Editors are Often Angels

My latest novel, He Trots the Air, is presently being edited by an angel. Well, not like the ones with wings and sometimes swords. Nevertheless, thank heavens for her. As a teacher of literature, I've learned that people read novels many different ways. They bring to the story their own frames of reference and interpret the themes of novels in ways authors never imagined when they were sitting at their computers and sweating out the composing process. Dedicated writers obsess over every word, every sentence, every paragraph. I have written the same two paragraphs 17 times, and in the present editing process, cast a jaundiced eye at those paragraphs and some inner compulsion forced me to write an 18th version. And yet I know that e-mail from readers will tell me their reactions to the book and my eyes will widen with surprise. That's why editors are so important. Angelic editors bring a scrupulously objective reading to their author's work whether they like the book personally or not, their mission to improve the book, make it clearer and more enjoyable. When my editor said, "I don't understand this," or "How about more detail about XXX?" it was tremendously helpful. In one case, I took out a rather rather abstruse reference I thought everybody understood, and in the other, filled in some extra descriptive words about the appearance of a character I thought would be perfectly clear in the imaginations of my readers.

FOSH Fights Soring

As we've learned, Tennessee Walkers and other gaited horses are prey for those who sore their animals for greed and prestige. Today, a few words about Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH), a group I think highly of for its active defense of gaited horses and condemnation of soring. Its mission is "To promote all "sound," naturally gaited horses, with a specific emphasis on Tennessee Walking Horses. (“Sound” means not “sored”)." The group educates the public about the "humane care, training, and treatment of all gaited horses for their emoti0nal, mental and physical well-being. FOSH will only support flat shod or barefoot horses, and will never endorse any event that uses stacks and/or chains as action devices, nor any mechanical, chemical or artificial means to modify the natural gait of the horse."

FOSH really goes after those who sore. On their web site, the FOSH folks have an excellent page devoted to soring. But they don't leave it there. I especially admire their bravery in publishing Horse Protection Act (HPA) Violations Lists up to 10/16/09, and their state-by-state map of HPA suspensions. I've said here before that one of the ways to get rid of soring is to expose its practices to the light, and now FOSH has exposed the people who do it. They cannot hide. FOSH also suggests ways to work on this problem, including joining FOSH and becoming a volunteer. Read their "Volunteers Welcomed" page. You'll find something to do, I'm sure, as you read the really useful list of things that need to be done to get rid of soring.

There is much more at the FOSH site to enjoy. If you like what you see, you might consider joining the group and enlisting as a volunteer.

http://fosh.info/index.html

Horse Tortured for Fifteen Years

About a week ago, a new acquaintance told me the following story which she has never forgotten. She and her husband were at an auction of older horses, looking to buy. One horse didn't get any bids and when the auction ended, the couple walked to the horse's stall to observe it more closely. That's when they noticed the telltale marks on its hooves and legs and the lack of vitality in the poor animal. It looked worn out. Someone who was well acquainted with the owner told the couple confidentially that the horse had not been out of its stall in 15 years,except for shows, and the owner intended to euthanize it if he couldn't sell it. And that's just what happened the next week. To his credit, the husband met the owner at a horse event and raked him over, telling him what he thought of him for doing that to a horse.

The reasons why this abuse is still happening are politicians who don't want to offend the horse industry and sp won't act, and the federal government, that doesn't give the inspectors enough money to cover all the gaited horse competitions so that the abusers can be caught. The Horse Protection Act is thus not enforced to the fullest extent.

The worst people of course are the owners and trainers obsessed with making money and winning prizes and the dubious prestige that goes with the prizes when horses have been sored, and so will do anything necessary to torture their horses in order to win. Even when the offenders are caught, the punishments are not nearly harsh enough. What would be appropriate would be with one infraction, the sorers would never be allowed to participate in another event, and they would have their horses taken away. They would never be able to own horses again either. And I would legislate huge financial penalties and even jail time. I would also work hard to change the tax codes of a particular state to classify the horse in more ways than just farm animals.

What can we all do about this? At least let your representatives in Congress know how you feel about it, stressing that some states' names are blackened in the public's view because of the filthy reputations of sorers who live there, and urging the politicos to use their power in Washington to get rid of soring. Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml to find your reps and contact them. And because sorers profit from the silence of people who care but do nothing, find some way to work on horses' behalf actively besides donating money. If you have web sites or blogs, write about the problem, and get it out in the light where people will learn about it. Become a member of an active horse protection group. Read good web sites where there are opportunities for you to do something substantial. In my next blog entry, I'll tell you about an excellent group that needs your help.

The Savagery of Soring

In all discussions of soring, we have to remember that there are many trainers who work with gaited horses in a humane way without having to resort to torture; indeed, I believe that knowing what the sored horse goes through, they are ashamed of what their fellow trainers do for ribbons, money, and prestige. Several years ago, a prominent local citizen told me that he had given up showing his Walking Horses, even though he had trained them with kindness and patience, because he couldn't stand seeing the other horses that had been the object of savagery.

