At http://www.hphoofcare.com/lick.html, the writer points out that abuse of the horse's feet and legs is not the only way the animal suffers. The horse may wear a cruel bit to increase leverage on his or her head, and a tail set, that forces the tail into an arched, extremely high carriage. The tail set must be worn almost all the time. And the way the horse is ridden is all wrong, a bizarre form of equitation that does not suit the horse's natural gait. Indeed, sometimes horses fall over as they try vainly to do what the rider wants. The rider may resort to using spurs. Read more at this excellent web site, that also contains powerful and heartbreaking images and videos, illustrating far better than words what the horse endures.
It's no wonder then that The Humane Society concludes that "many Tennessee Walking Horses die at a young age from colic, believed to be caused by the extreme stress placed on them in training and by exposure to the toxic chemicals used for soring." http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/tenn_walking_horses/facts/what_is_soring.html
More to come soon.
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Marilyn, I've heard that another horrific way of soring is to stick ginger root up a horse's rectum. I'm so glad you're exposing these practices.
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