I don’t think there is a rational person in this country that wasn’t torn apart by what happened at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. When this type of unspeakable horror takes place it leaves just about everyone feeling helpless, with a deep need to reach out and do something, anything, to show how much you care. But what can be done?
Greg Becker of Palm Beach, Florida, is one of those people who wanted to do something. He reached out to us to ask if we could name a wild horse after Jessica Rekos, a horse lover who died that day. “Jessica loved everything about horses,” her parents, Rich and Krista Rekos said in a statement. “She devoted her free time to watching horse movies, reading horse books, drawing horses, and writing stories about horses.” When she turned 10, they promised, she could have a horse of her own. For Christmas, she asked Santa for new cowgirl boots and hat.
Our staff knew just the filly and now “Jessica” runs wild and free on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We hope that her family can find some small comfort in this knowledge.
More food is being pulled from shelves, this time from a food supplier, Comigel, which operates in France. I am SOOOO happy the truth is coming out and that people are realizing what is going on. And if you think that isn't what will happen here if they re-open slaughter her in the US, think again. ~Declan ** For more frequent updates on the European horsemeat scandal, please also visit Children 4 Horses on Facebook, where more articles and updates are also posted. **
Lasagne taken off shelves amid concern over horsemeat contamination
Tesco and Aldi withdraw ready meals produced by the French food supplier Comigel
Frozen spaghetti and lasagne meals have been stripped from supermarket shelves. Photograph: Alamy
Frozen spaghetti and lasagne meals have been stripped from supermarket as fears over contaminated meat products spread. Retail giant shelves. Tesco and discount chain Aldi revealed it has withdrawn a range of ready meals produced by French food supplier Comigel. The move follows concern over contamination of products with horsemeat.
A Tesco spokesman said it took the step as a precaution after Findus beef lasagne was removed from sale. "Following the withdrawal of Findus beef lasagne, which is produced by Comigel, we have decided to withdraw our frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese, which is produced at the same site, as a precautionary measure. There is no evidence that our product has been contaminated and the meat used in the Findus product is not used in our product. However, we have decided to withdraw the product pending the results of our own tests."
Aldi would not confirm if the products may have been contaminated or mislabelled. "Following an alert from our French supplier, Comigel, Aldi immediately withdrew its Today's Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today's Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese from stores as a precautionary measure," it said.
"Comigel has flagged concerns that the products do not conform to specification. They have been withdrawn immediately so that Aldi can conduct its own investigations into the factory concerned. These investigations are continuing.
"We will continue to maintain active scrutiny across our supply lines and will always put the quality of our products and safety of our customers first."
Findus UK said it withdrew its 320g, 360g and 500glasagne meals as a precautionary measure after a labelling issue with its supplier was uncovered. The company insisted it was not a food safety issue.
"Deserving consumers' trust is a key priority for us," said a Findus UK spokesman. "As part of that commitment, we have been constantly reviewing our supply chain."
EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS!! This is So VERY VERY WRONG!! More empty shelves after another investigation uncovered more horse meat in "all beef" products. This time, it was found that the meat was 80% horsemeat!!~Declan ** For more frequent updates on the European horsemeat scandal, please also visit Children 4 Horses on Facebook, where more articles and updates are also posted. **
Burger meat found containing 80% horse: Asda clears shelves after new supplier scare
Supermarket staff removed all own-brand burgers from sale after a new investigation uncovered the batch of rogue meat at a supplier
Neigh more: Empty shelves in Asda
Fuming Asda bosses last night vowed to get to the bottom of the contaminated beef scandal that has left it with no own-brand frozen burgers.
Workers yesterday had to clear shelves for a second time after Polish meat being stored by the shop’s supplier was found to contain 80% horse – the biggest amount so far discovered in tests.
Staff moved swiftly when a new investigation uncovered the batch of rogue raw cuts, destined to be turned into burgers, at Freeza Meats.
Irish trader Martin McAdam owned the 900kg of meat but it was being stored inside the plant at Newry, Co Down, as a favour after factory chiefs turned down a deal to buy it.
