Gen’s Black Maverick Update: Sore

By Nancy Brannon, Ph.D.

The Mid-South Horse Review published articles in October and November 2017 about the suspension and fines on the trainer/exhibitor and owners of 2017 World Grand Champion Gen’s Black Maverick for violations of the Horse Protection Act (HPA).

Bill Callaway, who rode Gen’s Black Maverick to the 2017 World Grand Championship, began an eight-month suspension the day after the Celebration ended – from September 4, 2017 to May 3, 2018 – from any participation in horse shows and was fined $1,100 under a Consent Decision and Order with APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture), filed 3/29/2017. His brother, John Allan Callaway, was also suspended for these same eight months and fined $1,100 under a Consent Decision and Order with APHIS, entered 3/29/2017.

Additional USDA Consent Decisions and Orders filed on January 12, 2017, showed that Gen’s Black Maverick owners Keith Rosbury and Lorraine Rosbury had violated the HPA. The violation occurred on August 27, 2016 when the Rosburys “allowed the entry of a horse [they] owned (Gen’s Black Maverick) in class 84A” at the 2016 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration while sore.

On March 22, 2018, additional documents were made available to Mid-South Horse Review: the USDA veterinary report:Summary of Alleged Violations from the August 2016 horse inspections of Gen’s Black Maverick at the 78th annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

The inspection report, listing trainer Bill Callaway and owners Keith and Lorraine Rosbury and Maple Crest Farm, show that Gen’s Black Maverick was inspected 8/27/16 and found to be “bilateral sore and [in violation of the] scar rule.” Diagrams on the document show the horse had lateral sore on the left foot and two places on the medial right foot that were sore. The diagrams also indicate two scars on both front pasterns. The document was signed by Amy S. Adams, DVM 8/28/16.

A second inspection report from the 78th annual Celebration dated 8/27/16, again, showed the horse was sore and in violation of the scar rule, with scars on the backs of both front pasterns. This document was signed by Aaron Rhyner, DVM 8/28/16.

An additional document, the USDA Complaint, dated as received January 12, 2017, named the following in violation of the Horse Protection Act: Brittany Baum, Jacob Baum, Bill Callaway, John Allen Callaway, Trish Harrison-Spivey, Keith Rosbury, Lorraine Rosbury, Vicki Self, and Brad Spivey. 

The complaint reads: “The nature and circumstances of the prohibited conduct alleged in this complaint are that Mr. John Allen Callaway, Mr. Bill Callaway, and Ms. Self entered one or more horses in a horse show while the horses were ‘sore’ (as that term is defined in the Act and the Regulations), and that Messrs. Baum, Spivey and Rosbury, Ms. Baum, Ms. Rosbury, and Ms. Harrison-Spivey allowed the entry of their horses in a horse show while the horses were sore. …The complaint alleges that each of the respondents violated the HPA.”

The complaint lists the Official Warnings and their dates issued by APHIS to each of those listed above. There are 51 total warnings and violations listed in the court document, entered December 22, 2016.

March 18, 2016: warning to Ms. Baum… having allowed the entry of a horse (Sky Jam) in a horse show on May 21, 2015, which horse APHIS found was sore.

March 16, 2016: warning to Mr. Baum… having allowed the entry of a horse (A Magic Stroke) in a horse show on May 2, 2015, while the horse was bearing a prohibited substance.

November 15, 2012: warning to Mr. Bill Callaway…having entered a horse (I’m KC Jazz) in a horse show on August 23, 2012, which horse APHIS found had the length of its toes artificially extended to exceed 50% of the horse’s natural hoof length.

January 22, 2013: warning to Mr. Bill Callaway…having shown a horse (Absolute Proof) in a horse show on September 4, 2009, which horse APHIS found was sore.

May 13, 2014: warning to Mr. Bill Callaway…entry of a horse (A Line Dancer) in a horse show on August 26, 2012, which horse APHIS found was bearing prohibited substances (including o-aminoazotoluene and octyl methoxycinnamate), and the entry of a horse (Samsung) in a horse show on August 28, 2012, which horse APHIS found was bearing prohibited substances (including o-aminoazotoluene, isopropryl palmitate, isopropyl myristate, benzocaine and lidocaine).

March 12, 2015: warning to Mr. Bill Callaway…having entered a horse (The Bourne Legacy) in a horse show on August 29, 2014, which horse APHIS found was sore.

July 11, 2016: warning to Mr. Bill Callaway…having shown a horse (Lindsay Lohan) in a horse show on September 2, 2015, which horse APHIS found was sore.

August 12, 2011: warning to Mr. John Allen Callaway… having entered a horse (Ozone’s Cut Above All) in a horse show on August 30, 2010, while the horse APHIS found was bearing prohibited substances (including sulfur, isopropyl palmitate, and cyclotetradecane).

May 15, 2014: warning to Mr. John Allen Callaway… having entered a horse (PGA) in a horse show on August 29, 2012, which horse was bearing prohibited substances (including sulfur and isopropyl palmitate) and having entered Ozone’s Cut Above All in a horse show on September 1, 2012, which horse APHIS found was bearing prohibited substances (including sulfur, isopropyl palmitate, and o-aminoazotoluene).

