Chemical Agents are the first choice of Sorers, so this is what we will address first:

METHODS OF CHEMICAL SORING

MUSTARD OIL- most commonly used soreing agent. Chemical name: Allyl Isothiocyanate (no relation to the mustard in your refrigerator). It is highly toxic, is a carcinogen (causes cancer), Mutagenic (causes inheritable genetic damage). Contact with skin causes burns and sensitization. It is readily absorbed through the skin so the use of DMSO is not necessary. Application of Mustard Oil and the covering of it causes blistering and severe burning. (Remember the Saran Wrap?). It is a yellow liquid and the smell at greatly diluted amounts can cause wheezing, coughing, pulmonary edema, headache, nausea, vomiting and has an affect on asthma. Exposure can cause convulsion, muscle contractions and coma. It causes changes in the Gastrointestinal tract (colic, anyone?), affects fertility and is fetotoxic (can kill a fetus in utero).

It also causes rapid heartbeat and if overused can cause heart attack. It is produced by Sigma-Aldrich Corp. who is not responsible for any effects resulting from it's misuse or wrongful use. By the way, I'm sure everyone in the Walking Horse world is aware of the reports of the Indiana trainer, Mike Civils, who tried to mail a package containing Mustard Oil to a well-known Walking Horse farm in Tenn. And the package was not labeled "Hazardous Material" (which is a Federal Offense). Package was accidentally dropped in the Post Office and the building had to be evacuated because of the noxious odor and affects on Postal Employees. Some of whom had to be hospitalized! Whatever happened to that trainer? Was he prosecuted? If not, why not? Who protected him? Why has he been allowed to come from Celina Texas to Florida to be a Show Judge instead of serving time in jail? And why was he hired by MOWHA to be the judge of their Annual Fall Round-up Celebration?

CROTONAL

(commonly referred to as Croton Oil). Chemical Name: CROTONALDEHYDE and was manufactured and distributed by Union Carbide Corporation. It is corrosive, toxic and immediately dangerous to life and health. Inhalation of vapor causes severe mucous membrane irritation, sore throat, coughing, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, collapse or unconsciousness. Pathological findings reveal bronchiolar damage. It is corrosive to skin and causes acute sensitivity. Contact with liquid causes severe irritation with redness, pain and possible 2nd degree burns. Systemic poisoning may occur due to absorption through burned skin. If ingested it is toxic. Absorption through skin can affect the central Nervous System. It is a mutagenic (causes mutations in offspring) and a tumorigenic (causes internal tumor growth). It is clear and colorless but turns yellow if exposed to air and water. The odor is pungent and irritating to mucous membranes, has a tarry smell. Union Carbide has discontinued manufacturing it.Now, CROTONAL is so strong that it is cut with kerosene before being applied to horses legs and burns to the bone when mixed with DMSO. It was never used as an enema (as was previously stated by someone) but because of it's high absorption rate into Gastrointestinal Tract, it can and does cause colic in horses. (How many show horses have you heard of that died of Colic?)

SALICYLIC ACID

(this is not aspirin! but when added to other compounds, produces aspirin). Chemical Name: 2-HYDROXY-BENZOIC ACID It causes skin irritation and may permeate skin in toxic amounts. Ingestion causes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and black, tarry diarrhea. It also affects the kidneys. Skin permeation can occur in amounts capable of producing the effects of Systemic Toxicity. If this product is used in very dilute solutions it can cause a sloughing off of the skin which is the preferred method of removing or reducing scar tissue on sored horses, without affecting hair regrowth. Show horses treated with this chemical to remove forbidden scars, have lain in painin their stall for days while the skin comes off their legs. The pain has actually caused death it is so intense! It is odorless and white or beige in color and completely soluble in turpentine. It is produced by Fisher Scientific, Tenneco, J.T.Baker and Rhone-Poulenc, Inc. who are not responsible for any and all ill effects resulting in misuse or wrong use of product.

FUEL OIL

(also known as Diesel Oil, Diesel Fuel or Furnace Oil) It is not a chemical on it's own but is made up of a mixture of hundreds of compounds. The primary routes of entry into the body are through the skin and inhalation. Overexposure may cause weakness, headache, nausea, confusion, blurred vision (could those last two symptoms be the reason for the wide eyes on the show horse?), and nervous system effects. Inhalation may cause those symptoms plus rapid breathing, impaired judgment, personality change, memory impairment, convulsions, unconsciousness and death. It is an aromatic liquid that is clear or light yellow in color. This is the oil of choice when soreing with chains.

COLLODION

- a new product in the line-up of soring agents is a chemical made up of Proxylin 5-10%, Ethanol 20-30% and Diethyl Ether 60-70%. It enters the body by way of inhalation, skin contact or eye contact. It is a SERIOUS skin irritant and must be used with Rubber gloves, safety glasses with side shields and if possible a respirator! the conditions produced in the horse with prolonged use are nausea, colic, dizziness, narcosis (stupor,coma then death), suffocation due to lack of oxygen, lowering of the blood pressure and damage to Central nervous system. It is not soluble in water and is a pale yellow, syrupy liquid, which when applied to a horse's legs, AFTER the deeper burning chemicals described before, forms an airtight seal which keeps the heat of those chemicals in the skin and tissue in order for them to do a more complete job of soring, and eliminates the need for plastic wrap which has been banned at most shows and if found at a trainers barn is a dead give away that soring is taking place! On the horse's leg COLLODION becomes almost invisible to the naked eye and it's use is just one more proof of t he growing sophistication of the soredhorse trainers and owners in their quest for the blue. This is a Hazardous Material that when stored in closed containers and exposed to heat can explode and release Nitrogen Oxides Hydrogen Cyanide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air for considerable distances! It comes under the EPA Hazardous Waste Numbers (D001) and is also known as Proxlyin Solution, Nitrocellulose Solution and Nitrocotton Solution. .Collodion is manufactured by J.T. Baker of Phillipsburg, NJ who are not responsible for the misuse of this product.

METHODS OF MECHANICAL SORING:

CHAINS-when left on a horse for long periods of time can cause lasting pain and when a horse has been sored with heavy chains at the barn for a week before a show and then shown in the accepted 6oz. chains, he suffers intensive pain from that lighter chain hitting the same sored area over and over, not to mention the sensitivity of the area from previous Chemical soreing.

NAILS-once used extensively to cause pain are not used often any longer due to the effectiveness of the fluoroscope used by DQP's at shows. In New Mexico is was discovered that screws were inserted right into the hoof wall under the band used to keep the heavy shoe on. The screws were backed off to get through inspection and quickly screwed back into the hoof just before going in to the ring!

PRESSURE SHOEING-still a popular method of causing horses intense pain when putting a foot to the ground with his weight behind it. The hoof wall is filed away almost to the quick, so that the sole of the hoof is placed directly on the metal shoe causing unbearable pain when the suffering horse has to put that foot and his weight on it, on the ground.

ROAD FOUNDERING-A method of soring that is gaining popularity with each show. The hoof is rasped down to almost the quick (as above) and the shoe is put on. The horse is then ridden up and down a hard surface like macadam or concrete until it is hurting and limping. Then stewarding gets it past the DQP's!

STEWARDING-is taking the horse past the DQP's and into the show ring. A ragged toothed clip on the inside of the penis sheath or under the tongue of the horse is usually enough pain to keep the horse still while undergoing palpation by the DQP. This same type of clip has been used on the very delicate inside tissues of the vulva of mares. Also, a carefully placed lit cigarette, applied during palpation may temporarily take the horse's mind off the pain of palpation. It is not at all uncommon for a horse to have been trained NOT to react to pain while undergoing in spection by hitting him with a baseball bat or 2x4 if he reacts to any pain when at the Training Barn. The use of topical anesthetics containing lidocaine or benzocaine are gaining in popularity due to road foundering and pressure shoeing. Also, aerosol freezing agents that numb temporarily. When the horse is warmed up or makes a few turns around the ring, those sorers standing by the rail remark that he is "getting better and better" because the numbing agent is wearing off and the pain is setting in!

This, by no means covers ALL the practices that egomaniacal owner/trainers use to win the Blue, Trophy or Prize Money. But it is enough to turn the stomach of any humane, compassionate person. What is it that causes a person to treat an animal in this way? What is missing from that person? Is it conscience, soul, morals, heart, what? Surely, that type of treatment of a beautiful, kind, willing horse cannot be dismissed as just "greed" on the part of the owner/trainer. Tennessee Walking Horse owners have one of the most versatile, smooth-riding, kind-dispositioned horses that there are! I CANNOT believe it is just a matter of greed that propels persons to abuse it in these or any manners. For the sake of this breed of horse, for the sake of all the clean, sound, trainers, owners, breeders; we must drown out the voices of those who would have the world believe that there is no abuse going on and that the Walking Horse industry should continue on with "business as usual". Those significant few that would torture this kind loving, horse may be small in number but are large in finance, political power and influence. But we, who are fighting so hard for the Sound Horse are very large in number and very large in ethics, morals and compassion and a firm belief in a cause that MUST eradicate lives lived in pain and suffering from the breed that we love!

A HUMAN THOUGHT- The Chemicals described above that are used in most soring practices are at the very least, terribly damaging to humans, if not lethal! The Owners are not applying them, the Trainers are probably not applying them but someone is! How many "stable boys", grooms, or lackeys are risking their lives by handling these chemicals, and more importantly, how many of them KNOW of the risks-of cancer, internal tumors, lung damage, genetic mutation of offspring, infertility, mental impairment, kidney and intestinal damage, nervous system damage, systemic poisoning and finally death?We all know from the Actuarial tables that Tenn.Walking Show Horses have the highest rates for insurance and the shortest insurable ages (up to 12yrs.). You Owners and Trainers of sored horses already have the blood, pain and deaths of hundreds of loving, trusting TWH's on your hands. Are you willing to assume the responsibility for the very lives of your employees, also? These practices are an ABOMINATION in the eyes of God and man! This MADNESS has to stop, NOW!

Provided by the Sound Horse Organizaton

http://www.walkinghorse.org or e-mail: Bonnie A Yeager