June 21, 2012

TWSHO

To Whom It May Concern:

I am a member of the GWHEA Summer Classic Horse Show committee that is working very hard to put on a horse show here in Georgia to benefit our Association and several of the charities we support. I had an unpleasant interaction with someone from TWSHO yesterday — and don’t even know who TWSHO is!

Yesterday someone from TWSHO called and said they were coming to swab horses at our show. They did not ask me – they told me – they were coming. I told them that we did not want them to come to our show to swab and gave some very logical reasons which I will list below. I was told that we had no choice in the matter, and I was also told that I could not show my horse if it was not swabbed. Please tell me how TWSHO has any authority whatsoever to tell me that I can’t show my horse if it is not swabbed. I don’t remember voting to give this organization any authority over me as an owner. I have not been made aware that you are an “official” organization representing the TWH industry, and have not received any correspondence from you to explain who you are and what the “swabbing initiative” is. You could be HSUS in disguise for all I know.

So, I went to your website to find out more about TWSHO. There is certainly not much information there! There is no address or phone numbers. Where are you located? There is no indication of what type of legal entity you are. I have no idea who your officers and Board of Directors are. Do you even exist? The one thing I DID find on your website was a letter that contained the following (and I copied and pasted this directly from your website): The swabbing initiative will start June 15th with SHOW events and any Show Manager that requests or agrees to have it at their event.. Since I have seen nothing else in writing from TWSHO, I have to trust that this statement is still true. Therefore, we do not request nor agree for you to conduct swabbing at the GWHEA Summer Classic Show.

The reason for our hesitation about this is that many of us have a lot of unanswered questions about TWSHO and this “swabbing initiative.” Is there anything in writing that has been sent to the industry stakeholders like myself explaining who TWSHO is – such as your purpose, what you think you can accomplish with it, why you think it would benefit me to join with your initiatives, and how you think this will benefit the industry? I got a call out of nowhere from a woman on the phone that I don’t know representing some organization that I don’t know anything about, assuring me this is being done to help the industry – but she couldn’t answer any questions I have about it, nor do her assurances protect me from potential legal ramifications that might result from this.

Is there a written protocol in place for how this swabbing is going to be carried out, including how the integrity of the swabs themselves and the data derived from them is going to be maintained? The information I got from your website indicates that the process for determining procedures and protocols is still a work in process.

Here’s another direct copy & paste from your website: We are working on the rest of the protocol and asked the other key HIOs that inspect performance and flat shod horses to join in discussing, finalizing, embracing and implementing the swabbing protocol. Has this protocol been finalized and embraced yet? If so, we need to see it in writing. Why has this protocol and the procedures for swabbing not been documented and sent out to each and every stakeholder who will be affected by this? My opinion is that until everything about this program has been documented and the stakeholders are better informed and on board with this program, you are not ready to implement the swabbing initiative. There is a tremendous amount of confusion and mistrust within the industry about the swabbing initiative. I think your organization should address this issue and make sure the majority of the industry is on board before you start swabbing; otherwise you risk shooting yourself – and the industry — in the foot.

Finally, several trainers have commented that they aren’t coming to the show if swabbing is going on. I understand that TWSHO is saying that the trainers are unanimously in support of this swabbing initiative. It sounds to me like someone has their wires crossed, because that’s not what the majority of them are saying. If your goal is to help the industry, how do you think killing horse shows because trainers won’t cooperate with your swabbing initiative is going to help the industry?? Imagine the negative publicity for the industry if a show shuts down because the trainers don’t support the swabbing initiative. Keith Dane and Nightline will have a field day with that!

I am not saying that swabbing would not be welcomed sometime in the future, but right now it is obvious that your organization is not yet prepared to begin this initiative. Therefore, we do not want you to attend our show and jeopardize all the hard work that has been carried out by this show committee.
Please call me if you have any questions. My phone numbers are: 770-601-9289 and 770-267-7647. I will be happy to have a civil conversation with anyone who can offer more than platitudes – such as actually answering my questions.

Sincerely,
Susan Paul