An Asda source said: “There is a real determination to find out exactly how this came to happen.
“The meat was found on the premises of one of our suppliers and we want to know how and why this was allowed.”
The superstore had to bin tens of thousands of its Just Beef, 100% Beef Quarter Pounders, 100% Beef Burgers and Big Eat Burgers, which had been labelled 100% beef.
Experts estimate the cost of Asda’s shelf clearing could run into millions if the crisis drags on long term.
Store bosses carried out their own tests on beef from Freeza Meats.
A spokeswoman said: “There are no signs of horse meat but as a precaution we have withdrawn four lines of burgers and suspended trade until further notice.”
Only Birds Eye and fresh burgers are now available in the store.
New scare: Freeza Meats factory
Asda had already ditched 29 lines when horse meat was found in food from another supplier, Silvercrest, three weeks ago.
Officials from the Food Standards Agency swooped on Freeza Meats to check its product after horse was found in Irish factories.
Two out of 12 samples tested contained mostly horse.
A Freeza Meats spokesman said: “We were approached by the meat trader McAdam Foods Services in Co Monaghan to purchase a parcel of raw material, which we declined.
“Martin McAdam subsequently asked us to hold his product in storage which we did in goodwill in a separated area of the storage facility. The raw material never reached the food chain.”
And Mr McAdam last night insisted he got the meat in good faith from two EU approved Polish suppliers and was assured it was beef.
He said: “I have never traded in horse meat. I am flabbergasted and still reeling.
"A paper trail goes back to Poland and it shows that I only bought beef. I bought it in good faith from EU approved suppliers and it should be what it says on the tin.”
Mr McAdam who set up the family business seven years ago has handed over his documents to the FSA and the Agriculture Department’s Special Investigation Unit.
A spokesman for McAdam Foods Services said: “We are shocked to discover equine content has been identified in products which have been imported and supplied through us.
“The source of these products is Polish and we have identified the specific supplier names to the Irish authorities.
“Any such products were bought on the basis of their being ordered, documented, labelled and understood to be beef, and nothing else.
"We confirm that product of Polish origin was stored at Freeza Meats in Newry for us last year on a goodwill basis. We are co-operating fully and willingly with the authorities.”
Original probe: The Silvercrest site
Freeza Meats has now pledged to change the practise of storing meat for third parties as a favour.
The contaminated batch has been seized and quarantined.
Professor Alan Reilly, whose research at the Food Safety Authority of Ireland first exposed the contamination, said: “We are no longer talking about trace amounts, we are talking about horse meat.
"Somebody, some place is drip-feeding horse meat into the burger manufacturing industry. We don’t know exactly where this is happening.”
For the first time police on both sides of the Irish border have been drafted in to help close the net on the scandal.
Polish authorities have denied their nation is responsible for dodgy exports.
But Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has thrown down the gauntlet and invited them to examine the evidence.
The latest chapter comes just 24 hours after the Mirror revealed another Irish firm was at the centre of a police inquiry after burgers were found to be 75% horse.
Rangeland Foods of Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, shut amid suspicions Polish meat was behind the contamination.
Weeks ago Irish-owned Silvercrest had to close after some Tesco burgers were found to contain 29% horse meat.
Tesco, Co-op, Iceland and Sainsbury’s which withdrew burgers as a result of contamination at Silvercrest and sister company Dalepak said they were unaffected by the latest crisis.
Firm stands for ‘quality’
FREEZA Meats, based in Northern Ireland, has been making burgers for more than four decades.
Set up in 1974 it employs 45 people and supplies retailers including ASDA as well as cafes, restaurants and hotels.
Its website boasts the firm’s name “has always stood for high quality meat products”, adding that “the management continually strive to produce quality products using high quality ingredients”.
The company has invested £3million to keep its factory up to EU safety standards.