The techniques of soring as seen in the damaged hoof above, are bad enough, but it doesn't stop there. As discussed on the Protecting Horses page of my web site at http://www.mmfisher.com/, The Horse Protection Act of 1970 was designed to eliminate soring, but political pressure from influential business people in the horse industry, inadequate funding from the federal government, and the arrogance of those who sore their horses and who will not stop have hobbled the enforcement of the law for almost four decades. The law involves inspection of horses. And here is where the afflicted horses suffer more. In "The Cruelest Show on Earth," the Humane Society says that some people train their horses not to respond when inspectors palpate their ankles and legs to find out if they have been sored. How do trainers do this to their animals? By beating with blunt instruments or attaching alligator clips to sensitive parts to cause pain, or putting a painful device in their mouths: all to force the horses to concentrate on the "new pain" rather than in the "old" pain in their feet or legs. They must not move. This process is called "stewarding" within the industry, an ironic double usage. As an English teacher, I can't help but see the irony here. The word "steward" was in use before the twelfth century and meant, as it does today, someone who is in charge, who directs affairs, who has great responsibility. Stewards then can be those who run horse shows in the right way, those officials most in evidence at shows, or a trainer who works in a stall or pasture, torturing, stewarding his animal into silence.

Some years ago, I included abuse of horses in a list of topics my students could choose to research for their essays. We talked about each topic and its possibilities, and when we came to the horse question, a student in the back spoke up loudly and clearly: "I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's just a horse." What that eighteen-year-old said was crude and ignorant, but is true of too many "adults" who are equally unable to consider the horse as anything more than an animal who is worth money, prizes, and prestige. It is a horrible prestige, this maiming of animals for no good reason, and people who respect, care for, indeed, love their horses regard sorers with horror and loathing.

I discuss the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration of 2009 on the Protecting Horses page at http://www.mmfisher.com/.

My Neighbor's Cherished Horses

Snow. All day yesterday. The tall trees left in the backyard along the fence (the ones still standing after a tornado hit a couple of years ago) looked black from my back kitchen windows. On the other side of the fence, the empty, white, snow-covered pasture stretched back to snowy farm buildings. Everything black and white with a leaden sky. As I came into the kitchen to make tea, I happened to glance out the windows just as five horses--black, white, brown--galloped along the fence in a perfect line, one behind the other, head to tail. They were moving in perfect rhythm and complete abandonment through the cold air and thick, falling snow. I thought how beautiful those cherished horses were in motion: strong and free and joyous.

More About Soring

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.

Terrible Facts about Soring

Soring is about the worst torture that can be inflicted on horses--short of killing them, that is. Rational people in the horse industry who love and respect horses, cannot understand why owners would maim their own beautiful animals in ways designed to inflict the most pain possible to the horse--all to produce the grotesque Big Lick gait seen in Walking Horse events. (Or for that matter, at shows where other gaited horses like Spotted Saddle Horses or Racking Horses perform.) The big money, name recognition, and blue ribbons are certainly not worth ruining a horse physically and mentally.

In the accompanying image, you see the results of damage to a horse's leg and hoof. (Thanks to the USDA, United States Department of Agriculture.) The following are techniques used by unethical trainers to achieve the Big Lick, the artificial movement where in reality, horses are lifting their legs high to somehow avoid more pain. Owners and trainers often pretend that these poor horses love to perform this way and nothing bad has ever happened to them to achieve this movement.

Reality coming, though. Here is what unscrupulous trainers do to the horses.

• Apply corrosive chemicals that blister the horse's legs, like kerosene, mustard oil and diesel fuel, and then wrap plastic wrap around the legs. Leave the horse in the stall for days at a time to suffer.


• Pressure shoe the horse, that is, cut the hoof almost to the quick and tightly nail on the shoe.


• Stand the horse for hours with the excruciating part of his sole on a raised object.

These methods induce the most equisite pain imaginable to the horse. But it doesn't stop there; the pain must be prolonged to be effective, so when the horse moves in the future, trainers put chains around the ankles, which slide up and down, aggravating the painful ankles.

But the trainer is not done yet. To emphasize the Big Lick, the performing horse wears a high, heavy stack of pads. To those who witness a show like this, the horse appears to be standing at a bizarre angle. And sometimes trainers put foreign objects between the hoof and the stacks to induce more pain.

More to come. In the meantime, go to http://www.hsus.org/horses_equines/tn_walking_horses/what_is_soring_fact_sheet_.html to read more.

In Tennessee: Horses Recover from Great Cruelty

Remember the great Tennessee Horse Rescue of 2009? (See Tuesday, December 8, 2009 in Blog Archive.) Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nveFOcnRuVQ to see the results of the outpouring of love and care by volunteers who worked so hard to bring as many of the horses back to health as possible. You'll smile all day! Guaranteed!

