Protect Them Coalition 2015
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Seeking Change for the good of our horses
By Susan Winslow
Many years ago, during a summer job at a well-respected training barn with a famous young trainer, I learned what could happen when big money and relentless pressure meet a trainer with a short fuse. On a sweltering August day, I returned from lunch to find the barn in a state of silent panic. During a morning training session, the trainer had lost his temper and beat a sweet-natured, young gelding so severely that the vet had been called in to treat the horse for trauma, dehydration, and tying up. We were warned that if we wanted to keep our jobs, we would be silent.
Forty years later, the ghastly image of that beaten and broken horse still makes my stomach roll. He stood in the back of the stall with his head low, covered in hot, angry welts from his poll to his tail. The light had gone out of his eyes, and in that moment I understood what it is to be truly broken in spirit. I am ashamed to admit that I was too intimidated by the status of the trainer to do anything except leave the job, but that experience was life-changing for me. I returned to college, ditched my plan to major in Equine Science, and got out of horses completely for over a year.
Those of us who have witnessed, firsthand, the effects of horse abuse will never forget it. It took me many years to realize that unrealistic expectations and the high priced pressure cooker atmosphere were as much to blame for what happened to that young gelding as the trainer’s inability to control himself.
Animal abuse occurs everywhere, and no breed organization or discipline is immune. Fortunately, the vast majority of people who get into horses and equine competition share a common love for the animal and the sport. There is no question that training horses is a difficult, demanding job that can’t be done without some limits and boundaries, but most people would agree that any ribbon won at the expense of the animal is a lost victory. Recently, Kathi Hansen, Vicki Huffer, and a group of concerned horse people discussed these issues online and then took their discussion from the Internet to the AQHA Convention through the formation of the Protect Them Coalition 2015. Their goal is to address concerns about horse abuse, rules compliance, the role of the Steward, and the future of the AQHA.
The Protect Them Coalition (www.aqhaprotectthem.com) hopes to reach these goals through four main objectives:
• Increase penalties and fines for infractions of existing regulations in the AQHA Rule Book pertaining to abuse.
• Shed light on concerns about the direction the organization is going, particularly with the specialization of the Western Pleasure division.
• Increase transparency regarding those who have been found guilty of rule infractions.
• Restructure the Show Steward program to ensure impartiality and enforcement.
Co-founders Kathi Hansen of Brentwood, California and Vicki Huffer of Mulberry, Indiana believe that by speaking out to affect change within the AQHA, the organization can serve as a model for the greater equine industry. Kathi Hansen describes it in simple terms, “By forming the coalition, we’re giving horses a voice.” As long as there has been equine competition, there has been the whisper of controversy about unsavory practices of tying heads in unnatural positions, horses with training wounds, and the use of other extreme measures to force a horse into a way of going or extreme frame. These women believe now is the time to speak out for the horses and the future of the industry. Under the tag line, “Join the Remuda,” the Protect Them Coalition message is gaining traction, with notable trainers, competitors, and AQHA members including Margo Ball, Chris Hardcastle, and Lainie DeBoer lending their support.
The co-founders didn’t know each other before they connected on an Internet forum. When a post appeared about the reinstatement of an AQHA trainer who had been suspended and fined for animal welfare violations, there was a firestorm of chat-room outrage. The discussions inspired Kathi and Vicki to take action. They exchanged ideas about the best way to bring their concerns and solutions to the AQHA. They formed the Protect Them Coalition as a springboard for change. They chose the 2015 AQHA Convention in Fort Worth, Texas as the venue to officially launch the movement and share their goals with AQHA leaders, membership, and the public. Their efforts touched a collective national nerve and, in a matter of weeks after going public via Facebook and a website, over 3,000 people had added their support online.
The women realized they were taking a risk by speaking out. Kathi says, “I knew there would be a possibility of negative reaction, but this is too important to me. The future of our industry is at stake if we don’t make some positive changes to keep [existing] members and bring in new ones.” Vicki states simply, “I’m too unknown and far from the level of national competition to worry about being blackballed for speaking out. I just knew that this was the right thing to do for the horses and the organization.”
