USDA Invites Tennessee Walking Horse Owners, Trainers to Horseshoeing Clinic Aimed to Improve Horse Protection Act Compliance

This public announcement is provided by the US Department of Agriculture.

On February 3, 2018, USDA Animal Care and the S.H.O.W. horse industry organization will hold a shoeing clinic for trainers, exhibitors and owners who participate in events regulated under the Horse Protection Act to help these individuals better understand and follow the federal regulations.

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.