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Big Lick - The greatest freak show on earth . . .
The arena is dark, and the air is hot. Hints of delicious food mixed with pungent night air beckons your nose. A sense of camaraderie and unified purpose tickles the senses. The crowd sucks deep breaths of anticipation and thousands of onlookers scoot to the edge of their seats. Somewhere overhead a microphone crackles and jostles the mass to life. Spotlights shine from above and through the in-gate charges the one thing they’ve all gathered here to see… a creature of magnificence and power substantial enough to rival the seven wonders. The sight of him is stunning and makes the spine shiver. Sixteen hands of sheer power, with a coat as fresh spun silk. His muscles ripple as the huge black body charges down the rail. The silent air is split with roars from the crowd. Bright red ribbons in a marriage of black mane, flow like streams of red wine. Hoofbeats pound the earth and every footfall vibrates the seat beneath you. His magnificence charges forward as a warrior on a battle march. Chest muscles bulge and sweat beads up on that liquid black coat. As he rages past your seat you look into the whites of his eyes glowing like diamonds and the nostrils flaring red and hot. You will never forget the sound of his rattling breath as his body strains beneath the load. You are breathless as you behold the sheer power and magnitude of this animal. For a single moment, time stands still, and you know that you have beheld the glory and power of the most magnificent creature on earth. Your soul is shaken to its very core and you can never forget the awesome presence of the Big Lick horse.
When the awe passes I ask you to look harder my friend. Did you see anything else? Did you see the chains, the pads, the poultices and wraps? Did you see the plastic and turnbuckles and liniment? Do you see the bits with frightening shanks? How about the pain, can you see the pain in the horse’s eyes? I can. And so can you if you’ll only look a little harder.
PHOTOS
It is important to understand the gravity of the big lick situation. Some supporters of the sound horse have been issued death threats, had their barns burned down, and threatened with lawsuits by the "good ole' boys." One particular flat shod competitor required police protection at the Celebration Show back in 1999. Big Lick isn't just a hobby, a discipline, or a way to have fun with your horse. It's big money business. For this reason, the photos below have been cropped to show only feet. It's unfortunate that I had to crop them, because the real shock is the look in the horses' eyes. In almost every photo, the eyes are rolled back white, mouth gaping open against a 10" shanked bit. The overall picture is terrifying. As you can see in these photos, there is much more wrong than just the shoeing. The bit shanks which are out of control, the size of the riders on 2 year old babies, the length of the rowelled spurs, chains banging the legs every stride, the wavy, permanently damaged hair on the fetlocks and cannon bones, the complete lack of concern for the comfort and happiness of the horse...
A note of interest: Most of the photos above are of 2 and 3 year old horses.
For comparison, this is what a NORMAL/HEALTHY Tennessee Walking Horse hoof
looks like. This is a TWH I trimmed.
View these videos and decide for yourself:
Big Lick Walking Horse Video
Big Lick Walking Horse Video of Hocks
Just what is the Big Lick Walking Horse? The Big Lick horse (also called the Shod Performance horse) is a Tennessee Walking Horse which moves in an extreme and dramatic way. His front legs maintain a level of extreme activity while the hindquarters step deep under the body with a huge overreach. You might think this doesn’t sound so bad! Lots of gaited horses move dramatically with high knee action. Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of the story.
The signature trait of Big Lick horses is the padding and chains on the front feet. Layers of leather, rubber or plastic pads are nailed together to elevate the forehand of the horse and encourage more animation while gaiting. This arrangement of pads is sometimes known as stacks, and they can range from a couple of inches in height up to 5 ½ inches and in some cases, more. The horse’s toe is usually encouraged to grow very long, while the heels are kept under-run and contracted. This unbalanced foot is then fitted with stacks and the horse’s natural balance and leg conformation are severely compromised. Add to this the various mixes and concoctions of chemical and mechanical soring agents and you have a potentially dangerous situation for the horse involved.
The Method to the Madness
Soring can be accomplished either chemically or mechanically. Mechanical soring consists of actions such as positioning shoe nails in the sensitive laminae of the foot, concealing golf ball halves between the sole of the foot and the stacks, and even placing bits of glass or metal between the stacks and the sole of the foot. In some cases the horse is “road foundered” which means he is worked long and hard on unforgiving asphalt or gravel.
