Pepsi ends sponsorship of Walking Horse Celebration

RutlandH2O

RutlandH2O

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 January 2009
Messages
1,213
Visit site
Soft drinks giant, Pepsi, has ended their sponsorship of The Walking Horse National Celebration, which is the leading competition for Tennessee Walking Horses. This comes on the heels of the Humane Society of the United States undercover investigation which was filmed and passed on to ABC News. The film was presented on national television and showed horses being poked with electric cattle prods, beaten with sticks, and having caustic chemicals slathered on their front legs, which were then wrapped in cling film to intensify the pain. All this to cause an exaggeration of their high-stepping gate. Pepsi's withdrawal of their sponsorship came one day after the film was aired.

While this is good news in the short term, the undercover investigation has caused a backlash by state farm lawmakers who have now passed laws making it a crime to infiltrate agricultural businesses. I would question the showing of walking horses as an agricultural business, in the first place.
 
Lets hope all the sponsors pull out of Big Lick entirely. Good on Pepsi.

I may be wrong but I think the law about infiltrating agricultural businesses was proposed following the Conklin Dairy Farms undercover filming of similar beating abuses to cows and calves. I also believe horses are considered farm animals in USA and a horse business is a horse farm.

The way to hit these 'white trash' is in their pockets. Money and kudos is all to them.
 
I should think so,having just watched (some of-couldn't bear to watch all) the vid posted on here of the undercover
investigation. May Pepsi,as a US giant,hold them up for everyone's scrutiny and publicly shame
these people.
 
OldenfelleEquestrian said:
Some of the videos are very old with regards to the big lick.
Click to expand...
The latest horror was filmed 2011. I posted a link to a 2007 one for illustration purposes. Nothing has changed much despite soring being illegal for some years. The penalties are low, risk of detection low and bribery and corruption is rife to the highest levels in States affected. These practices are going on today and similar ones world wide.
Here's a report on Pepsi's action.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/pepsi...p-response-abc/story?id=16362211#.T7ZF2txrNn4
 
This is why I am a Pepsi Max girl - well done Pepsi.

The abusers get away with this because it's hidden - the bigger stink we make, the more it will be exposed.

Keep sharing the videos and tell people what happens to these lovely horses.

They can have no where to hide.
 
OldenfelleEquestrian said:
The latest video where cattle prods and the horse being abused in the stable are beyond words; the ignorance of the trainer at the end... Well, regardless of what life he leads, no amount of suffering/pain can justify.
Click to expand...

It's not very often that I'm lost for words - but I really don't have any where this is concerned, except expletives......:(:(:(:(:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Terrible though that such awful stuff is commonplace in the treatment of cattle that they have outlawed undercover filming.
 
amandap said:
The latest horror was filmed 2011. I posted a link to a 2007 one for illustration purposes. Nothing has changed much despite soring being illegal for some years. The penalties are low, risk of detection low and bribery and corruption is rife to the highest levels in States affected. These practices are going on today and similar ones world wide.
Here's a report on Pepsi's action.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/pepsi...p-response-abc/story?id=16362211#.T7ZF2txrNn4
Click to expand...

Disgusting practices, I'm normally not overly affected by such videos but this was horrible.
Good on pepsi I say, removing money from the event is the best way to hurt these people. Hopefully it will make spectators sit up and take notice as well, it's not everyday you get big corporations pulling out of events where they are going to make money.

What's disgusting in the article is that the Vet(?) says there is a logical explanation for the foreign substance on the front hooves - of all 52 horses! Really!?! If it was say 5 of the horses then I might buy it but not all of the horses tested!
 
Does anyone know who the show's other sponsors are? I'd say the best way to get it stopped is to encourage other sponsors to pull out as well.
 
Well done Pepsi.

Soring is simply horrific. In the gaited community it's not only the soring and training methods but did you see how they are shod? There was a website/letter/blog floating around about a family with a good gaited horse that they refused to sore/shoe with stacks and they were basically ignored and outcast.

I had no idea about the cattle prod method of teaching a horse to stand still....

I don't believe any equestrian sport can claim to be 100% cruelty free and above board; there are always rats but the american show world does seem to take it to extremes. I'm not too aware of everything that goes on with gaited horses but having heard some of things that happen to QHs the mind absolutely boggles.

At some point those people must have loved/respected horses and to see what they've become and what they are willing to do to chase money and ribbons is sickening. How do let yourself become that person and be so unwilling to consider the horse :(
 
Only a qualified "well done Pepsi" from me. This abuse has been reported for years, only when it makes it to a national broadcaster do Pepsi pull the plug.
 
I couldn't quite believe The Big Lick when I saw it because I remember a TWH ridden by a local gent when I was a child and his movement, which was quick, lovely and smooth but not like this awful gait that gets prizes - why? - the biomechanics are horrendous. If you look for TWH on Youtube you will see more correct TWH with the lovely quick gate, some racking, level backs and steady head carriage. This is what should be aimed for. It's a bit like the Kennel Club in-breeding scandal, this is forcing change on the breed standard and something similar needs to happen in TWH. They need to go back to correct and sound movement (some of the vids refer to "sound" TWH) which these poor Big Lick horses clearly are not.
 
The head movement is seen as desirable even in many non abuse circles. I don't understand that tbh but some of what I've read says it's down to breeding.
Years ago I remember reading they were supposed to be supremely comfortable and smooth to ride naturally, I don't remember mention of head movement.
 
For some reason the head movement is considered ok in the breed shows, but if you look at a lot of the videos of natural TWHs they don't do it, because they don't need to. In dressage, which is more in tune with horse biomechanics, head movement is marked down. It seems to me the head movement is the result of the horse compensating for the unnaturalness of its Big Lick gate. The pressure on hocks and sacroiliac joint must be something else! Some of the natural TWH are amazing, absolutely still backs, heads steady, though a bit high for my taste. You can tell they would be a comfortable ride. The Big Lick ones actually look tricky to sit to, the natural ones look easy. Something has gone seriously wrong with this breed.
 
Millikins said:
Only a qualified "well done Pepsi" from me. This abuse has been reported for years, only when it makes it to a national broadcaster do Pepsi pull the plug.
Click to expand...

Agree. Pepsi must have known about this for years -everyone else did. They've only taken action now to stop a backlash against their brandname.
 
I can't watch videos like that, it just ruins my week. Reading about it is bad enough.

Well done Pepsi. Maybe they could have acted sooner, but they've blazed a trail now and I suspect any companies that sponsor this event will follow suit or be chastised. With a bit of luck, it will bring the sport to its knees because it's disgusting
 
misterjay said:
Just look at this video for a really beautiful show from a flat shod TWH. No soring, no chains, no harsh hands or nodding head, and no sitting on the loins

http://www.walkinonranch.com/celebrationrides.html
Click to expand...
It's a stark contrast to the other padded entrants isn't it? :( Even though the glimpses of them are brief you can see they have no stamina, something the TWH is prized for. They look like grotesque caricatures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top