufferable pain the horse is feeling. I look down at the horse's feet, and he has huge platform-like objects nailed into his hooves, and above the platform-like object, called a 'pad' is a heavy chain, rubbing the horse's fetlock. (Ankle.)

The horse's head isn't high because he is proud, it is high because all he feels is pain. He feels pain in his feet, in his mouth and in his back. The pain is in his back because when a horse raises his head, he strains his back, and if there is a person on that back then it will definitely hurt the horse. I also notice the horse is standing very oddly. His hind legs are underneath him, close to his front hooves, in what must be to help put the weight off his painful front hooves.

The feeling of horror that fills me drives me forward, I carefully approach the horse, whose eyes have gone even larger, now with fear, as the only experiences he has ever had with humans is when they give him pain. I carefully lean down to his front hooves, and peer behind them. My worst suspicions are correct. The skin behind the area above the hoof is red raw, with no fur. An affect of Soring.

I straighten up, and look the horse in the eye, not even beginning to imagine the amount of pain this horse is feeling from just standing still. I feel some tears well up in my eyes,
"Why do you let them do this to you?" I ask the horse, my voice sad and angry. The horse simply stares back, his eyes slightly puzzled, as if wondering the same. Even though I asked the question, I know the answer. This horse is a Tennessee Walking Horse, these horses are known for their kind temperaments. Horses in general are very forgiving. So no matter how much someone would beat this horse to get him to look 'alert', no matter how many painful chemicals they inject into this horse's legs to make him raise his legs higher, this horse will always forgive these humans and will not question the reasoning behind all this pain.

The reason, of course, is money. This is how the people have such big houses and yards. They put their horse into so much pain, and when they show the horse the horse will lift his knees extremely high when he paces, and that will impress the judges. The beating will make the horse look more interested in humans as he watches them with his ears forward, almost anticipating being hit. All of this is to just earn some money, and it makes me sick to the stomach, knowing many horses have to go through this torture to win shows.

I walk away from the horse, the night no longer feeling peaceful, the grass no longer beautiful. The grass is green because the land owners wants this place to look impressive when people come to visit. It all leads back to money.

As I walk off into the night, I silently Mourne the miserable lives these Tennessee Walking Horses have.

--

As you may know, a normal horse has four 'gaits'. They are; walk, trot, canter and gallop. A Tennessee Walking Horse is a special breed of horse who has an extra gait. (I don't know what it is called, sorry, if someone could tell me that'd be great.) Because of this special gait, people do special shows for only Tennessee Walking Horses, and they have to show off that gait. The more expressive the gait is, the more chance you are likely to impress the judges and win.
Sometimes, a TWH is not born with natural expression, or perhaps the owners of that horse thinks the gait can be even more expressive. So, they nail 'pads' on the horse's hooves, which encourages the horse to lift his legs higher and they put chains around his fetlocks so that it rubs against the sensitive skin and again encourage the horse to be more 'expressive'. This exaggerated effect is called 'The Big Lick'.
To some people this is enough, but to others they want an extra 'edge' to that gait which would make them stand out. So, in order to get that extra edge, they inject irritant chemicals into the horse's foot, which causes a huge amount of pain around that area which would make the horse lift that foot up quicker, and cause a 'springy, energetic' step. This is Soring. Because the horse is lifting his knees up so high, the horse has to lift his head up, which, as I explained, causes tension in the back and will hurt the horse.
I am generally against metal bits in horse's mouths, but I know I am not being biased when I'm saying that shanks that long in the horse's mouth all but snaps the jaw in half. I can't even begin to imagine the pain of that. Try putting your fingers on the corners of your mouth and pull back. Painful? Imagine having a metal piece in your mouth, attached to a long shank which causes more 'leverage', which puts a lot of pressure on the tongue and mouth.
I think we've established that the horse is in A LOT of pain.

The Soring in TWH's is illegal, but it is still going on. Why? People are saying that the method of detecting these chemicals in the horse's legs are not good enough, and not detecting these chemicals. Others may say that the penalty of doing this is not severe enough, so people aren't bothered about it and carry on doing it. Either way, it is still going on.

In the video I am about to link here, it shows people beating a TWH with what looks like a bat. Why? They do this because it gives that horse the 'alert' look that the judges look for. If every human you've seen beats you with a bat, you wouldn't want to look away either!
If you are looking for more information on The Big Lick and Soring, then check out this informative website; http://www.hphoofcare.com/lick.html

The video I am about to link you is VERY graphic. Not in terms of blood and gore, but in terms of violence towards these animals. It is upsetting to watch, but it is very educational and does raise awareness to this issue.
-removed-

If you do not want to watch the video, that's okay. It is very upsetting. But, I'd like you to see this video (Not graphic) of a Tennessee Walking Horse, this horse has not had any Soring done to her, and the gaits you see her do are completely natural, nothing is 'enhanced' here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R202krkCxz0&feature=related

Now look at his video (Again, not graphic). This horse has 'pads' and is doing The Big Lick. I am not sure whether this horse is a victim of Soring or not, though it wouldn't surprise me at all if he is. Just look how high he raises that head, and look at the bit. This horse is in pain, and he is screaming it through his body language. This horse, to add on top of it all, is blinded by blinkers. Perhaps this is to hide the expression in his eyes. This is not natural at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mizTT4ZSf1Q&feature=related


Now tell me, which do you think is more 'prettier' to watch? Because to me, the first video of the natural Tennessee Walking Horse is much more pleasing to watch than the second.

--

Sorry about the drawing, I lost muse when doing this, but I had to continue, as I want this issue to be addressed and I want people to be aware of it.

Here is the reference: http://www.lareinaranchwalkers.com/LookWhosIncommand/LookerPics/BushLookerPic.jpg

[ᚻadou]

OK, so I cried watching those. That is disgusting. I can't even begin to imagine what the crap is wrong with those people... even just seeing the gait with out seeing how they get it is obvious abuse, how their back legs move like that, the canter was absolutely horrible to watch. I would like smack all of those people multiple times... horrible horrible people.

[Peppah<3]

Agreed, all this cruelty is just for a few ribbons and money from a show. It just goes to show how low some people can go.

[ᚻadou]

Just... how can they stand to do that to them? I'd never be able to hurt a horse that kind and docile.

[emaimee]

discusting ( videos not image )
its horribal i would like to beat that man on the video with a bat, and so on

[Peppah<3]

You'd be surprised what people would do to animals when money and reputation is involved. None of the people in the investigation video cares about the horse, they only care about winning. It's really sad'

[Nimrod97]

Oh poor baby, I hate it when people do stupid crap to animals

[mawsoleum]

Well the first one is prettier, but I don't think the second one is in pain.
I've seen a horse in pain, his ears would be PINNED to his head. Not to mention he's probably stop doing what he's supposed to, horse will fluster and buck and the sort.


But I don't agree with harming them, of course.

[Peppah<3]

That horse is in pain, look at the bit, look at the chains and the pads. His head is right up because he is in pain. Their head's aren't naturally that high. Whenever a horse raises his head it's either because he is alert, tense or in pain. That horse is in pain.

[mawsoleum]

That horse is in pain, look at the bit, look at the chains and the pads. His head is right up because he is in pain. Their head's aren't naturally that high. Whenever a horse raises his head it's either because he is alert, tense or in pain. That horse is in pain.

It depends on the breed. My horse always has his neck up and his head held high, even when walking. I actually have to sponge on the reins to get him to drop it some. He's not in pain when he's doing this. My horse is a Saddlebred, another gaited breed.

If you're used to breeds like the Mustang, I'd see why the high head seems off. But a lot of gaited//hot blooded horse hold their heads high.