Last week, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) issued a report about ThorSport Farm that included extremely misleading and false information about our horse farm in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
ThorSport Farm is widely recognized as a premier horse farm, catering to all breeds of horses, including theTennessee Walking Horse. ThorSport has earned a reputation for ethical, legal and world-class care of horseshoused at ThorSport.
HSUS, which has for many years run a public and political campaign against the Tennessee Walking Horsebreed, targeted ThorSport with false allegations and misleading information that we continue to successfully and vigorously contradict. Please know these important facts:
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No horses in our care have been subjected to “soring” practices, as charged by HSUS, a fact proven byresults of examination by three independent equine veterinary specialists. http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2015/08/26/murfreesboro-farm-disputes-humane-society-soring-allegations/32418987/
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Neither Duke, Rhonda nor Allison Thorson have ever received any fine or notice of hearing with regard to Horse Protection Act violations, as falsely alleged by HSUS. It should also be noted the Thorsons have been through the inspection process more than 2500 times over the last 12 years.
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Additionally, the trainers mentioned in the report have never received fines or notices of hearings with regard to Horse Protection Act violations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The report’s inclusion of video footage spliced in from an unrelated farm in a well documented 2011 incident, presented as though the incident took place at ThorSport Farm, is an unconscionable misrepresentation by HSUS. While presented out of context, other video and photos presented by HSUS document ordinary and usual training of horses and not of illegal or unethical activity as is implied by HSUS.
ThorSport Farm stands by the integrity of our equine operations and will continue to push back on reckless claims made by HSUS. ThorSport has issued two statements in response to HSUS, both of which follow.
Humane Society of the U.S. misinformation on ThorSport Farm toppled by facts
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Humane Society of the United States report on ThorSport Farm is riddled with misinformation, misrepresentations and false information.
HSUS, which has for many years run a public and political campaign against the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, targeted ThorSport with false allegations and misleading information that we continue to successfully and vigorously contradict. The media should recognize these important facts:
· No horses in our care have been subjected to “soring” practices, as charged by HSUS, a fact proven by results of examination by three independent equine veterinary specialists. http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2015/08/26/murfreesboro-farm-disputes-humane-society-soring-allegations/32418987/
· Neither Duke Thorson, Rhonda Thorson, nor Allison Thorson have ever received any fine or notice of hearing with regard to Horse Protection Act violations, as falsely alleged by HSUS. It should also be noted the Thorsons have been through the inspection process more than 2500 times over the last 12 years. Contrary to HSUS statements, the trainers mentioned in the report have never received fines or notices of hearings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating the Horse Protection Act.
· HSUS’s inclusion of video footage spliced in from an unrelated farm in a documented 2011 incident, presented as though the incident took place at ThorSport Farm, is an unconscionable misrepresentation by HSUS. A sleeping horse, making the typical sounds horses make when they sleep, is presented as a horse in pain. Numerous other video and photos of ordinary and usual horse activity and training experiences have been presented falsely by HSUS as incidence of abuse. These include photos from our farm of ordinary and usual leg-care procedures, including wrapping horses’ legs, tightening shoe pads, the use of appropriate care products and wiping clean the legs of horses – all of which is every day, ethically recognized activity for horse care.
“The Humane Society continues to feed the public false and misleading information in order to damage our reputation and carry out their political campaign against the walking horse breed,” said Duke Thorson, ThorSport Farm owner. “We operate within the rules and have a known reputation for ethical care. We will continue to push back on this irresponsible report and will continue to work vigorously to end any abuses in the industry.”
ThorSport Farm is widely recognized as a premier horse farm, catering to all breeds of horses, including the Tennessee Walking Horse. ThorSport has earned a reputation for ethical, legal and world-class care of horses housed at ThorSport.
For more information, please contact Joe Hall at (615) 330-3289.
Independent veterinary equine specialists find ThorSport horses not sored
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – ThorSport Farm horses slated to participate in the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration have been examined by three independent veterinary equine specialists and declared healthy with no signs of soring.
The independent veterinary results contradict allegations made against ThorSport Farm on August 25 by the Humane Society of the United States and provides further evidence that the HSUS’s report includes false and misleading information.
The horses were inspected on August 25 by Shelbyville veterinary equine specialists Dr. Stephen Mullins, DVM, and Dr. John Bennett, DVM, and transported later in the day to Lexington, Ky., for a third exam conducted this morning by an equine facility that is not named due to confidentiality provisions. All three experts declared the horses healthy with no sign of soring.
Dr. Mullins said, “We conducted thorough examination of all three horses and found no evidence of soring, no problems with any of these horses. If any of the horses had been subjected to any soring practices over the last few months it would have been evident.”
“The expert opinion is unanimous and clear – none of the horses identified by HSUS was found to have anysign whatsoever of soring,” said ThorSport owner Duke Thorson. “This provides yet more evidence that the Humane Society fed the public false and misleading information in order to damage our reputation and carryout their political campaign against the walking horse breed. As we stated yesterday, ThorSport operates within the rules and has a known reputation for ethical care. We will continue to push back on this irresponsible report and will continue to work vigorously to end any abuses in the industry.”
The horses named or referenced by HSUS are He’s Vida Blue, The Golden Sovereign and He’s Unleashed. Results of the veterinary examinations contradicts HSUS’s allegation that “three horses slated to compete in thisyear’s Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration have been illegally sored.”
All three horses are grand champions and will be entered into the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, Thorson said.
A news release issued August 25 by ThorSport (follows) cites numerous examples of false and misleading information, including in the HSUS report.
ThorSport Farm rejects misleading, false allegations by Humane Society of U.S.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Allegations made today against ThorSport Farm by the Humane Society of the United States contain broadly misleading and false information.
“ThorSport Farm has a well-earned reputation for operating ethically and legally, and we emphatically reject the HSUS’s charges of soring,” says owner Duke Thorson. “This farm operates within the rules. Our intolerance for unethical and illegal training is widely known to the point that people who want such an advantage no longer approach us. ThorSport Farm continues to work vigorously to end abuse and clean up the industry.”
HSUS’s report misleads the public by including video footage from an abuse that occurred on another farm in2011, and not at ThorSport, and misrepresents horse activity that did occur at ThorSport. In the video, a horse that is lying down and assisted to stand is in what’s known as a “cast” condition – the horse rolled over in its sleep against a wall and required leverage assistance in order to stand. Cast is not a common occurrence, but on a farm the size of ThorSport, which houses about 60 horses at a time, is a condition that occasionally occurs. Another of our horses is asleep and makes normal sounds that you would hear from a sleeping horse. Equestrians will be familiar with both of these normal experiences.
HSUS photos from our farm of ordinary and usual leg-care procedures are presented as though they reflect illegal activity. Specifically, photos show trainers wrapping horses’ legs, tightening shoe pads and wiping clean the legs of horses – all of which is every day, ethically recognized activity for performance horses.
HSUS states that several ThorSport trainers have been cited for fielding sored horses, but in fact none of the trainers has ever had enforcement action against them by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating the Horse Protection Act. Inspectors sometimes disqualify horses and cite trainers for issues not related to soring, a fact that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals referenced in a February 19, 2015 ruling, which stated, in part,“inspections are far more art than science. In many cases, inspectors, veterinarians and other professionals will disagree as to whether a horse is actually a sore.”
“ThorSport stands by the quality and ethics of our operating standards,” said Thorson.
For more information, contact Joe Hall at Hall Strategies, (615) 242-8856 or [email protected].