Their efforts caught the attention of Carol Harris, owner of Bo-Bett Farm in Reddick, Florida. The legendary Hall of Fame member and owner of two-time AQHA World Champion Superhorse Rugged Lark offered to help. Because they want to bring about change, not divisiveness, they decided to go public with their Coalition goals at a ceremony honoring Carol’s lifelong accomplishments and contributions to the AQHA during the 2015 Convention in March. Carol was thrilled to be given a national platform to promote the Protect Them Coalition and to share the concerns she has been speaking and writing about for many years.
At the age of 92, this veteran of the show ring is passionate on a subject that is very dear to her. “I’ve been voicing my concerns about excessive training methods and the changes I’ve seen in the Quarter Horse for a long time. When I heard about the Protect Them Coalition, it seemed to me that God stepped in and gave me this opportunity to help. My concern is that the AQHA has gotten away from its original intent to protect, honor, and promote the incredible American Quarter Horse as America’s horse; the horse for everyone. The qualities that always made these horses special are their good minds, trainability, and incredible versatility, but things in the organization have changed, and not for the better. There is so much specialization now and some people are rushing for results, often at the expense of the horse.”
She shares her concerns about some of the current trends in the show pen. “Pain should never be used as a source of training,” she says.
Carol has always been adamant that training methods should be humane, and the more experience she gained, the more she knew she was right. By the time Rugged Lark came into her life, she had thirty-three years of experience with horses and immediately recognized that this horse had above-average intelligence. These realizations increased as she worked with him on the ground as well as when riding. She hired trainer Mike Corrington who developed Lark into a successful Reining horse and completed his superior in Western Pleasure as a two year-old. After the All-American Reining Futurity at the Congress, where Lark went off pattern, Lynn Palm took over in the next class and won the Hunter Under Saddle Futurity and advanced his later training with five new disciplines. Barbara Williams, Colleen McQuay, and Bob Loomis helped him qualify in two other events, but Carol gives credit to Lynn Palm for taking Lark to prominence on the world stage. She says, “Jody Campbell and Butch Campbell had a positive relationship with this horse, but Lynn’s patience and understanding permitted her to create in Lark what I recognized in him from the beginning.”
She explains the value of time and patience in a training regimen. “We actually all listened to this horse and learned just as much from him as he learned from us. I know that others have had relationships with their own horses, and I believe that someday someone will want to spend the time that I did with a certain horse. It isn’t easy, but it isn’t hard either because the rewards are so amazing. This is the part I find so difficult to understand today. Very few horse trainers want to listen to anybody and especially their horses. I did a lot of training myself, but I listened to everybody and then watched their results carefully. That’s how I learned! By the time Lark came along, I carefully picked trainers that I felt could do a better job in the show pen than I could. Because I realized he was so special, I didn’t want to take any chances of messing him up. I loved the people I picked. Every one of them had a positive influence on Rugged Lark, and I guarantee that Lark did the same for them,” she says.
Carol has been upset by the changes she’s seen over the many years she’s been in the industry. She is candid when sharing her frustration. “I don’t know whether the owners understand them [the changes to various disciplines], but I do know that the public doesn’t. Even though, in my opinion, the American Quarter Horse Association doesn’t understand them [the changes], I think the trainers, who are also the judges, have been able to control these disciplines for much too long. No average owner without a full-time trainer can hope to compete successfully at the national level under these conditions, in my opinion. Unfortunately, for some reason, AQHA’s leadership has been unable or unwilling to stop it or change it for at least 30 years.”
Despite her concerns, Carol is hopeful that the new Executive Vice President of the AQHA, Craig Huffhines, will be receptive to the efforts of the Protect Them Coalition. She says, “We need to create growth, not scare people away. Craig Huffhines brings solid experience in improving an organization at the American Hereford Association, so I am hopeful. I was honored to have been given the opportunity to share my thoughts at the Convention, and I’m grateful to Kathi, Vicki, and all the other horsemen who have pulled together for this effort. It’s also important for change to come from within the organization before outside organizations get involved.”
Kathi Hansen, the owner of Marsh Creek Quarter Horses, was thrilled to have Carol Harris on board. Before the Convention, she spent weeks fine-tuning the Protect Them Coalition proposals the group presented to the Executive Committee at the Convention. Kathi brings years of experience and knowledge to the Coalition. She is a successful competitor, trainer, coach, judge, and volunteers on numerous regional and national committees. She also holds a certificate in the A.H.S.A. and her competition career includes multiple AQHA World Championship titles.
