Pepsi Drops Sponsorship Ties with the Walking Horse National Celebration After Videos of Soring, Tor - Polidicks

[I]via:[/I]Yahoo! News [quote]Soft-drink giant Pepsi [URL="http://yhoo.it/LeCEvM"]announced Thursday[/URL] that it would no longer sponsor a national horse show, thanks to [URL="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Aq5ldAFTdaHYDWUC5pp95g9kkqU5;_ylu=X3oDMTIxZDNsMDZpBG1pdANDeFMgUHVyaW5hIFBldHMgQmxvZyBCb2R5BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5VGVtcEFzc2VtYmx5;_ylg=X3oDMTM0c2NjdXV1BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZmI1NTFiNTktNjRmOS0zMmI3LWFjMzgtNTlmODEzOWYwMjM1BHBzdGNhdANwZXRzfGFuaW1hbG5hdGlvbgRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=0/SIG=119coq4qv/EXP=1338630687/**http%3A//abcn.ws/KgpO1m"]startling footage aired by ABC News[/URL] of a horse in training. The video showed the horse undergoing an abusive practice known as "soring." (Warning: Video may be upsetting to some viewers.) Pepsi had sponsored the Walking Horse National Celebration since 2010, said the horse show, which is the nation's leading competition for [URL="http://bit.ly/JDj0NN"]Tennessee Walking Horses[/URL] – a breed whose best-known attribute is its unique high-stepping gait. Pepsi spokesman Vincent Bozek confirmed, without elaborating, that the company has "ended our sponsorship of the event." Nor would horse-show officials explain the specific reason for the end of the relationship. But according to Reuters, a Walking Horse showing insider, who chose to remain anonymous, thinks it's thanks to the ABC News footage of "soring," filmed by a Humane Society of the United States undercover operative and given to ABC News for broadcast. Keith Dane, the HSUS director of equine protection, said that an activist got a job in a horse barn and taped the abuse in March and April of last year, as part of an undercover investigation. The video ([URL="http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/torture-of-tennessee-walking-horses-29324890.html%20"]linked here[/URL]; be aware that it contains disturbing footage) shows Walking Horses getting beaten with wooden sticks and zapped with cattle prods, and enduring the application of caustic chemicals like mustard oil and diesel fuel to their ankles, which were then wrapped in plastic and metal chains to increase the pain. The resulting soreness, which gives the practice of "soring" its name, induces the horse to lift its front legs in the show ring, creating the gait – a flinch, really, as "Nightline" correspondent Brian Ross noted -- for which the breed is famous. The electric shocks "help" the horses develop an insensitivity to pain; if show judges check for evidence of soring or other abusive practices used to create the gait, the logic goes, the horse won't react. Soring had become such a problem in the TWH community that the industry cracked down in 2009, creating an organization to investigate the practice and hiring vets to check up on horses and shows. The organization's president, Dr. Stephen Mullins, found the video disgusting: "I don't condone that at all." (Jackie McConnell, the trainer who, along with his employees, was caught on the tape, had no comment for ABC News, and showed no remorse. McConnell was the go-to trainer for rich owners who wanted their Tennessee Walking Horses to dominate the competition; he's now facing a federal indictment.) Mullins told "Nightline" that the practices aren't even necessary, but he also said he didn't believe they were "rampant." Unfortunately, a random check of a recent horse show belied that statement; swabs of 52 horses found foreign substances on the legs of all 52 animals. (It wasn't Vaseline, either. "Benzene" is just one chemical on the list shown by "Nightline.") And Jennie Johnson, another trainer interviewed on the program, thinks the problem is widespread.    The Humane Society [URL="http://bit.ly/Kzf0iy"]frequently goes undercover[/URL] to expose deplorable situations like this one; the HSUS and other animal-rights orgs have caught everything on video from chickens in overcrowded cages to sick cows dragged by tractors to nursing sows confined to crates. Some farm-state lawmakers have reacted poorly, passing laws to making "infiltrating" an agribusiness a crime. But some agriculture companies have made positive changes after seeing upsetting footage, agreeing to increase cage sizes or only buy from farms that let pigs walk free. In the case of the horses, Dane said, they'd sent a camera into a show barn because the industry's attempts to police itself were ineffective. He hoped Pepsi's decision would get results. And it seems that the cola corporation got the [I]fiscal[/I] attention of the Walking Horse National Celebration, at least. Chief executive Doyle Meadows issued a statement about gaining the trust of corporate partners, adding that "we would do nothing to destroy that relationship. As the Celebration moves forward to promote a sound horse we hope that everyone will assist in our efforts to promote this magnificent breed." But it seems like it's the trust of, and relationship with, the [I]equine[/I] partners that might need promoting. The [URL="http://bit.ly/J6MoJC"]Walking Horse National Celebration[/URL] is held in the late summer, in Shelbyville, Tennessee.[/quote] [URL="http://shine.yahoo.com/pets/pepsi-pulls-sponsorship-of-horse-show-after-controversial-footage-airs.html"]Source[/URL] The article and video in question, first aired by ABC News: [URL="http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/tennessee-ross-brian-horses-torture-abuse-16365454"]Video[/URL] [quote]Large numbers of the famed Tennessee Walking Horses have been tortured and beaten in order to make them produce the high-stepping gait that wins championships, an ABC News investigation has found. "All too often, you have to cheat to win in this sport," said Keith Dane of the Humane Society of the United States. In the most recent example, an undercover video made by an investigator for the Humane Society documents the cruelty of one of the sport's leading trainers, Jackie McConnell of Collierville, Tennessee. The video led to a federal grand jury indictment of McConnell and will be seen publicly for the first time tonight on the ABC News program "Nightline." The tape shows McConnell and his stable hands beating horses with wooden sticks and using electric cattle prods on them as part of a training protocol to make them lift their feet in the pronounced gait judges like to see. In another scene, McConnell oversees his hands as they apply caustic chemicals to the ankles of the horses and them wrap them with plastic wrap so the chemicals eat into the skin. "That creates intense pain and then the ankles are wrapped with large metal chains so the horses flinch, or raise their feet even higher," said Dane of the Humane Society. McConnell is expected to enter a guilty to plea to one count, according to his lawyers. He declined to comment, or apologize for his acts, when approached by ABC News this week outside his home. Leaders of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry maintain that such brutality is rare and that trainers do not have to cheat to win championships, which can add millions of dollars to the value of horses. "They do not have to cheat to win," said Dr. Steve Mullins of the group called SHOW, which oversees inspections of horses before major events. "You don't have to do this kind of junk to win. ... And we are terribly against this stuff." The industry group maintains that the vast majority of horses are not subjected to the cruel practice of "soring." But a random inspection by the agents of the Department of Agriculture at last year's annual championship found that 52 of 52 horses tested positive for some sort of foreign substance around front hooves, either to cause pain or to hide it. Dr. Mullins told ABC News there could be innocent explanations for some of the foreign substances found by the inspectors.[/quote] [URL="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/tennessee-walking-horses-abused/story?id=16360835#.T7dvi8XW5T4"]Source[/URL]

