Curing

Curing & preventing diseases in animals & humans

Do Right by the Horse

by Dr. James Heird

The following is an excerpt from a speech given by Dr. James Heird, executive professor and coordinator of the Equine Initiative at Texas A&M University, at the American Quarter Horse Judges' Seminar in December 2009. This speech was given to judges of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) with the intent to inform industry leaders to take a stand on the issue of horse welfare. While his comments were directed to judges, many of his comments resonate with veterinarians and horse owners everywhere. We are pleased to be able to share these comments with you.

As a judge, an educator, and as a horseman, I have never known our industry to face as many challenges as it does today. The economy has been devastating to our industry. We are a "disposable income" industry. Thus, the people capable of spending money on horses, training, and shows have less money to spend and are more careful where they spend it. Another challenge to our industry is that there are simply more activities to pursue during our free time than ever before. This is especially true of our youth.

Competing on the athletic field takes more time than it did a few years ago and (that activity) competes with the horse industry-and don't forget that many competitions in which our young people participate have definitive ways to evaluate success that are not based on a judge's opinion or reasoning. Plus, a soccer ball doesn't eat, need a trailer, wear fancy clothes or have to be trained to use it.

We all know about the issue of unwanted horses. Most of us have definite opinions about the issue of equine slaughter. Some of us may even think it is the most important issue facing our industry. It is certainly one of the most contentious. Some of the other issues facing our industry include competition for trails, fuel prices, alternative medicine, the use of drugs and medications in competition horses, compounding of pharmaceuticals, and many others.

I personally believe that the greatest danger to our industry is the inhumane treatment of our horses during their training and the resulting appearance in the show ring. The magnitude of this issue is heightened by a society that is more broadly informed and aware, and by our own habituation and blind defense of what we do. I believe that we, as an industry, are in a period when many of our personal ethics conflict with those of society. There are many activist groups in our society. Yet, I think we always have to remember the words of former Chief Justice Louis Brandeis when he said, "The greatest deterrent to freedom are men and women of zeal, well-meaning, but without knowledge or understanding." The fact of the matter is, if there is nothing that goes against the norm of society, there will be no activist groups. So rather than just automatically condemning activists, I believe we need to make sure that in the eyes of society, we are not violating societal ethics.

Society loves horses; people see them as noble and majestic animals. I suspect most of us started out our love affairs with horses feeling exactly the same way. However, as we become more deeply entrenched in the showing/winning aspect of our industry, we often lose contact with why we entered the industry in the beginning and we shift our emphasis to winning rather than on the well-being of the horse. The descriptive term for this is "habituation" which is "a reduction of a behavioral response to a specific stimulus that occurs repeatedly." In other words, in the case of extreme training techniques, we learn to ignore those stimuli that at first we find offensive. We ignore them because we want to win and believe these techniques are necessary to win. We ignore them because we see successful people do them. Worse, we ignore what we see happening because we are afraid of being embarrassed and ostracized for speaking out. Sometimes we forget who brought us and forsake our original intent for "winning at all costs."

Further, we learn to ignore our responsibility to the societal ethics in which we were reared. This is where the tension between societal ethics and personal ethics reaches an impasse and eventually conflict results. If a piece of society chooses to ignore societal ethics long enough, these violations will come to the attention of the people in the segments of society that are looking for a cause for which they can be the spokespeople. That's where we are with animal welfare, especially equine welfare. Society has seen too many horses abused, over-worked, and broken down.

I know most of you love horses, and you want to give something back to the industry. Go a step farther and take on the responsibility of protecting the horse-our horse, the American Quarter Horse-the animal that we loved and respected enough to get into this industry. So what can we do as judges? We can walk by the warm-up arena, we can watch the schooling that takes place in the ring and we can refuse to reward intimidation regardless of who is showing. We can look for abuse, either mental or physical. As leaders of our breed and the chosen few who are respected by our fellow members, we can choose not to accept or defend or, more importantly, practice actions that are inhumane.

At Colorado State University, I was privileged to work with Bernie Rollin, Ph.D., a philosopher who has taken on the task of protecting the welfare of all animals, particularly farm and laboratory animals. He believes that as an industry we are "low-hanging fruit" for the animal activists of the world. He believes we must immediately cease what we are doing that is inhumane and that can't be defended to any rational audience that loves horses. My favorite quote of Dr. Rollins' is that we "need to stop doing the 5 percent that society spends 95 percent of its time criticizing." Think about that for just a moment: Let's stop doing the small pieces of what we do that society spends the most time criticizing. Each of us can think of a few things that are so obviously wrong at our shows and in training that we would all agree are not pleasant, comfortable, or enjoyable for the horse.

If we as an industry don't want outside authorities dictating how we show and present our American Quarter Horses, we need to begin cleaning up our industry. I don't think any of us wants the government to control what and how we show. There are all sorts of ways to address an issue: We can defend it, ignore it and hope no one notices, or we can fix it. As judges, we can do the right thing for the benefit and the future of the horse. Be a judge who is known to protect the horse, our industry and our future. Think about all that could happen to us as a breed if we don't do something ourselves to stop the criticism we are receiving. The American Quarter Horse has been good to each of us; let's make sure we are good to it in return.

Carol Rose inducted into AQHA Hall of Fame

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) congratulates Carol Rose on her induction into the AQHA Hall of Fame. In an unprecedented manner, both Carol and her legendary horse, Zan Parr Bar, were inducted at the same time in 2010.

Rose is a pioneer. She was the first woman ever to qualify for the National Cutting Horse Futurity finals. She went on to be the NCHA non-pro world champion in 1967, 1968, 1969, and again in 1975. Her performance in the show ring has translated to her contributions to the horse industry. In addition to being an AQHA judge she was the first woman to serve on the prestigious AQHA judges committee. Rose is known for her keen business acumen. Her Quarter Horse operation ranks among the best, having produced 25 world championships and 30 reserve world championships, among a multitude of other award winners.

Zan Parr Bar is the second of Rose's horses to be inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. He was world champion halter stallion three times, the first ever to achieve that mark. He was also a multiple award winning performance horse who went on to become an outstanding sire. At the time of his death in 1987, he was AQHA's leading sire of performance horses. Today, 23 years after his death, he ranks 6th on the list of all-time leading point earners. His influence on the breed persists today.

Rose is definitely a friend of the CVM. She has been a long-time client of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and supporter of the college in a variety of ways. She has contributed to the success of the Legends Premier Stallion Season Auction, not only through her own donations, but also through encouragement of other donors. Recently she served as an important member of the Assessment Team for the newly forming Equine Sciences Initiative at Texas A&M. She understands the importance of strong educational, research, and outreach programs, as well as strong connections with the animal industries.

We congratulate Carol Rose on this recognition and look forward to her continued involvement in the CVM.