𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧

[My_Two_Cents]

This was posted to Facebook by Western Justice on December 20,2024. Nobody wants horses to be abused but some of this is really major over reach. Why are we as a horse community not raising more concern over these revisions?

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/08/2024-09469/horse-protection-amendments?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1ofySJSmGFut3LvhP1G8IkK3iDwIoERLuBQreupGZLzgNF8KNaUVVtAP8_aem_VssdnMusu4mi4o4YRpAi3g

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬

As the February 1, 2025 implementation date for the revised Horse Protection Act (HPA) looms over the horse industry, many people who are involved with horses find themselves wondering exactly how they will be affected. Simply put, the revised version of the HPA would make unnecessary, heavy-handed government overreach the norm, devastate all levels of horse show communities, and effectively cripple much of the equine industry in the United States.

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭:

• Notify APHIS no less than 30 days in advance of the event, also specifying whether or not they are hiring/requesting an inspector.

• Notify APHIS of any event updates 15 days prior to the event

• Report any violations of the Horse Protection Act to the APHIS regional director within five days after conclusion of the event.

• Allow free and uninhibited access by HPIs to records, barns, horse trailers, stables, stalls, arenas, and all other show or exhibition grounds.

• Verify identity of each horse entered at a show, exhibition, sale, or auction

• Maintain all horse show and exhibition records for 90 days and make available to inspectors.

• Report any violations of the Horse Protection Act to the APHIS regional director within five days after conclusion of the event .

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝/𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐏𝐀 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝:

• Anything that could make a horse sore, lame, or irritated are prohibited. Sore muscles from a focused training session or a small rub from an incorrectly fitted bell boot could be equated to intentional soring

• Any substance that could make a horse sore or have an inflammatory reaction is prohibited, including therapeutic liniment

• No substances may be used on the limbs of a horse, including skin and hair conditioners or fly spray

• Horse owners are not the only ones liable. Any participant with horses is subject to liability, including agents, haulers, trainers, vendors, supporters, and sponsors.

• Mandatory rest periods must be observed during shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions.

• Any information requested must be provided to inspectors on demand.

• Horses’ legs must be blemish-free, including dermatologic conditions such as irritation, moisture, edema, swelling, redness, epidermal thickening, loss of hair, or other evidence of inflammation.

• Horse inspections may include, but are not limited to, “visual inspection of a horse and review of records, physical examination of a horse, including touching, rubbing, palpating, and observation of vital signs, and the use of any diagnostic device or instrument, and may require the removal of any shoe or any other equipment, substance, or paraphernalia from the horse when deemed necessary by the professional conducting such inspection.

• Horses can be detained by HPIs for 24 hours.

• Therapeutic treatments, including massage, chiropractic treatments, and PMF must be administered or overseen by qualified veterinarians

• Complete veterinary records must be kept and maintained for horses receiving therapeutic treatment of any kind.

• Requirements for shipping and transporting horses.

• Any horse winning first place in a class is required to be re-inspected.

• Horses that receive a rub or blemish while competing are subject to HPA violations, even if the horse passed inspection prior to entering the ring.

𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝟏𝟐𝟗-𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐏𝐀 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.

The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association website states that there have been 541,322 TWHs registered since the association’s founding in 1935. Just for comparison, the American Quarter Horse Association has registered over 6 million horses since its founding in 1940. With several other major breed associations, numerous competition organizations, and hundreds of horse sales in the nation, there are thousands and thousands of horses competing or selling that would require inspection by the new HPA.

The inspection process for TWHs is notoriously long and laborious; it is not unheard of for competitors to stand in line for literally hours to have their horses inspected. The largest TWH show is the annual 10- day Celebration where approximately 2,000 horses compete. Historically, the USDA has inspected around 50 TWH events annually. What happens when inspections are required at every show across the country, from 4-H playdays to large international events, especially when there is a shortage of qualified inspectors? It is common for TWH exhibitors to have to wait in line for several hours to have their horses inspected; what happens at a show like the NCHA futurity, with over 600 horses in the three-year old class alone?

𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒𝐃𝐀 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐏𝐀. 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧/𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐔𝐒𝐃𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

The HPA was made law in 1970 to regulate the Tennessee Walking Horse (TWH) industry, prohibiting the showing, sale, auction, exhibition, or transport of sored horses.

The USDA defines soring as “the application of any chemical (e.g., mustard oil or diesel fuel), mechanical agent (e.g., overweight chains), or practice (e.g., trimming a hoof to expose the sensitive tissue) inflicted upon any limb of a horse, that can cause or be expected to cause the horse to suffer physical pain or distress when moving.” Soring was sometimes utilized by unscrupulous trainers to artificially create a highly animated gait in TWHs and other gaited breeds.

