1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 December Voice | Page 72

next issue. Thank you. LETTERS Protection Act”. I am all for some kind of protective legislation, but I am firmly convinced that this is not it! If you could possibly print the bill in its entirety, or if each interested person would get a copy from his state representative, surely some­ thing could be done to prevent its passage. A letter from every trainer, rider, owner, or other interested re­ sponsible citizen should certainly en­ courage our legislators to vote this bill down. Sincerely yours, C. W. KUNE Boyer town, Pa. (We appreciate Mr. Kline’s taking the time to send the results of the show to us. They can be found in the Horse Show Results section of this issue.) Dear Sir: Dear Sir: Here is some information concern­ ing the Walking Horse division at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. They had two veterinarians there as well as two stewards exam­ ining all of the Walking Horses. How­ ever, during all the divisions, only two horses in the Juniorclassesprior to entering the ring were eliminated. Outside of the two horses in the Jun­ ior class they found all the horses in excellent condition. The veterinar­ ians and show committee were very well pleased with the Walking Horses exhibited at this show, all being shown clean. Judge at this show was Buddy Black who did an excellent job of tying classes in all divisions. He did not show any favoritism in any way, shape or form. The people in this section of the country were very well pleased with the quality of the Walking Horses as well as mentioned before, being clean. In looking over the last issue of the VOICE I was rather surprised not to see any news from the Penn­ sylvania National Horse Show at Harrisburg. This is one of the biggest shows in the country and always had a high rating. (I don’t just say this because we had pretty good luck and were pleased with my own hor­ ses being placed as they were.) On Saturday, October 25 the Amer­ ican Walking Horse School Associa­ tion had their annual meeting and luncheon buffet dinner for members and guests. The Tydings Bill was discussed at length and all members were urged to get in touch with their senators. Walking Horse exhibitors were also urged to go to the Wash­ ington, DC show and show all clean, as in Harrisburg (see VOICE, Nov. 69). I hope that you will run the results and give the show listing in your At a time when the entire Walking Horse world is in a state of confusion, I almost hesitate to write this letter, but I feel that there is a need for it. The Tydings act may be a threat to the Walking Horse industry, but an even closer, and more dangerous, threat is the bill which will be pre­ sented in the state legislature when it convenes in January. It is a re­ flection of Governor Ellington’s de­ termination to keep the problem at home, but its results will be to kill the entire horse industry (allbreeds) in this state. First of all, in the name of impar­ tiality, the bill was written by the State Industrial Commission, over­ looking the fact that most members of that commission obviously would­ n’t know a ''protected” horse if it kicked them! This ignorance shows up in every ambiguous phrase of the bill. For instance, if the definition of "horse show” as contained in the bill is interpreted literally, a person could not show a friend two pastured horses without a horse show license. Also, the bill recurrently uses the phrase "inhumane treatment” with­ out ever defining such treatment. According to the definition in the bill of "soring,” the use of spurs will be prohibited! Aside from these ridiculous aspects of the bill, it has more serious im­ plications. Very few show sponsors (such as Civitan and Lions Clubs, and other civic organizations) will be able to afford a license (at X dol­ lars) as well as a fee of "X dollars per entry, per class.” If they are forced to raise their entry fees, they will lose many entries. Another diffi­ culty will lie in finding anyone willing to accept the vulnerable position of steward, "whose duty, among others, shall be to report to the CommisS^°n all known violations” of the bill* thus making the steward liable f°r any sore horse which appears inthoring. These are just a few of the s^ous flaws in the "Tennessee State Dorse Sincerely yours, CAROL A. CLARK (Member of U. T. Equestrian Club) Route 1, Box 288 Lenoir City, Tennessee 37771 Letters to the Editors LIFE Magazine Time & Life Building Rockefeller Center New York, NY 10020 Sirs: What a shame that through your very biased article potential Walk­ ing Horse buyers and present own­ ers are going to be associated with the pitiful horse in your article. The other three-fourths of the country’s Walkers are NOT in this condition! How sad that Senator Tydings’ bleeding heart did not include room for the Five and Three Gaited show horses who are trained with chains on all four feet (without padding), and turn screws in the quick of the hooves. These are your Madison Square Garden horses! Unfortunate race horses are shot full of "pep” to the extent of heart attacks. Jumping horses are taught toclear the top rail or else scrape their legs on nails or barbed wire attached for this purpose. These instances are of small per­ centage, and as unfair to their breeds as your article has been to our Walk­ ing Horses. It is regrettable that you did not mention that Vic Thompsonhas done the most to clean up the soring and that his own horses rest in stalls clean enough to eat in and are obvi­ ously in no state of torture. Do you dare print the other side of the story? If you don’t, how many will believe any article you print again? MRS. O. S. MOSELEY Atlanta, Georgia (Continued on page 75) 72 V oice of the Tennessee Walking Horse