Chattanooga horse owner Lucille Davis had heard the ugly rumors about what some trainers did to force the high-stepping gait on a Tennessee Walking Horse.

“I have to admit I didn’t believe horses were being abused,” Davis said. “Now as I am educated and older, I realize the whole picture.”

She purchased a 5-year-old black gelding earlier this year from a reputable Walking Horse stable in Shelbyville, the heart of the Walking Horse industry located about 50 miles south of Nashville.

But she later discovered the horse had scars and hair loss on its forelegs from chemical burns–the unmistakable signs of “soring.” Davis also found small nails in the shoes used to painfully puncture the hoof