Chemical soring is more complex and difficult to detect. Agents such as Allyl isothicocyanate (mustard oil), is an extremely carcinogenic, kissing cousin to the poisonous mustard gas used during WWI, and quite possibly the most popular soring agent used because of its dramatic results. It is easily absorbed into the skin and causes extreme discomfort to the horse. Crotonaldehyde (Croton) oil is an very toxic, hazardous chemical which is known to cause 1st and 2nd degree burns to the skin. Croton oil is absorbed deep into the tissues of the foot and leg and causes inflammation to the sensitive tissue surrounding the bones of the feet and legs. It is often diluted with other chemicals such as kerosene. Diesel fuel is also a popular chemical for mixing with other, much stronger, agents. Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is used on the skin to open up the pores and encourage greater absorption of the soring chemicals.
Don’t let the towering stance of a 15, or 16 hand horse fool you; the skin and tissue of a horse’s legs are very sensitive and delicate. This area of the horse is particularly susceptible to fungi and bacterial infections during times of dampness or wet weather. Studies at the University of Australia have also proven that the tissue on the cannon area of the horse’s legs is substantially more receptive to chemical absorption than many other areas of the body.
For generations, the Big Lick horse has been a main staple of the Southern states. This breed of horse is used as a mascot at sports events, high schools, and is a universal symbol of Tennessee. Having grown up in Tennessee, I rode at a Big Lick barn for one summer. Though the barn I was associated with did not endorse chemical soring, the care of the feet and legs was terrifying. In a typical big lick program, legs are wrapped in plastic wrap and sweated with a mixture of petroleum and Koppertox to "toughen the skin." Horses are trained in heavy (10 ounces +) chains which scar and callus the skin if it isn't toughened up first. Salicylic acid is then used to remove scarring and calluses before shows. Horses are rarely allowed turnout because of the shoeing packages. They are fed massive amounts of grain to keep them hot for the ring.
Training methods include working horses with the legs tied together with surgical tubing (called stretchies), working the horse in full cup blinders to encourage them to "feel" the air with the front legs, spurring them in the flanks with long shanked spurs to encourage more action, and using a sort of gag device attached to the saddle which forces the head up in the air, and therefore, forces weight on the hindquarters, achieving the "crawling spider" look which is so popular.
They don't all do it
Only to be fair, I will state that some big lick barns do NOT use barbaric methods of training, do not sore, and do try to give the horse a more natural lifestyle. Some of them are turned out daily, hand grazed, and thoroughly loved. Their shoes are pulled when not showing, and they have a fairly normal life. These owners and trainers buy horses bred from champion lines, they spend years training, and they treat the horse as a respected athlete. Even so, knowing what we know about equine distal limb function, and anatomy, the shoes and pads alone are enough to cause tremdendous concern.
Government Involvement
Many horse people don't know this, but the United States Government is directly involved in the monitoring of Tennessee Walking Horses because the abuse is so rampant. All TWH shows must have Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs) to inspect every horse before every class and eliminate those showing signs of soring. The problem is that many of the DQPs are competitors and advocators of the big lick horse themselves. There is an obvious conflict of interest, and essentially you have the fox guarding the hen house. For this reason, the USDA monitors the DQP program and appoints Veterinary Medical Officers (VMOs) to oversee high publicity shows. In 2006, the World Grand Championship class at the National Celebration Show was cancelled because 7 of the 10 horses presented could not pass a governmental inspection. This rocked the big lick world, because this is the single most important event in the world of the big lick horse, owner, and trainer. Many of us see this as the final breaking point and only hope that the public outcry will be a slap in the face to those abusing these horses.
Sound supporters, such as myself, feel that the system is too lax, and allows too many horses to pass inspection that show obvious scarring and signs of abuse. The scar rules are so difficult to interpret that many times horses are passed through inspection just to avoid a conflict. The horse's legs can be deformed and growing wavy hair due to permanent folical damage, and still pass inspection.
What do we do about it?
Having the knowledge we do about the biomechanics, and neurological function of the equine distal limb, it is impossible to ignore the grotesque methods by which Tennessee Walking Horses are shod, trained, and maintained. But what can we do about it? There is plenty! Start by visiting the following links to read more information about this practice, the history, the future, and the current happenings:
USDA - Horse Protection Act
Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH)
Equus Special Report - Why Soring Persists
Understanding Soring and Helping To Stop It
Photo of a stacked hoof sheared off a horse
List of current breeders/trainers/owners in violation of the Horse Protection Act
If you are as outraged about this as I am, I encourage you to contact the Mayor of Shelbyville, Tennessee directly and tell him you want padded horses eliminated from the Celebration Show. Also contact FOSH, join the group, and support the sound horse movement. Take every opportunity possible to speak out against this abuse being committed in our own backyards. If we don't, who will???
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