Farm Bill amendment revives drive for Horse Protection Act revisions; Walking horse pad stacks, action devices would be outlawed by 2020

If an amendment to the Farm Bill in the US House of Representatives survives a Rules Committee review this week, the horse industry in the United States could see a much-anticipated end to Walking horse show shoeing practices connected to the illegal practice of “soring”.

Researchers: Tennessee Walking Horse Shoeing and Chains Caused No Pain, Stress or Inflammation in University of Tennessee Study

When efforts to increase Horse Protection Act restrictions on how Tennessee Walking horses are shod failed at the end of 2016, the shows went on, under the pre-existing rules, throughout 2017. Walking horse inspections by USDA and industry groups continued, but there were few new headlines. But the year ended with announcement of new research results on hoof pad stacks and pastern chains, conducted at the University of Tennessee Knoxville's College of Veterinary Medicine. The paper will be in the January 2018 edition of the American Journal of Veterinary Research, published by the American Veterinary Medical Association.  The horse in this photo wears pad stacks and chains on its front feet, as currently allowed under the Horse Protection Act, and is not one of the horses in the study. (Marty Barr photo)

Eight veterinarians and animal science researchers at the University of Tennessee Knoxville have collaborated on a study testing the effects of hoof pad stacks and chains on a group of Tennessee Walking horses. In what would literally be the closing hours of the 2017 calendar year, the American Journal of Veterinary Research (AJVR) posted the new research paper online.

New Horseracing Integrity Act Introduced in US House of Representatives

The establishment of a single federal authority to oversee horseracing would give the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency jurisdiction over racehorse medication testing under the tenets of new legislation filed in Congress. Congressmen Andy Barr (R-KY) and Paul Tonko (D-NY), the Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Horse Caucus, introduced H.R. 2651, the Horseracing Integrity Act in the United States House of Representatives on May 25, 2017.

USDA's new Horse Protection Act rules withdrawn from federal enactment.

A Tennessee Walking horse wearing stacked pads and bands. This horse was shod for demonstration purposes at a vet-farrier education event. The pads and shoe bands would have been banned under the unpublished rule announced last week. (Fran Jurga photo)

The Hoof Blog is issuing an unexpected post script to a widely circulated story published here on January 13, announcing that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was publishing its Executive Action rule changes to the Horse Protection Act with the Federal Register.

The article described the action as an 11th-hour "Hail Mary Pass" to stop Tennessee Walking horse soring abuse before the Obama administration's USDA appointees left office, to be replaced by Trump appointees.

And it almost worked.

Hail Mary: USDA proceeds with last-ditch effort to end soring by imposing bans on Walking horse pads, action devices

It's fourth down at the end of the fourth quarter. The clock is counting down. Do you punt or pass? The game's at stake. It's time to pull off a play they'll never forget. It's time to throw that Hail Mary pass. 

In the waning hours of President Obama’s administration’s days in Washington, his out-bound US Department of Agriculture says they are ready to drop a bombshell in the middle of the horse world.

The bombshell may well devastate a sector of the show horse industry, but there will be cheers, as well. It just depends which side you're on, and if you're willing to take the time to read the fine print.

Horseshoes in Congress: Whitfield-Cohen Letter Clarifies "Weighted Shoe" Under Proposed PAST Act; House Hearing on Soring Legislation Wednesday

What and when: November 13, 2013 10 a.m. — United States Congress, House Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing on the PAST Act to End Soring

Will the PAST Act finally bring an end to Walking horse stacks, pressure shoeing and pastern soring? A Congressional hearing on Wednesday will hear both sides of the argument. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Barnett and HSUS Facebook page) 

The United States Congress will be talking horseshoes tomorrow at 10 a.m. Chances are, there won't be a farrier in the House (of Representatives) but this is a hearing whose time has come.

Federal Court Rules Against Lawsuit: USDA's Tennessee Walking Horse Anti-Soring Regulations Are Not Unlawful

A U.S. District Court in Texas upheld federal regulations to prevent the practice of “soring,” in which trainers abuse horses to force them to perform an unnatural high-stepping gait for competitions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, which were adopted following a 2010 legal petition filed by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), require that USDA-certified horse industry organizations impose uniform mandatory minimum penalties for violations of the Horse Protection Act.

