MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Tennessee Walking Horse enthusiasts say they’re doing a good enough job of regulating themselves and the government needs to focus elsewhere.
But at a meeting Wednesday with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they were told that the next steps will be the “hardest part” of ending walking horse abuse and cooperation is critical.
Rifts and distrust within the walking horse industry are causing some of the largest obstacles for moving forward with federal compliance on show horse abuse oversight, said Dr. Chester Gipson, a veterinarian and deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Care division.
In front of a crowd of nearly 80 people, he suggested the industry unify more than a dozen different Horse Industry Organizations, create a commissioner position and show the public they care about horse welfare.
The distrust is “going to haunt you through the unification process,” Gipson said.