An amazing woman named Gail Vacca found Lulu discarded at a slaughter auction, and thanks to Ms. Vacca, the wonderful foal Taxi has been born! I am so glad that she saw worth and value in Lulu's life! ~Declan
Pregnant horse headed to slaughter saved; race horse born
by Sean Lewis Anchor/Reporter February 6, 2013 As Posted on wgntv9
On a small farm just west of Aurora, the falling snow masks this amazing horse tale
Gail Vacca, the founder of the Illinois Equine Humane Center will proudly tell you about all of the horses she’s saved from slaughter over the years; but it’s 15 year old thoroughbred named Lulu who may take up the majority of your chat.
In 2009, Vacca found Lulu at a slaughter auction in Indiana. A former racer, Lulu was nearly crippled in pain. A man had already bought her, intent bringing her to Canada for slaughter. That’s when Vacca stepped in.
“I told him I didn’t think she’d survive the trip and he was going to lose money anyway, so name your price and I’ll buy her,” Vacca said.
The price was $300.
Here’s where this tale takes on a different color: Without knowing it, Gail not only saved Lulu but the unborn foal growing inside of her. Lulu gave birth, and much to everyone’s surprise, the baby they named Taxi — born on Tax Day, April 15 — had the look, the stride of a potential champion.
Gail learned Taxi’s dad was also a former racer named Magna Graduate.
“When I looked up Magna Graduate’s history online, I was floored to find out that Magna Graduate had just retired from racing having earned $2.5 million,” Vacca said.
Taxi, who’s known in racing circles as Magna Fortuna or “Great Fortune,” is now three and is set to run his second race at Hawthorne Race Track in Cicero on February 15.
For more information about how you can help other horses in need, go to www.ilehc.org
These loving understanding horses are helping veterans come home. I'm so glad that they can interact and work with the horses to help them heal! ~Declan
'Warriors in Transition' horses help veterans coming home from war
Veteran Bob Lecy lets Max, a Tennesee Walker, roll over Thursday to get comfortable before a therapy session at Fifth Element Ranch in Loveland. Warriors in Transition is a equine-related therapeutic program that helps veterans with issues they may have after war. / V. Richard Haro/Coloradoan
Nestled in the foothills of Loveland, Tara Pogoda is trying to work a little horse magic on veterans from both recent wars and conflicts past.
To be fair, she “hates to use the word magic”; but in the couple of hours I spent with her on a Thursday morning, she couldn’t come up with a better word to describe the bond between the veterans she’s working with in equine-assisted therapy and their hoofed companions.
Pogoda recently started implementing a program called “Warriors in Transition” at her ranch in Loveland, Fifth Element Ranch. Though she’s certified and works with a variety of clients beside veterans, Warriors in Transition is a program she’s trying to provide at no cost to the men and women who serve or have served our country.
Unlike many of the equine therapy programs I’ve focused on in this column previously, Warriors in Transition looks more at the “heart” of things, focusing almost exclusively on emotional healing over the physical. Pogoda’s process starts with a client just observing a horse in its stall and coming to terms with his or her emotional state. Exercises become progressively more hands-on to include walking around with the animal and getting the horse to perform certain “tricks.”
The horse becomes her “tattletale” to issues that need to be worked on within the veteran, using snorts or a resistance to comply with instructions until the veteran faces a certain issue.
“The horse reads the insights I can’t see and the the things the human may not want to see,” Pogoda said. “In the world of combat veterans, it’s called compartmentalizing, but the horse knows where it is and wants to help you.”
For Vietnam veteran Bob Lecy, 65, of Longmont, his buddy Max, a beloved Tennessee Walker trained in equine-assisted therapy, has drastically changed the way he responds to the trauma he experienced returning from war.
When he first started working with the program as a volunteer and in therapy, he “wouldn’t crack a smile.” When I met him, he couldn’t stop grinning around Max, hugging his neck and leaning his head on the horse’s shoulder.
“He’s my bud,” Lecy told me. “(Doing horse therapy) was more than just an eye-opener; it was a heart opener.”
