15-to-1 longshot winner Mage is barely noticed amid seven horse deaths LOUISVILLE, Kentucky––Kentucky Derby post-mortems began in 2023 ten days before the 20-horse field walked to the starting gate, but they were called “necropsies.” The more familiar term “autopsy” is used only when the deceased is human. The upset victory by Mage, a horse with […]
“Greatest anti-soring advocate of all time” Clant Seay dies at 76
Walking horse defender BillyGoboy never slowed down in fight against the “Big Lickers” OXFORD, Mississippi––Citizens Committee Against Big Lick Animal Cruelty founder Clant Seay, 76, remembered by fellow campaigner Marty Irby as “quite a character and in my opinion the greatest anti-soring advocate of all time,” died on March 6, 2023 in Oxford, Mississippi. […]
Walking horse industry waits for the other (weighted) shoe to drop
“Big Lickers” hold out hope for a Congressional reprieve SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee––A legal showdown may be coming soon over enforcement of a new USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service rule meant to protect show horses, but not just yet. The mood midway through the 2022 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, supposed to climax on September […]
Trump signs anti-race horse doping bill & $60 million gift to horse industry
Tax break for Paycheck Protection Program loan/grant recipients appears to have been the dangling carrot that brought horse racing industry support for omnibus funding bill WASHINGTON D.C.––U.S. President Donald Trump on December 27, 2020 “signed H.R. 133, an Act making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, providing coronavirus emergency response […]
Will anti-show horse soring bill pull up lame through last-hurdle compromise?
What would Marty Irby, Wayne Pacelle & Lamar Alexander think if weighted shoes were on their feet? UPDATE received on December 18, 2020, from Bernard Unti, senior policy advisor, Humane Society of the U.S.: “I’m pleased to share the news that the reckless attempt by an embittered faction within animal protection to swap in a […]