In January 2017, The United States Department of Agriculture announced changes to the Horse Protection Act that many hailed as a major step toward ending the abusive practice of soring.
Soring is the practice of intentionally abusing Tennessee walking horses and related breeds to exaggerate their gait, causing the animals pain each time they step so they lift their front legs higher in what is known as the “Big Lick.” The abuse often includes the use of caustic chemicals cooked into the skin and then irritated by chains but also can involve shoving objects between the hoof and stacked shoes, among other methods.
The new rule will ban much of the gear used, including chains placed around horses’ ankles during training and stacks — the tall weights attached to the front hooves.
It also will force inspectors to become trained and licensed through the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
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.
See this interview here: http://c.brightcove.com/services/mobile/streaming/index/master.m3u8?videoId=1810834548001
Source: The Tennessean.
UPDATE:
The above-referenced changes to the Horse Protection Act that were finalized in the waning days of the Obama administration to end the abusive practice of horse soring are on hold.
Just one week before President Barack Obama left office, the Department of Agriculture announced it had finalized a new regulation to update the Horse Protection Act. To become effective, the rule must be published in the Federal Register and it wasn’t published before President Donald Trump took office. On his first day in office, the White House issued a memorandum for all unpublished rules to be withdrawn and sent back to the relevant agency for review.
“They pretty much put a hold on it,” said Keith Dane, senior adviser for equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States.
The horse-soring ban is one of dozens of proposed rules that have been frozen. The delay doesn’t necessarily mean the ban is dead. The Trump administration could review it and decide to move ahead, “which is what we’re hoping the administration will do,” Dane said.
Source: The Tennessean.
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