Though it’s been decades since his combat experience, Lecy said the program has already given him tremendous healing. He hopes more programs such as this will become available to soldiers returning from war in the current generation, including his fellow volunteer Matthew Jarrett, 30, of Pierce. Jarrett drives 45 minutes to volunteer with the program and spend time with horses because of the therapeutic effect it’s had on him. He’s an Army veteran who served in Iraq in 2003 and 2004.
“It helps us break things down,” Jarrett said. “What is PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)? We break that down into feelings — anger, sadness, depression — and don’t allow it to be lumped into a label. Instead we break it down into something we can work with.”
“We didn’t have programs like this after Vietnam,” Lecy added. “We didn’t understand what PTSD was or meant. I’m grateful I can do it now, and I’m even more grateful these programs are becoming available for recent vets. I don’t want them to go through the stuff we went through back then.”
Veteran Matthew Jarrett praises Max, a therapy horse, after she stepped on a block of wood Thursday at Fifth Element Ranch in Loveland. Warriors in Transition is a equine-related therapy program for veterans. / V. Richard Haro/Coloradoan
** For more frequent updates on the European horsemeat scandal, please also visit Children 4 Horses on Facebook, where more articles and updates are also posted. **
DUBLIN (AP) — Ireland's government announced Monday that DNA testing has confirmed that Polish meat offcuts imported into Ireland and labeled as beef actually contain up to 75 percent horsemeat, a discovery made as Ireland's food-standards scandal forced a second burger manufacturer to shut operations.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said police have joined Ireland's 3-week-old investigation into why horsemeat has been detected in some Irish-produced burgers and the chief suspect, Poland, has yet to supply any adequate explanation.
Ireland's Food Safety Authority ordered the original DNA tests on Irish-produced burgers to determine whether they contained other meats beside beef. The discovery of horsemeat poses no danger to consumers but highlights the inaccuracy of food labels on some processed meat products and points to potential fraud in the industry. Horsemeat costs a fraction of beef.
DNA results last month on a wide range of factory-made burgers in Ireland found more than a third contained at least a trace of horsemeat — and two, manufactured for the British supermarkets Tesco and Co-op, contained 29 percent and 18 percent horsemeat respectively. British officials said they feared that such horsemeat-tainted burgers had been on sale since mid-2012.
The Agriculture Department said Monday's test results found that a sample of the Polish product taken from the Rangeland Foods beef-burger processing plant was found to be composed of 75 percent horsemeat.
It wasn't determined whether the latest results represented a higher level of horsemeat than detected in earlier tests, given that the initial DNA tests were on finished burgers while the latest pinpointed the volume of horsemeat in the imported Polish ingredient itself. The Polish product was labeled as beef offcuts — slaughterhouse leftovers — that the Irish plants used as cheap filler material in budget-priced burgers.
Polish authorities, fearful that their own lucrative meat-export markets could be damaged, insist their own testing of slaughterhouses implicated by Ireland has not turned up any evidence that any of them handled horsemeat.
In its statement, the Irish Agriculture Department said its officials were "in continuing contact with the Polish authorities as the investigation has shown that all implicated raw material ingredient is labeled as Polish product."
Rangeland in Castleblaney, in County Monaghan near the border with Northern Ireland, said it has voluntarily suspended operations. Rangeland since 1982 has produced frozen beef burgers for use in fast-food outlets, chiefly in Ireland, and today has a work force of 80.
The government statement said Rangeland informed Agriculture Department officials last Thursday they had some of the suspicious Polish product in their stores. Rangeland officials said it was supplied by an Irish-based meat trader who is also under investigation.
Coveney said officials still were trying to figure out whether the trader supplied the Polish offcuts to other processing plants.
Before Monday, the economic damage had focused on the Silvercrest processing plant, also in Monaghan, which had been identified as the primary producer of horsemeat-tainted burgers. Its operations have been suspended and it has lost contracts worth more than €45 million ($65 million) annually, chiefly its two biggest customers: Tesco, the biggest supermarket in both Britain and Ireland, and Burger King.
Burger King was first to cut off relations with Silvercrest, which previously supplied all the beef patties used in its restaurants in Ireland, Britain and Denmark. Burger King conducted its own DNA tests on Silvercrest-supplied burgers still in its stores but said it found no horsemeat traces.