News and HSUS videos: Walking horses seized from show trainer's barn in Tennessee, veterinarian Adair explains soring

Walking horse trainer Larry Wheelon heads to court today in Blount County, Tennessee. The well-known trainer and judge will face charges following his arrest on Friday. As shown in this video from the Humane Society of the United States, horses placed with Wheelon for trained were seized by the USDA, with assistance from the county sheriff and humane society officials, in connection with the charges.

Wheelon may be criminally charged for violations of the federal Horse Protection Act; soring is also a violation of state law in Tennessee. Further charges may be levied against Wheelon's employees or associates.

(Please wait for the tv news videos to load.)

The Horse Protection Act has been on the books since 1978 but attempts to enforce it have not been fully effective at wiping out the practice. As these videos point out, soring may be of the "chemical" type, which works on sensitizing the horse's pasterns and/or coronet, or "mechanical", which involves intentionally trimming the foot to thin the sole and lower the wall and then inserting objects or hard-curing epoxy between the padded shoe and the thin sole.

Walking Horses, Soring and HSUS: Convicted Horse Abuser Says Horses "Have To Be Sored"

Footage courtesy of The Humane Society of the United States

Warning: this video contains descriptive details that may upset you. Is he telling the truth? What was edited out? What does his body language suggest? The man being interviewed is former trainer Barney Davis. He uses a lot of lingo; "walk" refers to the unique Walking horse show gait; "band" refers to the hose-clamp style band around the hoof. "DQP" is a "designated qualified person", or non-USDA inspector performing inspections under USDA regulations.

The following text is from press material received from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) today:

The Humane Society of the United States conducted an on-camera interview with Barney Davis, a former Tennessee horse trainer who pleaded guilty to various violations of the Horse Protection Act last November.

Davis served most of his one-year sentence in prison and was also ordered by the court to cooperate in the production of an educational video describing pervasiveness of the abusive practice of horse “soring.”

The practice causes intentional pain to the feet or legs of horses through the application of caustic chemicals to burn their skin, or by inserting foreign objects to the sensitive areas of their hooves. In reaction to the pain, horses lift their front legs high off the ground, producing the exaggerated “Big Lick” gait rewarded in the show ring.

At his sentencing hearing in February, Davis admitted to routinely soring horses during their training, and explained that this illegal activity is so rampant as to be commonplace throughout the Tennessee walking horse industry.

In The HSUS’ exclusive interview, Davis described common horse soring methods and their effects. He flatly stated that trainers must make their horses suffer to be competitive at “Big Lick” events, including the biggest of them all, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration currently underway in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

And he demonstrated how inspectors can better detect sored horses.

“The only way to win at the Celebration is to sore,” Davis said. “I’ve shown at the Celebration three, maybe four, times. I trained them myself and they were sore. I’m not going to lie.”

“Barney Davis’ testimonial underscores that soring is now a regrettable, and illegal, norm throughout the Tennessee walking horse industry. And industry self-policing is failing the horses miserably,” said Keith Dane, director of equine protection for The HSUS. “The Humane Society of the United States urges the leaders in this industry to abandon their denial and finally institute real, meaningful reforms that will rid the Celebration and other performance horse shows in the industry of this despicable horse abuse.”

Earlier this year, The HSUS paid a $10,000 reward for information that led to the arrest and conviction of Davis, who has competed for the title of World Grand Champion, the industry’s highest prize.

As awareness spreads about the abusive treatment of Tennessee walking horses in the top levels of show competition, The HSUS is continuing its commitment to help bring violators to justice through the offering of this reward to crack down on abuse of these animals.

Anyone with information on this cruel practice should call 855-NO-SORING or email equineprotection@humanesociety.org. The HSUS will protect the identity of all callers.

