SORING is a painful practice used to accentuate a horse's gait. This is accomplished by irritating the forelegs through the injection or application of chemicals or mechanical irritants.
As a sore horse tries to escape the pain in his front feet and lower legs, he snatches them up quickly, which gives the "desired effect" of tremendous lift in the front, known as the "big lick."
Meanwhile, he tries to take as much weight as possible off his front feet by shifting his weight to his back feet, squatting down in the rear as he reaches beneath himself with his hind legs.
The resulting gait has been described as "the praying mantis crawl." [1]
How did soring get started?
THE ORIGIN of soring dates back to the early heyday of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed. Not long after the breed association was formed in 1935, Walking Horses shot to fame.
Prices skyrocketed as the horses became an all American symbol for the media. But with recession in the 1950s, the Walking Horse industry hit a slump.[2]
Stories differ, but it was around this time that a showman discovered that either mustard oil, being used to treat a hoof ailment, or kerosene used to clean some road tar off the lower legs, caused his horse to step livelier.
Come the regular Saturday night show, this horse snapped his feet off the ground like they were on fire. Wild-eyed, he all but flew around the ring, barely setting a foot on the ground before snatching it back up again. The crowd loved it. Experimentation followed. Then imitation. Before long, "the fix" was in.[3]
The spectators loved the action, the judges pinned the flinging feet, the show managers hired the judges that kept the spectators coming and a vicious cycle was established.[4]
PAIN combined with long toes, heavy shoes, extreme bits, a rider sitting far back on the horse, and - never forget the heart and substance at the center of it all - a horse that keeps on trying despite all of that, creates the spectacle of the sored show horse.[5]
While flat shod horses with naturally good movement can comfortably perform this crowd-pleasing gait, it takes both natural ability and considerable time to properly train and condition the horse.
Mechanical soring methods include use of excessively heavy weighted chains, use of tacks deliberately placed under the shoe into the "white line" or quick, of the hoof.
Chemical controversial soring methods include the application of caustic compounds to the front legs to make it painful for the horse to put the full pressure of his weight on his front feet.
credits: horsefund.org
Prices skyrocketed as the horses became an all American symbol for the media. But with recession in the 1950s, the Walking Horse industry hit a slump.[2]
Commenti
Posta un commento