Since 1976, rigorous inspections of show horses, both before and after a class, have been required at all TWH events. Any evidence of soring of any kind results in instant disqualification from the class and fines. In the years since the HPA was enacted, compliance of the law has been consistently over 90%. In 2023, the compliance rate was 98%.

Nevertheless, animal extremists have not only persisted in their attacks of the TWH industry, but also in seeking to expand the definition of “soring” to encompass as much of the horse industry as possible. The recent revisions to the law are the result. The lead USDA veterinarian, Dr. Aaron Rhyner, even went so far as to say that he could see how just riding a horse could be considered to be a type of soring.

The revised rule states: “Soring has been used almost exclusively in the training of certain Tennessee Walking Horses and racking horses to induce pain, resulting in an exaggerated gait that is valued in the show ring. 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙋𝘼’𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙨, 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨.”

It has been estimated that there are usually no more than 50 TWH shows in any given year, which stands to reason as the TWH sector is a relatively small portion of the overall United States horse industry. The new requirements would extend to ALL shows, from local 4-H playdays to annual international competitions, easily totaling hundreds of shows. Currently, speed-based events are exempt.

𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐔𝐒𝐃𝐀 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐇𝐏𝐀 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭.

While the USDA has exponentially and arbitrarily expanded the scope of the HPA, they have at the same time drastically reduced the number of possible inspectors by eliminating the use of third-part designated qualified persons (DQPs) that have historically been utilized. This has very effectively and even deliberately created a shortage of qualified inspectors.

The USDA’s APHIS is now solely responsible for training and employing Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs), who must be licensed veterinarians or veterinary technicians. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:

https://www.federalregister.gov/…/horse-protection…

𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞@𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞.𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨.

𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

https://www.ruralamericainaction.com/fb_share.php…

𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞- https://www.westernjustice.info/memberships

[OverandOnward]

I looked at the first link. I have never before read so dense and excruciatingly detailed a document. It seems to be primarily history and commentary on the regulations generally. It is literally several thousand words long.

I cannot follow where it says a new regulation is being implemented 2/1/2025. Doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Just means I don’t have a spare few hours to plow through that document and get to what it is trying to say.

I’ve never heard of these new regulations before – but I don’t follow horse showing extensively. Nonetheless, it seems strange that this would have flown under the radar for this long. Wouldn’t Chronicle have been following this?

If these new regulations (linked above) are truly taking effect, they are a giant overreach, of course. Not to mention that those are squishy criteria that will be hard to define and open to broad interpretation.

If this is happening – How is the USDA preparing to implement this change? Have they hired and trained hundreds – maybe thousands – of inspectors? Have they prepared a means to track all the records?

[OverandOnward]

Found something from the USDA about this that is much more readable …

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/hpa

There are several sections. Here are two of them. I’m sure there is much more to know than I’m diving into in this post. [Obviously I’m not out whooping it up on New Years Eve right now. LOL]

Under “Inspection” … (highlights are mine)

The Horse Protection Act is administered by APHIS. Since amended in 1976 to allow for third-party inspectors, the Act has been enforced by both APHIS Veterinary Medical Officers (VMOs) and Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs). Under current regulations, a DQP must meet regulatory requirements and be licensed by a Horse Industry Organization (HIO) certified by the Department.

Over the decades, APHIS has provided oversight to certified HIOs and licensed DQPs to help ensure the effective identification of sored horses. APHIS officials also attend and monitor HPA-covered events that are not affiliated with an HIO.

In May 2024, APHIS published new Horse Protection regulations that eliminate the role of DQPs as well as the regulatory responsibilities of HIOs. Effective February 1, 2025, only APHIS VMOs and Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs) may conduct inspections in accordance with the Horse Protection Act and its new regulations. Once trained and authorized by APHIS, HPIs will function as third-party inspectors who are available for event managers to appoint to conduct inspections at their events (for more information, see “Horse Protection Inspectors" section below). Alternatively, as of February 1, 2025, event managers may opt to request an APHIS VMO to conduct inspections at their event. Event managers are not required to appoint an HPI or request an APHIS VMO but doing so limits their liability if a horse is found to have been shown, exhibited, sold, or auctioned while sore.

Under "Event Manager Responsibilities (effective 2/1/2025) … (highlights are mine)

When the new Horse Protection Final Rule becomes effective on February 1, 2025, event managers of all horse shows, horse exhibitions, horse sales, and horse auctions will need to notify APHIS at least 30 days in advance of their event, either by mail (see mailing address below) or emailing horseprotection@usda.gov. The notification must include whether event management has appointed an HPI to conduct inspections, is requesting an APHIS VMO to conduct inspections, or if event management is opting for neither (while appointing an HPI or requesting an APHIS VMO is not required, event management will be liable for any horse that was shown, exhibited, auctioned, or sold while sore).