--end of text provide by The HSUS

The Walking Horse National Celebration is currently going on in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Please don't think that this is a single-breed issue or that it does not involve you or affect your work with horses. How the humane organizations, law enforcement and the government perceive and act on allegations of abuse are important to all of us. Your breed or discipline or livelihood could be affected somewhere down the line even if you have never seen a Walking horse and wouldn't dream of abusing any animal. 

Chances are, what happens in Shelbyville this week won't stay in Shelbyville.

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Walking Horse Celebration: Humane Society (HSUS) Anti-Soring Proposal Calls for Biggest Show to Ban Pad Stacks, Use Independent Veterinarians, Farriers as Inspectors

A proposal from The Humane Society of the United States was made public today; it calls for 20 percent of the horses at the Walking Horse Celebration to have their shoes pulled for inspection by independent  veterinarians and farriers recommended by the AAEP and AFA, respectively. (USDA file photo)

The following proposal has been put forward by The Humane Society of the United States ("HSUS") for soring detection at the upcoming Walking Horse National Celebration in Tennessee. The key points of the proposal are published as an excerpt from the original document from HSUS:

With just weeks left before the 2012 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee, The Humane Society of the United States is calling on industry organizers to implement five key changes that would help protect horses and restore the credibility of the walking horse industry.

The HSUS called for the following five reforms:

1. FOR THE HORSE: Eliminate horses from competition, and from any property owned, leased or used by Celebration, Inc. if there is evidence of the application of one of several common soring techniques, including the use of all stacks, action devices or bands; the use of shoes weighing more than two pounds; the use of tail braces which require the tail to be cut; and the riding of two year olds under saddle.

2. FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROCESS: Exclude any show officials from participation (including judges, DQPs, veterinarians, farriers) who have personally been cited for an HPA violation within the past five years.

3. FOR THE HONOR OF THE SPORT: Rescind the title, prizes and other awards of any entry that has been found to be in violation of the HPA (including the use of prohibited foreign substances) following his/her performance.

The HSUS proposal calls for no horse to be allowed to compete in the Celebration if it is shod with a "stack" or band, both of which are shown in this photo of a recently shod Walking horse. The AAEP and AVMA recently identified both as playing a role in soring. This horse was shod under veterinary supervision and had no other equipment or treatment than the banded stacks. (Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

4. FOR THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PUBLIC: In addition to the inspection procedures required by USDA regulations, randomly pull the shoes of at least 20 percent of all entries throughout the show, and of the top two placing horses in every championship class, examine the horses’ hooves for evidence of intentional soring.

This examination should be overseen by a licensed veterinarian recommended by American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) and a farrier recommended by the American Farriers Association (AFA), neither of whom have any ties to the Tennessee walking horse industry nor any history of HPA violations.

In any case in which soring of the hoof is suspected, disqualify the horse, rider and trainer until such time as a final determination is made as to whether the HPA has been violated.

5. FOR TRANSPARENCY of CHANGE: Prohibit the use of all stall drapes, or other materials designed to prevent visual inspection of property owned, leased or used by Celebration, Inc. on which horses or other personal property are held or kept during the event.

The HSUS sent the list of key needed reforms in a letter to the Celebration’s board of directors nearly one month ago, and the Board has not yet responded.

(end of quoted text)

Before publishing these points, Hoofcare Publishing queried Tom Trosin, current president of the American Farrier's Association, to inquire about the role of the AFA in recommending farriers for this project and if the AFA endorsed this plan. Trosin said he was not aware of the plan and did not believe that the AFA had been contacted about it.

The HSUS proposal, if enacted, would require any Walking horse competing at the Celebration to be shod in a way that meets the HSUS recommendation. While the recommendation clearly states what it does not allow, it does not state what it would allow or how it recommends a Walking horse be shod for a show performance.

It also does not clarify who is to pull the shoes and replace them for the inspection by the independent vet and farrier, or who would pay for those services. Having shoes pulled and replaced during a show, or waiting for that service, would possibly prevent a horse from being able to compete in multiple classes, and would run into considerable expense.

