USDA Soring Rule Change to Protect Walking Horses
The Big Lick's Ban
The USDA announced changes to the Horse Protection Act that may prove monumental toward ending the abusive practice of soring. The new rule bans the use of stacks, chains, and other cruel devices. ...
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Missouri Walking Horse Stable Owner Charged with Child Sex Abuse
A Missouri stable owner is facing multiple counts of child sex abuse after he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward two underage farm employees. David Davenport, 56, of D&D Stables, in Rogersville, is charged wi...
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Jury Finds Tennessee Walking Horse Trainer Guilty of Assault
A Maury County Circuit Court jury took an hour to find a Tennessee Walking Horse trainer guilty of assault on Tuesday. Alabama's Jamie Lawrence drove his truck at an anti-soring protester last May when he entered a ho...
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UPDATE: Undercover Investigation Exposes Allegations of Soring Abuses at ThorSport Farm
An undercover investigation shows those in the big lick industry are still crippling their horses in the name of sport, according to The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). ThorSport Farm's owners Duke and Rh...
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Alabama Walking Horse Trainer Indicted for Aggravated Assault
The charge stems from an incident in Tennessee where anti-soring protesters waited outside the Spring Jubilee at the Maury County Park with signs. Jamie Lawrence, of Vinemont, allegedly drove his truck at protester Ter...
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Larry Wheelon Soring Case Dismissed
Larry Wheelon faced multiple charges of aggravated animal cruelty, due to evidence obtained during a search, that the judge deemed unconstitutional....
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Bill Reintroduced in Attempt to Say Whoa to Horse Soring
Two senators are supporting a bill that could end the cruel practice of horse soring. Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) reintroduced the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act (S. 1121) last week....
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USDA: Soring Violations at TWH Celebration Double Previous Year
The questionable behavior continues in a video showing the "collapse" of a horse in the show ring under its rider, Jesse Barnes. It is unknown if the walking horse's failure to remain on its feet was caused by being being ...
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Senate Committee Approves Bill to Protect TWHs from Abuse
The PAST Act will fortify the federal Horse Protection Act, which was passed in 1970, but contained loopholes that has allowed soring to thrive in factions of the TWH industry....
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Wheelon, Co-Defendants Plead Not-Guilty to Aggravated Animal Cruelty
Wheelon and his employees Brandon Lunsford and Randall Gunter are facing 12 counts of aggravated cruelty to livestock, 3 counts of cruelty to animals, and a single count of conspiracy....
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Grand Jury Indicts Wheelon, Gunter, Lunsford, Primm for Animal Cruelty
Four men, including Tennessee Walking Horse trainer Larry Wheelon, were indicted by a Grand Jury this week on charges of aggravated animal cruelty....
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Judge: USDA Can Impose Minimum Soring Penalties
SHOW, Contender Farms, and Mike McGartland filed the suit in Forth Worth. They didn't want the USDA to put a rule in place that would require horse inspection organizations to assess minimum penalties to violators o...
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McConnell Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Animal Cruelty
A Tennessee judge sentenced former TWH trainer Jackie McConnell to one-year of house arrest on Tuesday. McConnell pleaded guilty to 12 counts of animal cruelty as a part of a plea deal with the state....
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19 Horses Seized from TN Horse Trainer
The Blount County Sheriff's office served a search warrant at Larry Wheelon Stables last week at with help from several animal organizations. Authorities say they discovered horses visibly in pain and several barely able...
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TN Grand Jury Indicts TWH Trainer Jackie McConnell
A Fayette County Grand Jury has indicted infamous horse abuser Jackie McConnell and two co-defendants on 38 counts of animal cruelty. Court documents charge the men tortured and sored horses as documented in a 2011 Hum...
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Veterinarians: Stiffer Penalties for HPA Violators
“Soring is an unconscionable abuse of horses that is used to produce a high-stepping gait - the ‘Big Lick’ - and gain an unfair competitive advantage in the show ring,” said Doug Aspros, DVM, president of the A...
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Prosecutor: 'Significant Sentence' Needed in McConnell Soring Case
Prosecutors note Jackie McConnell has a history of violating federal laws aimed at protecting horses and are asking for the maximum sentence within their plea deal....
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TWH Celebration Changes Testing to Detect Soring
The controversial Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration announced Monday it is changing the testing protocol utilized to detect the abusive practice of soring....
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$10K Bounty Offered for Conviction of Soring Violators
The soring of gaited horses is an illegal but still common practice among the criminal underground of gaited horse show competitors. The Humane Society of the United States is working to help bring violators to justice th...
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Veterinarians Call for Ban of Soring Devices
Equine Veterinarian Associations have called for a ban on the use of action devices and performance packages in the training and showing of Tennessee Walking Horses. These devices can aid in the abusive practice of sorin...
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