That's horrible, how have people like this been getting away with it for so long?

Pain caused in sake of vanity. Not cool.

I find it horrible just how sadistic people can be towards animals because they have no voice to tell anyone, I know that in this case they were doing it to win but I dont see why they feel the need to torture the animals into habits instead of just training them properly. [QUOTE=Mattz333;36014158]That's horrible, how have people like this been getting away with it for so long?[/QUOTE] Because they want to win, probably the only people that know its going on are the trainers and the owners.

Aw fuck that video is horrible. Remarkable how long that was hidden from the public

Oh my god, this is fucking horrifying.

[quote] 52 of 52 horses tested positive for some sort of foreign substance around front hooves[/quote] Lovely.

Good. I don't even like horses, but come on guys, don't beat on them or abuse them, and I'm glad pepsi dropped sponsorship for those who do.

fucking stupid "sport" anyway.

Where the hell is the fun in watching midgets whip horses?

Those horses look stupid when they walk like that. Such pointless violence.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;36016006]Where the hell is the fun in watching midgets whip horses?[/QUOTE] Where do i start? :quagmire:

[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;36016315]Where do i start? :quagmire:[/QUOTE] Too soon.

No such thing.

[QUOTE=squids_eye;36016228]Those horses look stupid when they walk like that. Such pointless violence.[/QUOTE] It used to have a practical use. But not anymore. Now they are only horses that walk in a retarded way.

Glad that they got caught. Now the horses may have better lives.

Grah. The misinformation in this makes me headdesk. Just because one barn sores and does inhumane things to win, does not mean every single one of them does. On top of this the breed is specifically bred to do the movements. I had one for about three years who would be running around the pasture, doing the various movements that are done in the show ring. I also find it facepalm worthy that "52 out of 52 horses tested positive for foreign substances on their hooves". Of course they will! People put all sorts of supplements on the hooves, ranging from medication to creams that encourage hoof growth/hardens the hooves. Not to mention, it's a very common practice to spray the hooves to make them appear black for horse shows.

The result looks like shit. More something for in a circus.

[QUOTE=sami-pso;36017309]The result looks like shit. More something for in a circus.[/QUOTE] It looks stupid, sure, but the gait is surprisingly comfortable. Walkers were originally bred by plantation owners so they could travel long distances without being overly sore from a bumpy gait. It doesn't have much application today, but then again, neither does most horse sports. The only ones that really do are the ones that deal with moving cattle.