Hooray for My New English Class

As a teacher for a long time, I think there's nothing like starting a new class. I've now met with my spring 2012 class twice, and already I see potential in the students: I'm thinking there will be good discussion and smart thinking. I'm using the same textbook but redesigning lessons. I'm incorporating technology into the classroom by huddling with the IT man. I'm thinking about what I could bring into class from my own reading: maybe an essay from David McCullough's Brave Companions. I think they'd like the one about the short-lived "wild west" and Teddy Roosevelt. Or maybe the script of Avatar, available electronically, in which we see things left out of the movie. We'll see. What fun!

Tennessee: Starving Horses Only a Misdemeanor

"He bought the horses at an auction, but they were way too much for him to take care of," said Humane Society representative Jordan Crump of Charles Howland, who along with his son Clint, let 84 horses starve on his Cannon County farm in Tennessee. The Cannon County Sheriff's Department and Humane Society volunteers rescued the the horses, along with goats, dogs, and chickens. According to http://humanesociety.org/, "When rescuers arrived on the property, they found many Tennessee Walking Horses and Spotted Saddle Horses, as well as quarter horses. Tennessee Walking Horses and Spotted Saddle Horses are two breeds that commonly suffer from soring, an abusive practice that involves the intentional infliction of pain to a horse's legs or hooves in order to force an artificial, exaggerated gait. Many of the horses were extremely emaciated and suffering from a variety of medical ailments including overgrown, infected hooves and parasite infestation. Rescuers also found several dead horses on the scene." See slide show at http://www.wsmv.com/slideshow/news/21711849/detail.html.

The animals were transported to the State Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, where many stalls were available. The good news is that as of December 1, the horses are doing much better. Thanksgiving Day drew a lot of sympathizers who brought hay for the horses and food for the valiant workers.

Out of this near-disaster emerged a frustrating problem with Tennessee law. The Howlands, charged with animal cruelty, will never go to jail. But, you protest, there are 84 counts of animal cruelty against both men. It doesn't matter. Cruelty to horses is only a MISDEMEANOR. Maybe they will be fined $2500. You understand that if horses are considered livestock and livestock can be used as a business expense, the farmer can have a large tax break. Incredibly, the Farm Bureau said that this law is working. But of course in the minds of all rational people, it isn't working, when two men can try to starve 84 horses to death so they don't have to feed them. Note that Rep. Janis Sontany is working to get horse cruelty declared a felony. See http://www.wsmv.com/news/21740874/detail.html.

For a video whose images speak volumes about what these animals have suffered, go to http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080346.

Drugging Race Horses

The great fun of writing a second book about a woman I know well (actually, I created Connie Holt), is giving her new challenges. Never a dull life for her. The new things are rife: new danger; a couple of new puzzles to solve, one about villains, one about a man she knew previously; a new task involving art, and a new change in her personal life. And all in a new novel, as of now called Painted Stallion. It has been accepted by Bedside Books for publication. (I'm just starting the editing phase and have no date yet when the novel will be out.)

This time, Connie's main preoccupation is about the drugging of steeplechase horses--an ongoing problem in all of horse racing. Connie has her hands full when she and her boss, Cary McCutcheon, stumble on a plot to drug Cary's magnificent Thoroughbred entry in the International Gold Cup. The horse's name is Darkling Lord. Trouble is, the two have little information to help them catch the perpetrators. The investigation is grueling and frustrating. But there is more. On the private side, Connie's friend Earlene Collins, breeder of Arabians, has found what looks like an original Henry Stull equine painting in the attic of her early 1800's house. Busy with her new mares, Earlene asks Connie to find an art expert to validate the painting. Connie's trip to Colorado to meet the expert has results no one could have been predicted; as a result, her personal life, in tatters at the beginning of the book, changes radically.

The Mustangs of Las Colinas

I'm fond of sculpted horses, and have looked for them all my life as I travel, whether here in the United States or in Europe. Visiting Texas a few years back, I saw what is advertised as the world's largest equestrian sculpture. In the Las Colinas section of Irving, there is an elegant, modern complex of copper-roofed, granite office buildings. They border, on three sides, a plaza of pink granite. Across the plaza runs a stream of water.

As you approach the plaza, you are startled and then delighted to see a group of nine bronze mustangs--a young stallion, five mares, two colts, and an older stallion who is clearly in control of his band. The mustangs are stunning, one and a half times life size. They are all in motion, and are approaching the stream, in the stream, or on their way out of the stream. The water is powered by an ingenious pumping system that produces realistic splashing around the hooves of the horses "running through" the water. The horses were modeled by the eminent sculptor Robert Glen. Glen's keen visual acuity enabled him to see--and model accordingly--how the mustangs must have looked in motion. Most important, I believe, Glen caught the mustangs' essence: they are joyous, exuberant, powerful, and free.

If you can, go to Irving and see the mustangs. You'll never forget them.

Find more pictures at my web site (http://www.mmfisher.com/).

And read more about how this magnificent project was completed at http://www.mustangsoflascolinas.com/History.html.