WOULD YOU BELIEVE . . . il
/ owing article appeared in the June 13 edition Cleveland Plain Dealer ” in Cleveland , Ohio . It
jd example of existing inhumane activities in .• crse business that are perhaps worse than anyof which we in the Walking Horse business are
accused . We doubt seriously that we will see any blazing
headlines in " Sports Illustrated ” regarding this situation , or read any " blistering accusations ” from Mrs .
Pearl Twine about such inhumane treatment of these poor unfortunate hunters and jumpers . We also doubt seriously if Senator Joseph Tydings makes any proposals in Congress designed to stop this practice from coast to coast .
DRUG USE AT DEVON HORSE SHOW By Roland M . Kraus
It was inevitable that some day someone would get a " spit-box ” into the ring of a major American " A ” horse show . It was also inevitable that such a news
item would never appear in the releases emanating from the press box of that show . A " spitrbox ” is a contrivance to measure and determine the presence of drugs in a horse ’ s body .
The measure of importance of showing at the huge multibreed Devon Horse Show , in existence some 73 years , is a matter of personal conviction .
The finest horses in the East are on the grounds with every professional horseman of any count from Maine to Florida . I have always felt the show is too early in a too long year to have horses ready for championship competition . It is quite obvious that many other exhibitors are in the same boat , but they must show at Devon — it ’ s the " in ” thing to do . The horses aren ’ t ready — but the exhibitors are !
When a horse is not really ready he is still fresh . A fresh horse can be quite a handful , particularly in hack classes . This being an important event , one cannot allow this horrible fresh situation to exist . So to Devon ( and elsewhere ) go truck-loads of tranquilizers .
Now what is a tranquilizer : It is a drug , liquid or capsule , handled by medically skilled and exceptionally talented horsemen and women . It does nothing but quiet down an unruly animal .
The use of these drugs is against every rule of every horse association in the country .
By subterfuge , Sallie Jones Sexton of Granville , Oh ., who staked her claim to being the most hated horsewoman n the U . S . when she blasted tranquilization at the 1968 American Horse Shows Association Convention , brought the show managers two veterinarians and a " spit-box ” into the ring for the Working Hunter
Hack Class . News travels fast Of 31 entered in the class , 23 caught a whiff of a great enemy and vanished . There were left eight terrorized horsemen and women walking their horses in a ring from which there was no escape . The show manager plaintively called for the balance of the class to appear . The 23 former Hunters were hitched to carts , put on walking boots or western saddles , or in some fantastic way completely changed appearances and dissolved . The show went on .
And what went on was really a show , as the eight exhibitors gave ringsiders a class they ’ ll never forget . On the command to trot a very experienced rider cantered , and on the wrong lead too ; trainers were
seen poking umbrellas at horses who through mishap were going acceptably ; the halt became a walking
parade .
When the class was over it had to be pinned . Get this , fellow travelers , there were some big big names among the eight in the ring . The first five received
ribbons , and following these " bitter ” awards was an examination by the vets . After awarding the five ribbons — horses one through
five were declared by the doctors to have been drugged . The magnificent showmanship of the other three
allowed them to avoid being in the ribbons ! Now there was the ultimate in horse showing , at the
ultimate of horse shows , with the ultimate of the horse world looking on — 31 horses at Devon — and every
horse tranquilized !
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EDITOR ’ S NOTE : The following article dealing with tax problems in the horse business was also part of
the above article . We were so interested in this that we printed it for your information .
36 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse