USDA inspections find horse soring cruelty

Late last year, The HSUS obtained still photographs and inspection reports from USDA inspectors who examined horses trained by a well-known figure in the Tennessee walking horse show world, Larry Wheelon. Those deeply disturbing images revealed that Wheelon and his associates intentionally injured and “sored” horses – deliberately injuring the animals’ feet to produce an artificial, exaggerated gait known as the “big lick.”

Now we’ve had our first look at video footage of the abuse Wheelon and his people perpetrated. This footage, released to the public for the first time on this blog and showing a USDA inspector gauging the injuries to the horses, confirms in a dramatic way what the still photographs told us about the cruelty these people committed in that barn. The horses felt such pain that they violently pulled away as the inspector handled their feet and lower limbs.

Take action to put a stop to it by telling the USDA you support its proposed rule, and want to see it implemented without delay during the Obama Administration.