This was my statement at the public USDA meeting held in Murfreesboro, TN on 8/9/2016.
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Good Morning, USDA representatives! Welcome to the great state of Tennessee!
My name is Mary Marjorie Weber Marr, and I’m so honored to be able to speak to you this morning on behalf of the HSUS, and in defense of the beautiful horses named for our state.
I was born in Kentucky and raised in Tennessee. I am a lifelong lover of horses. When I was 11 years old, my grandma bought me this book, “A Horse Around the House”. I thought it meant I would actually be getting my own horse, to live in our house, although that didn’t pan out.
Growing up in Memphis, I attended the Germantown Charity Horse Show and loved the beauty and power of the show horses. They appeared to “have it all”: looks, strength, talent, shiny manes and expensive tack. Some of them seemed to tremble, I thought, with excitement, as they moved. It wasn’t until later that I learned about the terrible actions their trainers were willing to take to create the exaggerated look that comes from physical pain and caustic chemicals that have been cooked into their flesh.
We have a chance right now, in our lifetime, as a society to end this practice of soring. It’s illegal, and yet it continues. Let’s bring it out into the light! I believe the trainers know that what they are doing is wrong. Veterinarians know. Farriers know. The inspectors know. Young audience members may not know, yet, but eventually they will. Don’t you? I realize there are some who will get up and say it is their ‘right’ and their ‘history’ to create horses who walk the Big Lick, but to them I would say look around you! Society doesn’t want their entertainment to come with the price tag of torturing sentient beings.
We don’t want elephants in the circus now, we don’t want orca whales contained anymore, and we don’t want to cheer for horses who have been maimed with chemicals and chains. Those days are over and good riddance. We are offended when the rich pay to kill rhinos. And anyway, the economy from that way of life is not sustainable. And neither is soring, for those who say they will lose money without it. Society doesn’t want horses treated that way anymore, and they’ve already stopped attending shows that include Big Lick.
We will continue to educate the public, and the attendance will continue to drop.
There’s still a place in the show ring for the incredible Tennessee Walking Horse, and other gaited horses, and those who love them and want to treat them with reverence.
Their natural gait is beautiful and should be respected and honored and preserved. Thank you.
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