COLLIERVILLE, Tenn., May 18 (UPI) -- An undercover video shows horse trainers putting painful chemicals on Tennessee Walking Horses' legs to induce their high-stepping gait, activists said.
The video, made by an investigator for the Humane Society of the United States and aired on ABC News's "Nightline," also shows horses being struck in the head with sticks, CNN reported. The video shows one horse writhing as it is whipped and another receiving a shock to the head.
Using the chemicals in a technique called "soring" -- the pain causes show horses to lift their legs high while in the ring -- is banned under the Horse Protection Act.
"There obviously is a huge problem," said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for litigation and investigations with the Humane Society. "In the competition to get this unnatural gait, trainers are using banned substances to cheat."
Trainer Jackie L. McConnell of Whitter Stables of Collierville, Tenn., and other trainers appeared in the video using techniques banned 40 years ago.
CNN said McConnell and three other men were named in a 52-count federal indictment this year.
Court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee indicate McConnell will plead guilty next week to one count of conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act.
Tom Greenholtz, McConnell's attorney, declined comment on the specifics of the case or McConnell's reaction to the allegations, the report said.
Greenholtz did confirm his client is seen using a stick on a horse in the video, CNN said.
The Humane Society said "stewarding" trains a horse not to react to pain during official show inspections of their legs for soreness by striking them in the head when they flinch during simulations of inspections.
