The annual Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville is seeing the most intense horse inspections in its 74-year history.
The Tennessean reports that on Wednesday, the opening day of the Celebration, trainers took their horses through a chemical swabbing station designed to detect soring. That’s the illegal practice of causing injuries to a horse’s legs or hooves to exaggerate the high-stepping gait that wins prizes.
If a trainer is found to have chemically sored a horse, he or she will be stripped of ribbons and prize money and immediately suspended.
The Celebration comes as independent inspectors clash with the U.S. Agriculture Department over new inspection rules. Those rules were prompted by a graphic undercover video released in May showing horses being beaten and sored with chemicals.

Students at area high schools, home-schooled students, Motlow College students, and members of the public are invited to the upcoming College Fair on Motlow’s Moore County campus.
The annual event is set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 5 in Nisbett Center’s Copperweld Arena and will include representatives from more than 40 colleges and universities, technology centers, specialty schools and the Armed Forces, according to Brenda Cannon, director of student and campus relations at Motlow.
Annie Trout of the Tennessee Assistance Student Corporation will make presentations at 9, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Reservations are required for these presentations and can be made by calling Cannon at 931-393-1548 or emailing bcannon@mscc.edu.
In addition, those attending the fair will be able to gather information from representatives of Bryan College, East Tennessee State University, EdSouth Student Outreach Services, King College, Lincoln Memorial University, Lipscomb University, Middle Tennessee State University, Nashville Auto Diesel College; Nossi College of Art, Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities, Trevecca Nazarene University, Tusculum College, Union University, the University of Alabama, the University of Memphis, the University of the South, the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University.
The College Fair is sponsored by Motlow and the Tennessee Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. It is free and open to the public.

The TennCare Standard Spend Down program will again offer open enrollment opportunities to new applicants on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012 beginning at 6 p.m. CST.
Standard Spend Down is available through a waiver to the Medicaid program for a limited number of qualified low-income individuals, or those with high, unpaid medical bills who are aged, blind, disabled, or the caretaker relative of a Medicaid eligible child. Eligible individuals must have enough unpaid medical bills to meet the “spend down” threshold to qualify for coverage.
A special call-in phone line through DHS has been set up for interested applicants. The only way to request an application is by calling the toll-free number — 1-866-358-3230 — which will be open between 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. CST on Sept. 13. Operators will close the phone line once 2,500 applicants call in. In previous open enrollment periods, 2,500 calls had been taken within one hour. If 2,500 calls are not received on Sept. 13, the phone lines will be open from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on subsequent weekdays until 2,500 interested applicants call in.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to check eligibility qualifications before calling in. More information on the Standard Spend Down program and more detailed eligibility criteria are available on TennCare’s website: www.tn.gov/TennCare.
Standard Spend Down Eligibility:
• In addition to being aged (65 or older), blind*, disabled,* or a caretaker relative,
• An individual must meet certain income restrictions, or be able to “spend down” qualifying unpaid medical bills to that limit. (*To be considered blind or disabled, an individual must meet standards set by the Social Security Administration.)
The following chart shows the income limits:
Household Size 1 2 3 4 5 6
Monthly Income $241 $258 $317 $325 $392 $408
Applicants also must not have resources that:
• Exceed $2,000 for a family of one and $3,000 for a family of two with an additional $100 added per additional individual in the family.
• A person’s unpaid medical bill must have been accrued within the past 90 days. Medical bills paid by the applicant within the past 30 days may count towards meeting an applicant’s spend down requirement.
Pregnant women and children are still eligible for the Medically Needy Spend Down program.

Recent survey conducted on behalf of Anheuser-Busch reveals two-thirds of parents have used the back-to-school timeframe to talk with their teens about underage drinking.
An online survey also found 88 percent of those parents felt their kids were receptive to the conversation. Separately, 67 percent of parents surveyed feel they have influence on their teens’ decisions about underage drinking and their teens listen to them.
Kathy Casso, vice president of corporate social responsibility says as parents, we have tremendous influence on our kids’ decisions about drinking. And, as kids are back in school, catching up with friends and experiencing new social situations, it’s a perfect opportunity to check in and prepare them to make smart choices when it comes to underage drinking. The talk about drinking program provides parents with practical tips from a certified parent coach on connecting with kids and maintaining an ongoing dialogue on the topic of alcohol.
Parents can ask questions, share ideas and download the parent guide at Facebook.com/family talk.