State Fair ends performances by Tennessee Walking Horses
RALEIGH -- Officials say the North Carolina State Fair will no longer have performances by the high-stepping Tennessee Walking Horses.
Chief Deputy Agriculture Commissioner N. David Smith told The News & Observer that protests last year are part of the reason the show won't return after more than 30 years.
Smith says the show costs more money to have veterinarians check the animals, and the number of horses performing had declined.
Protesters against the walking horses say the performance is cruel and inhumane because trainers get the horses to step high by causing them pain.
Keith Dane of the Humane Society of the United States says North Carolina was the last fair in the nation to hold performances where the horses lift their feet as high as possible.
