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Subject: Horse Tripping: A Third World Nightmare In America By Frosty WooldridgeMar 16, 2004 When hearing about it for the first time, you can't believe it. There's no way in America that anyone could commit such animal cruelty and get away with it. The first time you see it, you're sickened to your stomach. Your eyes can't deal with the ugly drama before you. Your mind goes numb. Later, you become enraged with anger. The onslaught of the Third World into America has created a greater audience for horse tripping. It is the deliberate act of chasing horses around an arena until they reach top speed. Once they hit full gallop, Mexican charros trip them with lariats. The horse’s tumble, all 1000 pounds of magnificent horseflesh, into a melee of breaking bones, tearing flesh with compound fractures, broken necks and screaming pain. The Mexican crowd cheers, only this isn't in Mexico. It's in America. Cathleen Doyle, president of California Equine Council: "Any state with a large Hispanic population is tripping horses," she said. "Horses break legs, necks and teeth. They fracture their shoulders, batter their knees and hocks. You can see deep gashes on their faces, shoulders, hips, legs and heels. The ropes often burn their flesh down to the bone." As an American citizen, how would you feel if you saw horses being tripped in a display of fantastic brutality? Would you cheer like they do in Mexico and South America? Would it give you pleasure? Would you want your horse tripped? Would you want to be tripped while running at full speed? So far, it sickened enough people in New Mexico, Maine, California and Texas; to enforce bans against this disgusting cultural practice. But it's still allowed in all other states. This is how disgusting it is: The Mexican charros in our country lease horses from a slaughterhouse buyer. Before going to the factory, they run the animals until they break their legs or necks. They don't have to pay vet bills. For example a young Arab, Pepe, was a girl's pet horse until she attended college. The parents sold the horse to a polite man at an auction for $250.00. The new owner sold Pepe for slaughter, but before that, he made even more cash on the doomed horse by leasing him to the horse trippers. The polite man pocketed $1,600.00 blood money from the charros. The charros didn't have to feed or clean up Pepe. Once he broke his neck, the polite man took Pepe to the slaughterhouse for killing. Even after breaking her leg, Pepe and other horses with broken necks or legs, suffer for several days before going to the slaughterhouse. A Mexican charro, Gabriel Lopez, a lobbyist for the Illinois Federation of Charros, defends the practice; "This has been a part of our culture for many, many years. We don't want to give it up." |