As 2018 Show Season Begins, USDA Shares Updates Aimed at Ending Horse Soring and Promoting Fair Competition

 

This afternoon, USDA Animal Care posted an open letter to our regulated community and industry partners under the Horse Protection Act as a way of providing a progress report on our efforts to: strengthen our relationship with the regulated community; mitigate noncompliance with equipment prohibitions; and get to a point where the inspection findings of designated qualified persons (licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations) are not influenced by whether or not USDA attends a particular regulated event. 

The letter can be found in its entirety here.

“Throughout the past year, we worked together and trained together, and I am pleased and humbled by the advancements we collectively made,” said Deputy Administrator Bernadette Juarez, USDA Animal Care. “But we still have areas of concern, and ample room for improvement. With a new show season set to begin, this is the perfect time to build upon our achievements so we can attain our shared goal of ending horse soring and promoting fair competition.” 

 

USDA Animal Care. Ensuring humane treatment. Serving people. Doing right. 

 

 

The Horse Protection Act is the federal law that prohibits sored horses from participating in shows, exhibitions, sales or auctions. The Horse Protection Act also prohibits the transportation of sored horses to or from any of these events. Soring is a cruel and inhumane practice used to accentuate a horse’s gait. It is accomplished by irritating or blistering a horse’s forelegs with chemical irritants or mechanical devices.