This passionate horsewoman isn’t shy about sharing her concerns regarding the current state of AQHA affairs, but she emphasizes the importance of diplomacy. “This is long overdue, but first, it’s important for people to know that this effort isn’t aimed at any one owner or trainer. We are not doing this to be confrontational. It’s a collective attempt to give the horses a voice and bring this organization back toward its roots. We aren’t proposing any new regulations. We simply want to strengthen the fines and penalties for infractions of the existing cruelty and abuse regulations already in the AQHA Rule Book. We want to make sure current rules are enforced and the Stewardship program is re-evaluated. How can people who are judges or trainers really police their peers at a show? The Steward should be someone with no ties whatsoever to showing so they can do the job effectively and impartially. These are simple changes, but very important ones for the future of this organization and the welfare of the horses,” she says.
Although new to stock breed competition, Vicki Huffer is a lifelong student of the horse who describes herself as the type of person to which AQHA should be marketing. She explains, “I’ve been an educator all my life. My children are raised, I love horses, and I’m at a point in my life when I have the desire, the time and, fortunately, the ability to get involved in local and regional competition. Still, I’ve come to the game too late in life to seriously consider national competition.”
However, she still had the desire to get involved. She continues, “After looking at what I had in the barn, I made some changes in order to get ready for the show plans I had. Over a period of about two years, I shopped. I eventually bought two yearlings, a three-year old, and a six-year old, and found new homes for the horses that used to live at our farm. I want to get involved with more than just showing my horses. I also want to serve any organization of which I am a participant. To serve the breed organization is to serve the horse. Even though AQHA has lost membership, there are horsemen of every age out there who could help the organization grow. These potential new members, and perhaps some members who have left, can and should be tapped by AQHA’s marketing department.”
As she started her horse shopping expeditions and attended shows to get a feel for the current trends and show climate, she became concerned about what she saw. She says, “I was trying to learn as much as I could about stock breed competition and, in particular, AQHA competition so I could figure out where I could participate in today’s show pen world. I saw some training methods that made me very uncomfortable, and I almost didn’t recognize the movement of horses in many Western Pleasure classes. It’s so different from when I was young, and not in a good way.”
Through her involvement with the chat room discussions, Vicki saw the chance to get involved. “I offered my experience in planning events, developing marketing materials, and basic clerical work. It was a trifecta. Carol, Kathi, and I each brought something to the effort that complimented one another. Kathi, who has decades of practical experience, wrote and fine-tuned the proposals. Carol is an amazing spokesperson and well-known in the industry for her position regarding animal welfare. I did the logistics for the reception and developed marketing materials and a media strategy. We had help with a Facebook page and a new website from a friend of Carol’s, Judy McMaster Descuter. There is a groundswell of support out there. People care about the horses and the organization. The timing is right for AQHA to take a firm stand on abuse, which will in turn shine a positive light on the association.”
The day before the AQHA Convention officially opened, the Animal Welfare Commission met to discuss the Protect Them Coalition 2015 proposals. The Commission’s final recommendations to the Show Committee included most of what the Coalition had proposed. Given the strong support from the Commission, the Show Committee approved all of the Commission’s recommendations.
Ward Stutz, AQHA Director of Animal Welfare, reports that the Coalition’s concerns have been heard. He says, “Both the Show Council and Animal Welfare Commission reviewed their proposed rule changes. Based on their proposal, both bodies recommended changes to the fines and penalties. In addition, the membership will see this information in a more prominent area on the website and in the rulebook. Exhibitor’s fines and penalties will now be publicized in more detail on AQHA media.”
Vicki sums up the importance of teamwork to bring positive change, “This has been a collaborative effort. Since the Convention, we are capitalizing on the progress we have made. When people see the numbers that have joined us online, they know they won’t be the only one speaking out. That gives people the confidence to share their concerns. This is the right thing for the horses, the sport we love, and a solid future for the AQHA.”
To learn more about the Protect Them Coalition, visit them on Facebook or at www.aqhaprotectthem.com.
