Random Thoughts . . .
By David L. Howard
Hats Off to Tommy Hall!
WHOA Executive Tommy Hall was interviewed by Channel 5 of Nashville, Tennessee earlier this week and did an outstanding job answering questions relative to the use of hoof testers and the pulling of shoes.
Tommy had his hands full putting on the International Horse Show but found time to present a very positive image of the Tennessee Walking Horse.
Thanks Tommy!
Pistol Is Shooting Lots of Bullets
Jeff Hatcher and I’m Packin’ A Pistol can’t be accused of dodging the competition in the aged stallion division. Jeff and Pistol have already shown 15 times through August first in five different states.
Owned by Charlene Gibson, Pistol has won 10 blues, 3 reserves and 2 yellow ribbons . . . quite an accomplishment. Needless to say, he leads the Walking Horse Report High Point standings in his division with 180 points.
It must be fun and exciting to have such a quality horse and show him that many times. He is obviously a very talented animal and no doubt likes to travel.
HSUS Fundraising Letter
Don’t think the Humane Society of the United States doesn’t know a thing or two about fundraising. Their recent letter attacking the Tennessee Walking Horse and soliciting funds is an eye opener when you look at the numbers.
Assuming they only sent it to their current membership (10,000,000 – and it is safe to assume they utilized other lists) and they got a 2% response with the minimum donation of $10, they would have raised $2,000,000.
Taking it one step further, assume they got a 10% response and they got an average donation of $25 . . . and that’s a whopping $25,000,000.
By way of comparison, the TWHBEA has the largest membership of our breed organizations, a reported 18,000, and if they sent a similar solicitation and got a 10% response and an average donation of $10, they would raise $18,000. If every member of TWHBEA sent in $25, it would bring in $450,000.
And don’t think our elected officials, the national media, and the USDA don’t take notice.
The Real HSUS
The Center for Consumer Freedom is an organization dedicated to protecting consumer freedoms in the food and animal industries. They uncover abuses by animal rights organizations and post them on their website(Click here for story.)
They ran an ad in the New York Times Daily Headline edition and it was called to our attention by a subscriber. Their article on HSUS makes very interesting reading, particularly in light of the recent HSUS mailing with a wildly exaggerated attack on our breed.
Commission Suspension List
The Report was recently provided a copy of the Suspension List which is sent out to affiliated horse shows of the National Horse Show Commission. It makes for very interesting reading and give you some idea of what organizations are doing to enforce the rules.
The list totaled 310 suspensions with the following breakdown by association: Walking Horse Owners Association – 146; National Horse Show Commission – 94; Walking Horse Trainers Association – 27; Kentucky Walking Horse Association – 15; National Walking Horse Association – 13; United States Department of Agriculture – 9 and the Horse Protection Commission – 6.
All you ever hear about on the street are the cases that are dismissed, but this list gives you some idea of the efforts being made to police the industry. It’s a shame this information is not made public so people would have some idea of the positive steps being taken to punish those who violate the rules.