For any events that have Tennessee Walking Horses or racking horses, there is additional information that needs to be submitted to APHIS within 5 days following the conclusion of any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction.

For any event which does not include Tennessee Walking Horses or racking horses, event management will need to submit information regarding any case where a horse was prohibited by management from being shown, exhibited, sold or auctioned because it was found to be sore or otherwise in violation of the Act or regulations.

Looks like there are big “if’s” … if event managers didn’t opt for inspections, it will be “if” it is known that a horse was in violation.

The FB for Western Justice is definitely pushing this hard. And asking for memberships. Whatever all that means.

A much less inflammatory notice in the Equine Chronicle.

https://www.equinechronicle.com/revisions-to-horse-protection-act-effective-february-1-2025/

[OverandOnward]

@My_Two_Cents

Horses’ legs must be blemish-free, including dermatologic conditions such as irritation, moisture, edema, swelling, redness, epidermal thickening, loss of hair, or other evidence of inflammation.

All horse shows were just cancelled on this one. /S

I rarely see a horse that doesn’t at least have something minor on one or more legs. Temporary or permanent.

I did not find this in that endless document. But only skimmed most of it so who knows.

[Willesdon]

To me, as an outsider and after a very quick scan, it reads more like a hysterical reaction to a perceived attack by The Government on the Right of Every Upstanding American to abuse Their Own d**ned horse, particularly TWHs and other gaited breeds. If these revisions aren’t being widely covered by mainstream equestrian media, across multiple disciplines, as a major and damaging change for the horse world, then tea cup and storm come to mind.

Why is having more independent trained Inspectors checking for abuse of horses at shows a bad thing?

[tabula_rashah]

the idea that the government will be able to do this is laughable

come over and play with us is Endurance and CTR- we are not governed under this silliness

[clanter]

@Willesdon

Why is having more independent trained Inspectors checking for abuse of horses at shows a bad thing?

because even the people who should know often do not.

We had a horse win a championship at a Morgan horse Class A where state vet health inspectors were there. They were looking for improper drugging of horses.

So horse won, was escorted by a state vet to her stall, he never left the horse, asked for the horse’s papers, looked at the paperwork, then examined the horse, Turn to me saying the papers and horse do not match as the paperwork is for a 19 year old horse and this Horse is no more than 8.

He asked when did we switch horses?

Never, horse is well known and Is the horse on the paperwork. and You have been with this horse since it left the ring.

Ended up getting the show manager to identify the the horse in the stall as the horse on the paperwork who won the division. Show manager knew the horse well.

The horse would not pee for him so we asked that he pull blood, with an extra tube for us to retain as we knew the horse was completely clean

And then there is this thing called Time, inspections if done correctly are not quick an easy. Adding whatever these “inspectors” cause in time delays will run shows into the midnight curfew clause

The horse industry is really just making it, when and if this becomes truly enforced to the letter these goodie two shoes who pushed this through will need to find a solution for what to do with the ten million horses that will have no use, I guess they can just add them to their private fleet of mustangs being held by government

This reminds me of the attempted implementation of the National Animal Identification System where I was going to be required by law to record every movement of our horses off our property, we leased land next to us so would by Law have to record every time they went over there.

[Willesdon]

The operative word is “trained”.

[cheektwocheek]

There is not enough funding to really pursue this seriously, mostly scare tactics. Vets recently hired for this program, have already been downsized.

[OverandOnward]

This is the kind of Government idea that sounds like a jobs program for equine DVMs.

Do DVMs need a side jobs program?

[OverandOnward]

Or maybe some funding for the USDA from fines? Although it seems that would be offset by training all the DVM’s.

Plus the salary of whoever wrote that whopper of a pile-o-words document. If I were them I’d be wondering if this is why I studied for my ag degree.

Also some of the testing doesn’t seem like it needs a DVM. Just someone with eyes. Who can see a minor disruption in the hair growth near a foot.

[Snowdenfarm]

There are already not enough vets to take care of the general horse population and fewer and fewer coming out of vet school…

[hillary_again]

This was discussed at the recent USHJA conference in Tucson. If your show is under USEF, ie recognized or outreach, USEF will handle reporting your event as required under this law. I think all of this was news to most of the audience. Not sure how accurately the requirements are reflected in the information from the group which was quoted here. Many shows are reporting that they can’t get vets to do required drug testing in California, already. Doesn’t pay enough.