Retail customers have denounced Silvercrest for violating a key clause of their contract specifying that all beef must be sourced in Ireland. Tesco said it would seek other Irish suppliers, but Burger King shifted its patty supply to Italy and Germany.
Americans have had a long love affair with horses. Whether on the racetrack, on television, or in Hollywood, celebrated steeds such as Citation, Secretariat, Black Beauty, Trigger and Mr. Ed have always been part of our national history and culture. Our nation was built on the backs of horses. Yet, today, our horse population is facing an unparalleled crisis caused by over-breeding, unsafe racetracks, and the demand for horsemeat served in many products sold in Europe.
Each year, more than 100,000 healthy horses in the United States are shipped across our borders to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada. These animals suffer from inhumane long-distance transport and are subjected to cruel and clumsy slaughter practices. Consuming meat from American horses is also a health risk: Our horses are raised as companions, athletes or work horses, so they have been routinely given drugs that can render their meat contaminated.
However, American horsemeat is still sold in Europe. In the last few weeks, European officials and consumer groups have discovered beef burgers for sale in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain that contained horse DNA though it was not labeled as such. This isn't an animal rights issue. It is one of public safety.
How can this slaughter of American horses be stopped? The Humane Society of the United States continues to urge Congress to ban horse slaughter for good with a bill that would not only outlaw the practice within the U.S., but also the export of live horses to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. Horse breeders can also help by reducing the number of horses they bring into the world. The HSUS created the Responsible Horse Breeders Council, comprised of breeders around the country dedicated to improving horse welfare. Breeders will sign a pledge stating that they will take back any horse they have bred that becomes homeless whether that's because it has outlived its usefulness on the racetrack, in the show ring, or as a working horse.
A large part of the solution for homeless horses are the many sanctuaries and rescue facilities where horses can be rehabilitated and placed in caring homes, or live out their days in tranquility. The HSUS now operates some of the largest sanctuaries in the country -- the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch and the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center in Murchison, Texas, as well as the Duchess Sanctuary in Oakland, Ore. There are also smaller sanctuaries, such as Squirrelwood in Montgomery, N.Y., whose owners regularly go to horse auctions to purchase animals that would otherwise be sent to slaughter. But all of these sanctuaries need funding to continue caring for these horses.
We also need to take a hard look at how we treat these animals. Carriage horses in New York City should be banned. Horrific accidents have occurred when a carriage horse bolted into traffic putting itself, the driver and passengers in danger.
At the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, many horses running in cheap claiming races break down, jeopardizing the safety of other horses and jockeys. One should also note the shocking abuse of Tennessee walking horses who are subjected to having caustic chemicals applied to their legs in order to achieve the unnatural "big lick" gait prized in the industry.
In 2012, The HSUS launched the Safe Stalls program, a national network of horse rescues, professionals, and enthusiasts who provide emergency care and shelter for horses suffering from cruelty or natural disaster situations.
But more needs to be done. The public needs to pressure lawmakers to champion legislation that helps horses. Racetracks might use a portion of the revenue realized through casino gambling to support homes for retired racehorses. Professional equestrians need to rally the world of show horses to make certain that none of their horses go to slaughter.
Companies such as Ralph Lauren and Ford, which ally themselves with horses through their products, should contribute money to programs that help equines.
But perhaps just as important, we need to let some of our European friends know that the horsemeat they consider as a delicacy can be riddled with chemicals from painkillers and other drugs these horses are treated with throughout their lives. By closing down the market for horsemeat, the slaughter houses will eventually be forced to shut their doors.
When we domesticated the horse, we took on the responsibility of caring for it throughout its life. It is only right that an animal that gives joy to so many should be protected from harm and allowed to live out its life in greener pastures.
Colbran rancher Larry Amos watches as the mule foal nuzzles its mother, Kate, a 7-year-old "molly" that gave birth three months ago to the still-unnamed "miracle" offspring. Genetic tests confirmed that the foal is Kate's. (Ed Kosmicki | Special to The Post)
Colbran - When it reportedly happened in Morocco five years ago, locals feared it signaled the end of the world. In Albania in 1994, it was thought to have unleashed the spawn of the devil on a small village.