May 13, 2014: warning to Mr. John Allen Callaway… having entered a horse (Ted Williams) in a horse show on August 27, 2012, which horse was bearing prohibited substances (including isopropyl palmitate, o-aminoazotoluene and octyl methoxycinnamate).

February 5, 2015: warning to Mr. John Allen Callaway… having entered a horse (Reflection in Gin) in a horse show on November 9, 2012, which horse APHIS found was sore.

July 26, 2016: warning to Mr. John Allen Callaway… having entered a horse (An Apocalypse) in a horse show on August 31, 2015, which horse APHIS found was sore.

August 11, 2016: warning to Mr. John Allen Callaway…having entered a horse (Tennessee State Line) in a horse show on August 28, 2015, which horse APHIS found was sore.

January 22, 2013: warning to Ms. Harrison-Spivey…having shown a horse (Cheatin’ Danger) in a horse show on August 29, 2012, which horse APHIS found was sore.

March 12, 2015: warning to Ms. Harrison-Spivey…having allowed entry of a horse (The Bourne Legacy) in a horse show on August 29, 2012, which horse APHIS found was sore.

April 11, 2012: warning to Mr. Rosbury…having allowed the entry of a horse (Don Julio) in a horse show on August 23, 2008 and having allowed the entry of a horse (He’s Top Priority) in a horse show on October 23, 2010, which horses APHIS found were sore.

June 13, 2016: warning to Mr. Rosbury…having allowed the entry of a horse (Popcorn Sutton) in a horse show on September 5, 2015, which horse APHIS found was sore.

April 11, 2012: warning to Ms. Rosbury…having allowed the entry of a horse (Don Julio) in a horse show on August 23, 2008 and having allowed the entry of a horse (He’s Top Priority) in a horse show on October 23, 2010, which horses APHIS found were sore.

April 26, 2013: warning to Ms. Rosbury… having entered a horse (Gen’s Black Maverick) in a horse show on November 2, 2013, which horse APHIS found had its toe length artificially extended to exceed 50% of the horse’s natural hoof length.

December 16, 2015: warning to Ms. Rosbury…having allowed the entry of a horse (Popcorn Sutton) in a horse show on July 3, 2014, which horse APHIS found was sore.

June 13, 2016: warning to Ms. Rosbury…having allowed the entry of a horse (Popcorn Sutton) in a horse show on September 5, 2015, which horse APHIS found was sore.

August 9, 2012: warning to Ms. Self … having transported a horse (Too Tall Jones) to a horse show on August 28, 2009, and having shown Too Tall Jones in a horse show, which horse APHIS found was sore.

May 31, 2013: warning to Ms. Self … having entered a horse (Straight Cash) in a horse show on June 6, 2009, which horse APHIS found was bearing prohibited substances (sulfur, isopropyl palmitate, butylated hydrozytoluene, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, theobromine, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, and benzocaine).
More Alleged Violations are listed in theUSDA Complaint.

August 27, 2016: Ms. Baum allowed Ms. Self and John Allen Callaway to enter a horse she owned (Nine Carat Diamond) while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee, in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(D)).

August 27, 2016: Mr. Baum allowed Ms. Self and John Allen Callaway to enter a horse she owned (Nine Carat Diamond) while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee, in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(D)).

August 26, 2016: Mr. Bill Callaway entered a horse (O’Lainey) while O’Lainey was sore for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(B)).

August 27, 2016: Mr. Bill Callaway entered a horse (Gen’s Black Maverick) while the horse was sore for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(B)).

August 27, 2016: Mr. John Allen Callaway entered Nine Carat Diamond while the horse was sore for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(B)).

August 27, 2016: Mr. John Allen Callaway entered Gen’s Black Maverick while the horse was sore for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(B)).

August 26, 2016: Ms. Harrison-Spivey allowed Mr. Bill Callaway to enter O’Lainey, a horse she owned, while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(D)).

August 27, 2016: Mr. Rosbury allowed Bill Callaway and John Allen Callaway to enter Gen’s Black Maverick, a  horse he owned, while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(D)).

August 27, 2016: Ms. Rosbury allowed Bill Callaway and John Allen Callaway to enter Gen’s Black Maverick, a  horse he owned, while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(D)).

August 27, 2016: Ms. Self entered Nine Carat Diamond while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(B)).

August 26, 2016: Mr. Spivey allowed Mr. Bill Callaway to enter O’Lainey, a horse that Mr. Spivey owned, while the horse was sore, for showing in a horse show in Shelbyville, Tennessee in violation of the Act (15 U.S.C. §1824(2)(D)).

As court documents show, the Callaways and the Rosburys, among others, have a long history of HPA violations for sore horses. Documents clearly show that Gen’s Black Maverick was “bilateral sore” and in violation of the “scar rule” at the 2016 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Inspection reports are still unavailable for the 2017 Celebration, but it is clear that the 2017 Grand Champion Gen’s Black Maverick has been shown sore at numerous other shows.

The USDA Horse Protection Act Disqualification and Civil Penalty List (as of March 15, 2018) can be viewed at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/ies/downloads/disqualification_list.pdf

Gen’s Black Maverick (foaled April 10, 2008) is currently standing at stud at Rising Star Ranch in Shelbyville, Tenn.
Keith & Lorraine Rosbury- 225 Highway 82 E, Bell Buckle, TN

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