[My_Two_Cents]

The February 1, 2025 date is on the first page. I agree there can be a very broad interpretation of these rules.

[My_Two_Cents]

The way I’m reading this is that it doesn’t need to be a vet. It can be anybody with equine experience. “DQPs were required to have equine experience and meet professional qualifications as set forth in the regulations.” We all know someone that thinks they know more than they do. I can’t find where it states what “professional qualifications” might be.

[Paint_Party]

Unless I’m misreading this, it seems to be born from the TWH soring ugliness. I’m seeing the word “sore” being used over and over and wondering if it’s thought that other horses are purposely being “sored.” Except in rare cases, I just don’t believe this is happening. Are a lot of us wanting the high-stepping, exaggerated gait of a sored TWH?

This seems like misplaced good intentions-- preventing abuse of horses in competition-- formulated by people who may be passionate but are not properly informed. And they’re clearly unrealistic. I’m originally from California. Every little show that charged more than a few bucks a class had to also charge a drug testing fee paid to the state. Guess how many times, in all my years of showing, at all the different levels and various facilities, an actual drug tester arrived on scene and tested horses? (Let’s just say it was an exceeding rare occasion).

[OverandOnward]

When I was eventing in a less-populous state in the mid '00’s, the vet students did sometimes show up to get samples after cross-country. From any random horse.

It was amusing because all of the riders cooperated. They told the small group of vet students to hang around the cross-country finish line with their catch-cup on a long pole and their jar. Because some horses will pee within 10-15 minutes after a hard work, and there was a chance they could get the number of samples they needed.

After finishing cross-country, riders cooperatively milled around on their horses behind the finish line for 10 min or so. If their horse started taking the stance, the rider would sing out “Quick! He’s peeing!” and a couple of vet students would rush over to get their sample.

One time one of them was fixated on getting a sample from my horse at the time - maybe we got a ribbon? don’t know if I knew why, he was pretty average performance. This gelding rarely peed when wanted or expected. She said she’d follow us back to the barn and stay in the stall with him until he peed. OK, that’s fine, but just know he saves it for the trailer! My horse loved having his own private human right next to him, no way was he giving her a reason to leave - he didn’t pee. She finally gave up and said “we may have to draw blood, I have to ask the supervisor”. That’s fine, as you wish. She left and we never saw her again. No one drew blood. I never heard of any positive results or issues coming from all of these collection efforts. Just something to do to make it look good, I guess.

[Arelle]

So - a lot of this is fear mongering. The legislation change was already made - it goes into effect February 1st. Any petitions, changes, etc will have to be through the proper channels to reverse/modify the change.

However, it’s one of those slippery slopes where it could get very interesting, very quickly.

There were two podcasts done recently in the stock horse industry about this.

One was with a TWH exhibitor, outlining the experience he has with these regulations (it’s INSANE): https://www.ontherailpodcast.com/post/122-horse-protection-act-revisions-what-you-need-to-know

The other is with the President of the American Horse Council and presents a much calmer view on the topic: https://www.ontherailpodcast.com/post/124-horse-protection-act-revisions-insights-with-julie-broadway

I think the truth is probably somewhere in between.

The intention behind the legislation is intentional abuse and soring, however, the way these changes are written leaves room for interpretation - and that is the concern. They’ve removed a clause about “intent”, as an example - so if you leave a bell boot on and it rubs while lunging, get your pocketbook ready for fines. Do I think anyone will actually enforce that? No. Does the letter of the law allow them to do so? Yes. That’s where the trouble is.

I’m on the stock horse side, but grew up in the hunters. TWH exhibitors face an enormous burden to show (again, listen to the first podcast linked above), and while each discipline has their own bad actors - each discipline has various forms of abuse. Being over bridled in dressage, botox in the neck and deadening tails in the stock horses, heavy handed crops in the hunters. The legislation is being written by PETA minded activists, and while none of us condone abuse, it’s also really really important to watch this space so that small changes overtime don’t result in the end of horse exhibitions all together.

[OverandOnward]

@Arelle thank you for sharing this calm and thoughtful insight into what is happening.

Having read only a few sources, my take away is that this is a combination of a big finger wag “don’t let us catch you doing any of this stuff!”, but enforcement is voluntary. A bit of a contradiction.

But as Arelle said above, the real concern may be where this goes in the future. This is one more incremental step in the direction of someone’s agenda.

[OverandOnward]

The Western Justice group is highly alarmist in their message. But when it comes to “what you can do”, the answer is to buy a membership.

Every cause group needs a cause. The USDA provided one.