But on a Grand Mesa ranch, the once-in-a-million, genetically "impossible" occurrence of a mule giving birth has only drawn keen interest from the scientific world. That, and a stream of the locally curious driving up from the small town of Colbran to check out and snap pictures of a frisky, huge-eared, gangly-legged foal.
"No one has run away in fear yet," laughed Laura Amos, the owner of the foal, along with her husband, Larry.
The foal is being called a miracle because mules aren't supposed to
Jesus the mule is the mayor of Buckskin Joe Frontier Town. Special to The Denver Post/Sean Cayton ( | SEAN CAYTON)
give birth. Mules are a hybrid of two species - a female horse and a male donkey - so they end up with an odd number of chromosomes. A horse has 64 chromosomes and a donkey has 62. A mule inherits 63. An even number of chromosomes is needed to divide into pairs and reproduce.
But those numbers added up to implausibility in late April when the Amoses awoke to a braying and whinnying ruckus in the corral behind their house.
Running to the rescue
They spotted a foal peeking out from between the front legs of one of their favorite black mules, Kate. They tore outside to save the baby from the male mules - the johns - that were trying to stomp the little critter and the other female mules - the mollies - that were trying to steal it.
And then the Amoses began to ponder how the foal had fooled mule sterility, a phenomenon first noted by the Greek philosopher Aristotle.
The Amoses, who have about 100 horses and mules at their Winterhawk Outfitters business, knew that what they were seeing is considered scientifically impossible - as much so today as in ancient Greece. They began doing research and found that in the past two centuries about 50 cases of mules giving birth
Swifty the donkey takes a break from eating grass on Morris Powell's family farm in Rising Fawn, Ga., Friday, July 16, 2004. As one of the most active Democrats in the rural part of Georgia, Morris Powell was assured a spot months ago as a delegate at the party's convention in Boston. It took some negotiating, but now Swifty is a delegate too. Swifty overcame security and space concerns to become ``the official Donkey Delegate'' of the convention. (AP | RIC FELD)
have been recorded. Only two of those were proved with genetic testing.
It's an event so rare that the Romans had a saying, "cum mula peperit," meaning "when a mule foals" - the equivalent of "when hell freezes over."
Genetic testing at the University of Kentucky and the University of California at Davis confirmed that Kate is indeed a mule and that the still unnamed foal really is her offspring. That ruled out factors that have explained away some of the past births mistakenly attributed to mules. Those mules had stolen foals or they were not really mules themselves. They were donkeys or mulish-looking horses.
Now, the Amoses are waiting for chromosome testing from the University of California to determine
ARVADA, COLORADO--05_19_06-- Charlie Metro spent 55 yards in baseball, including a time as manager of the Denver Bears. Now at 88 he leads a quite life with his wife Helen at their 15 acre farm in Arvada where they have lived for 43 years. He is pictured with some horses that he boards on his property. PHOTO BY HELEN H. RICHARDSON ( | HELEN H. RICHARDSON)
exactly what is the fast-growing foal cavorting clumsily around their corral. He could be a smidgen of horse and a lot of donkey or mostly horse with just a bit of donkey genes.
"He's got a donkey look now, but they all do at that age," Larry Amos said.
Surprise findings
Dr. Oliver Ryder, associate director of the Conservation and Research of Endangered Species division at the San Diego Zoo, said the answer to how Kate could give birth could be surprising. There were very unexpected - and still unexplained - findings when a molly mule gave birth to two foals in Nebraska in the mid-1980s. The event prompted notice from the local pulpit and a flurry of scientific investigation, including the first genetic testing of a mule's offspring.
Ryder said that tests in the Nebraska case showed there was no evidence the mother passed along any genetic markers from her father - a donkey that was also the father of the foals. The phenomenon is called "hemiclonal transmission," which in simple terms means that the mare's genes canceled out the male's genes as if they didn't even exist.
