2015 Walking Horse Celebration Begins Amid Accusations

The HSUS alleged that trainers and grooms at ThorSport Farm sored horses, but the farm owner disputed the claims.
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The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration got underway Aug. 26, a day after the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) alleged that trainers at a high-profile stable were applying soring methods to horses slated to compete in the event.

Soring is the deliberate injury to a horse’s feet and legs to achieve an exaggerated, high-stepping gait, and the Horse Protection Act of 1970 (HPA) prohibits the practice. The celebration is the Tennessee Walking Horse industry’s premier event and takes place annually in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

On Aug. 25, the HSUS unveiled their findings from an undercover investigation at ThorSport Farm in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The society alleged that trainers and grooms used soring methods to train horses, including He’s Vida Blue, The Golden Sovereign, and He’s Unleashed, all three of which were slated to compete in the 2015 celebration. The HSUS further alleged that 60 samples taken from the leg wraps of horses in training at the facility tested positive for caustic substances banned under the HPA. Finally, the organization alleged that a video depicts some horses in training at the barn uncomfortably standing or lying in their stalls after soring methods were applied.

In a written statement, ThorSport Farm owner Duke Thorson said the allegations are “broadly misleading and false.” His statement refuted HSUS’ video allegations, saying that one of the depicted horses was actually in cast and, therefore, in need of human help to stand, and the other was asleep, making “normal sounds that you would hear from a sleeping horse

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Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

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