Walking horse group sues USDA over new rules requiring penalties, set to start next week

A USDA inspector looks at the feet
of a Tennessee walking horse
(Dipti Vaidya, The Tennessean)

A leading Tennessee Walking Horse industry group sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week to block the federal effort to impose minimum penalties for soring and otherwise abusing horses, reports Duane Gang of The Tennessean.

Earlier this month, USDA announced it would require organizations that inspect horses on its behalf to assess minimum penalties to violators of the Horse Protection Act, the 1970 law that makes it illegal to show or transport a sored horse. SHOW Inc. filed the lawsuit in Texas, claiming that the new rules violate the constitutional right to due process. The lawsuit seeks to prevent USDA from putting the rule into effect next Monday, July 9. In a statement, SHOW said the new rules punish organizations that are working to change the industry.

Gang explains: "Soring is the practice of using chemicals and other methods, including putting foreign objects in the horses’ hooves, to produce a higher gait. Dripping harsh chemicals on the horses’ front feet forces them, because of pain, to lift their legs higher. The walk is prized in walking horse competitions." In announcing the new rules this month, the government said it will now require horses found in violation of the act to be dismissed from the show. If a horse is sored, those responsible are to be suspended from participating in shows, exhibitions, sales or auctions.

A recent analysis by The Tennessean showed a significant difference between the number of violations issued by the industry when USDA officials are present and when they leave the inspections up to industry groups, notes Gang: "When the USDA was present, horse industry inspectors found seven times as many violations of the Horse Protection Act."