That phenomenon has been observed in amphibians but not in mammals.
"No recombinations took place. There was no reassortment. We looked at markers on every chromosome," Ryder said. "This was an extremely unexpected finding."
Another famous but scientifically undocumented case occurred at Texas A&M in the 1920s. A mule gave birth to a mule when the sire was a donkey and then to a horse when the sire was a stallion.
Ryder said he is "fascinated by this phenomenon" and is looking forward to learning more from the Amoses' foal.
So is the mule publication "Mules and More," which is running a contest to name the foal and has promised readers regular updates.
The Amoses are still scratching their heads. They didn't know Kate was pregnant when they bought her and nine other mules from a breeder in Pleasant Plains, Ark., late last summer. She worked as a pack animal through the winter, and no one noticed when the animals were brought in this spring that she was pregnant. They were all fattened from a winter of good feed.
The Amoses are talking about breeding Kate again. They want to see if the "miracle" will occur twice. They say they have no fear that it will bring on the end of the world.
Tommie Turvey does some pretty amazing things with the horses he trains!! Check out the video! ~Declan
Brooksville man trained horses for Super Bowl commercial
Posted: Feb 02, 2013 5:50 PM ESTUpdated: Feb 02, 2013 5:51 PM EST
By: Cynthia Smoot, FOX 13 News
Turvey is a self-described horse trainer, equine entertainer and stuntman. You can see his handywork first-hand during Sunday's big game.
BROOKSVILLE (FOX 13) -
If you haven't seen it yet, you will. Chances are this year's Budweiser advertisement during Super Bowl XLVII will bring a tear to your eye, or at least a lump in your throat.
Featuring the world famous Clydesdales, it's a 60-second story about a little horse that grows up to pull the iconic red wagon, but never forgets the man who raised him.
The man in the commercial is an actor, but the man who handled the horses behind the scenes is the real thing, and lives right here in the Tampa Bay area.
Tommie Turvey calls himself an "equine extremist," which makes sense when you see what he does with horses. On his picturesque Liberty Horse Ranch in Brooksville, Turvey trains a stable full of equine stars that travel with him around the world to perform and do clinics.
Turvey says training horses to do what doesn't come naturally takes time, trust and respect.
"A whip in my hand and a carrot in the other hand...it's an equal balance of both. It's a carrot stick training and it's been around forever, since humans have been working animals," he said.
"Blade" is an 11-year-old former BLM mustang, handpicked by Turvey when he was four and just off the range. We watch as Turvey cues him to gallop across the arena and mount a box, front feet first, then the back. It's a trick that may look simple, but really isn't.
"Just running up...doing on it on a mark, running to his mark. That took over a year," he explains.
Blade is one of Turvey's star equines, with six films under his girth. He also had a short, but pivotal scene, in the premiere episode of AMC's wildly popular, "The Walking Dead."
Turvey describes it.
"Andrew Lincoln, the sheriff, goes out there and catches him, then rides him into downtown Atlanta, and he gets attacked, overcome by a hundred zombies, thrown to the ground and eaten alive," he says.
Now Turvey has another screen credit to add to his growing resume. He trained three of the four horses featured in this year's Budweiser Super Bowl ad.
He taught 8-month-old "Punky" to untie herself, and "PeeWee" to run alongside the pickup truck. Turvey says that was riskier than it looks.
"I had to train the horse to run next to the truck with a camera car chasing that horse, and they used a pursuit vehicle with a huge arm with a camera on it. That is a very dangerous thing," he said.
It's no small feat for some very big horses. Turvey says he's humbled by the trust placed in him by the Clydesdale trainers. Like him, he says they're very protective of their equine charges.
"For them to put it in my hands and say ‘here you go, run some horses down the streets of LA and teach a baby horse to lay down, whatever you want to do,' that's quite an honor for me," Turvey said.
And a proud moment for the trainer who will be watching on Sunday along with the rest of us.
"You know who I'm rootin' for? The Budweiser Clydesdales!" Turvey said.
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