The questions this proposal raises suggest that drastic changes might be a Pandora's Box that could backfire on the immediate well-being of the horses. If the horses are not stacked and banded, don't have other action devices, and are wearing lightweight shoes, would they be able to perform the way the audience would expect? Might the sudden removal of the pads--in the name of welfare--be construed as a deliberate act to make a horse unsound?

Reform is needed in the Walking horse show scene and change is possible. We have witnessed the uproar that shoeing regulations can cause with only minor adaptations in the past, including mere ounces of weight and fractional inches of pad height in breeds like the Arabian.

If change is to be realized, a gradual reduction in stack height and firm definitions of shoeing parameters might be a gentler road for insuring the safety and well-being of the horse during the transition, unless the HSUS goal is to simply exclude horses that perform in padded shoes from being entered in the Celebration. Logic suggests that padded horses would probably just show somewhere else that week.

This video from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is a reminder about what soring is and the history of the American Horse Protection Act and its enforcement.

Congratulations to HSUS and all organizations who are concerned about the welfare of the Walking horse at horse shows and actively seeking to reform the way that Walking horses have been abused.
Read the full letter from HSUS to the Celebration.

To learn more, click on these links:

Tennessee Walking Horse Pastern Action Devices and Hoof Pads Ban Endorsed by AVMA, AAEP; Vets' Joint Memo States Devices Are Part of Soring Practices

ABC News / HSUS Tennessee Walking Horse Expose Brings Soring Case to National Attention

AVMA, AAEP Soring Policies Place Veterinarians on the Side and at the Side of USDA Inspectors at Tennessee Walking Horse Events

Walking Horse Celebration Shuts Down Over Soring Inspector Issues (2006)

The subject of soring has been covered extensively on the Hoof Blog since 2005. Type "soring" into the blog search box at top right for a full menu of articles and to read the evolution of this issue.

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ABC News / HSUS Tennessee Walking Horse Expose Brings Soring Case to National Attention

ABC News broadcast a hidden-camera video this week, exposing the at-home training techniques of well-known Tennessee Walking horse trainer Jackie McConnell of Collierville, Tennessee.

According to the ABC web site, the video was part of a recent Grand Jury indictment of McConnell and was shot by someone working on the trainer's barn crew while collaborating with the Humane Society of the United States.

As a result of this video, Pepsi has withdrawn its sponsorship of the breed's largest show, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee each September.

The Walking Horse Trainers Association (WHTA) has revoked McConnell's training license. WHTA did not have prior knowledge that the video existed or that ABC News planned to air it. Following the broadcast, the WHTA director quickly called a meeting to voice their reaction.



The WHTA was quick to take HSUS and ABC News to task for comments made on the broadcast about the Walking horse's natural gait.

WHTA President Jamie Hankins: “The gait of the Tennessee Walking Horse is a natural one and our horse does not have to be sored to achieve the high-stepping gait we are so well-known for.”

As further proof of the WHTA’s commitment to the welfare of the horse, Hankins stated that “[i]n February of this year, the USDA released data related to foreign substance testing and our organization acted immediately to introduce a new industry swabbing and drug testing initiative which will be implemented within the next month. This initiative goes above and beyond what is required by the Horse Protection Act, however, our board felt strongly that this program was necessary to protect the interests of our horses and our profession in light of the latest information received from the USDA.”



McConnell, who was previously banned from training horses for five years by the USDA, has been charged with 52 counts by a Grand Jury but he entered into a plea agreement last week with prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act, the other counts will be dropped.

The charges dropped relate to horse soring, transporting and entering sored horses in show competitions and falsifying documents. The penalty for the one count could be a $5000 fine, up to three years in prison, or both.

Horseshoer Joseph Abernathy was charged along with McConnell. The court agreed to allow him to continue to operate his farrier business, provided he report weekly on whose horses he has shod. Abernathy did not have any previous USDA violations on his record.

One of the training methods shown on the video is called "stewarding". It teaches the horse to stand still and not flinch when its sore feet and pasterns are handled by inspectors (stewards).

To learn more: Watch a video of a stake championship class for Walking horses at the Mississippi Charity Horse Show in Jackson last year. These horses all passed the anti-soring inspection before the competition.

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  
 

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.