WonderBlog #4: Strange Laws in Oklahoma, Part 1

Browsing the Web yet again, I discovered a list of many laws in the state of Oklahoma that are, well, not so logical or explainable.

1) For one thing, no one in the state of Oklahoma is allowed to promote a "horse-tripping" event.

Now, at first, I laughed when I read about this law. I mean, who wouldn't? I immediately thought of cow-tipping, of extremely bored kids sneaking out at night long past their curfew, snickering quietly and telling each other to shush as they sneak over and push the poor behemoths onto their sides, then sprinting for their lives.

But the hard truth remains, horse-tripping is actually a painfully real practice. During horse-tripping events, the object is literally to trip very real horses, you score points the more horses you trip. With the use of electric prods, Mexican cowboys, more commonly known as "charros", force the animals to run at a full gallop and then lasso their front or hind legs, which inevitably cause them to fall crashing to the ground.

Witnesses have reported that the charros will continue this practice until the horses become lame. Thousands of horses become injured at Mexican-style rodes every year.

Although the charros who have publicly discussed the practice have said that their intention was never to harm the horses and that they only rope the horses one out of every ten tries, horse-tripping has been banned in several U.S. states including California, Florida, Illionois, Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. They have also been banned from all television and film production, by the Profesional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and by the American Quarter Horse Association. Citizens continue to fight for bans in other states.

But in these states the practice is just a misdemeanor, they haven't eradicated the practice so much as reduced it with the promise of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail follwing the event's execution.

You can learn how to ban horse-tripping in your area by contacting Cathleen Doyle of the California Equine Council at 818-771-0702 and by her e-mail, savethehorse@earthlink.net.

This is also her mailing address:
Cathleen Doyle
California Equine Council
P.O. Box 40000
Studio City, CA 91614