tennessee walking horse stacks etc banning

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This doesn't seem to have made it onto the USDA website yet but for those that don't know there was recently a big consultation and petition on the treatment and showing of TWH.

Press Release from the USDA this morning:

USDA Announces Changes Aimed at Ending the Inhumane Practice of Horse Soring

January 13, 2017--WASHINGTON-- The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced a final rule that includes changes that will help to protect horses from the cruel and inhumane practice known as soring and eliminate the unfair competitive advantage that sore horses have over horses that are not sore. The practice of soring is intended to produce a high stepping gait through the use of action devices, caustic chemicals, and other practices that cause horses to suffer, or reasonably be expected to suffer physical pain, distress, inflammation, or lameness while walking or moving.
APHIS enforces the Horse Protection Act (HPA), a Federal law that makes it unlawful for any person to show, exhibit, sell, or transport sore horses, or to use any equipment, device, paraphernalia, or substance prohibited by USDA to prevent the soring of horse in such events. APHIS works actively with the horse industry to eliminate such inhumane practices and the resulting unfair competition they create at HPA-covered events.
The final rule addresses recommendations made by the USDA’s Office of Inspector General following an audit of APHIS’ horse protection program, which found the existing industry-led inspection program to be inadequate for ensuring compliance with the HPA. The rule also seeks to address the substantial noncompliance that continues to exist among Tennessee Walking Horses and racking horses and the relationship that continues to exist between the use of certain prohibited items and soring in horses, such as the use of permitted action devices alone or in conjunction with prohibited substances.
Under the final regulation—
· APHIS will license, train, and oversee independent, third party inspectors, known as Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs), and establish the licensing eligibility requirements to reduce conflicts of interest.
· To allow sufficient time to train and license HPIs and ensure an adequate number before the start of the 2018 show season, current Designated Qualified Person (DQP) licenses will remain valid until January 1, 2018. Beginning January 1, 2018, management of horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions that elect to use inspection services, must appoint and retain a HPI to inspect horses.
· Beginning January 1, 2018, the regulatory provisions applicable to Horse Industry Organization and Associations are removed and are no longer effective.
· Beginning 30 days after the publication of the final rule, all action devices, except for certain boots, are prohibited on any Tennessee Walking Horse or racking horse at any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction. All pads and wedges are prohibited on any Tennessee Walking Horse or racking horse at any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction on or after January 1, 2018, unless such horse has been prescribed and is receiving therapeutic, veterinary treatment using pads or wedges. This delayed implementation allows ample time to both gradually reduce the size of pads to minimize any potential physiological stress to the horses and prepare horses to compete in other classes.
· Beginning January 1, 2018, management of HPA-covered events must, among other things, submit certain information records to APHIS, provide HPIs with access, space, and facilities to conduct inspections, and have a farrier physically present to assist HPIs at horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions that allow Tennessee Walking Horses or racking horses to participate in therapeutic pads and wedges if more than 150 horses are entered, and have a farrier on call if 150 or fewer horses are entered.
Congress passed the HPA to end the cruel and inhumane practice of soring horses and stop unfair competition. Strenghtening the HPA regulations and the enforcement of alleged violations is the best way to achieve this goal. In addition, the prohibitions on the use of action devices and pads (with certain exceptions) are consistent with recommendations made by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and leading industry standards for equestrian sports.
This final rule will be publish in the Federal Register in the coming days. The changes regarding the prohibitions on the use of action devices and associated lubricants for exhibitors of Tennessee Walking horses and racking horses, along with the training and licensing of inspectors will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The rest of the rule will be effective January 1, 2018.

#
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).
Hallie Zimmers
Adviser for State and Stakeholder Relations
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
hallie.zimmers@aphis.usda.gov
202-799-7029
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It does seem to be limited to gaited horses only, so the ASB and arabs showing in the US with some interesting packages will continue it would seem, they will be relieved after getting very flustered about how much they helped their horses.
 
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Finally! But now wait and see how they find ways to get around this; some of the most revolting practises perpetrated on horses anywhere.
 
It's a start,
now if they could sort out the bastardisation of scotch bottom shoeing too ;).
I concluded as while ago that horse showing in the US had nothing to do with picking the best animal!
 
That is wonderful news. I hope it is properly enforced.
I imagine to the soring fans a natural gait will look awful. Like a boxer dog with a tail it will take time to get used to it.
 
I do hope it helps. The cynic in me says they will use this at home, take it off at shows and have a "vet" who says its therapeutic.
 
Clodagh said:
That is wonderful news. I hope it is properly enforced.
I imagine to the soring fans a natural gait will look awful. Like a boxer dog with a tail it will take time to get used to it.
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I have to admit its taken me a while to get used to docked dogs with tails. But im now looking at a boxer with a tail, and he looks much more powerful and superior to other dogs with no tail.
 
Rowreach said:
Same here, only it's a JRT with a tail sitting on my lap.
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I think its the dobermans and rottys that are taking me a bit longer to adjust to. Rotts just look like labradors with tan, and the dobes look like hounds. Because they have been docked for so long, the tails structure has not been important so a lot i know have skinny curly tails, which sort of takes away from their "masculine" overall appearance.
 
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millikins said:
Yay :) I just hope this time they enforce it since I believe it is already prohibited.
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No it isn't, soring is prohibited and enforced to some degree, dependent on the level of show. The senior stallion winner (honors) of this years celebration had just finished serving a two year ban for a positive sore test. Stacks and chains haven't previously been prohibited at all, you could ramp your horse's front end up as high as you liked.

For anyone interested there are some lovely old videos of TWH on youtube, taken from a film called a look into the past

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug-ltUolhQw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnYpFXkdKH0

The full 30 mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNnCQNpStx4
 
Strolling Jim - what a fabulous name. Lovely horse. Did you note that he was ploughing at age 2?

So hope these new laws are enforced and the horses can be shown as nature intended.
 
yup, can't imagine most of todays crop with a plough. I love watching him walk!

It is an interesting story, and the long video does show some pretty unimpressive movers (as picked out on the commentary, I get the impression the commentators prefer a flat shod horse too). Essentially what happened from what I can tell is that the likes of midnight sun came along with a looser bigger gait and more front end movement then they started to get that more was always better, even if you had to manufacture it.
 
Cortez said:
Finally! But now wait and see how they find ways to get around this; some of the most revolting practises perpetrated on horses anywhere.
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I'm with Cortez. I sincerely hope this does something positive, but the cynic in me says the big names in particular will find a way around it. It really is the most revolting cruelty. I've always been surprised more hasn't been made of it. But, as ester intimated, showing in the US, whether saddleback or western pleasure, maybe even other things, hasn't had a lot to do with the real best horses for a long time.
 
equi said:
I have to admit its taken me a while to get used to docked dogs with tails. But im now looking at a boxer with a tail, and he looks much more powerful and superior to other dogs with no tail.
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I love my WCS floofy tail :D It really suits her. Although we did have a English pointer whose tail would constantly be bloody from him whacking it off things. At least the WCS has some protection on hers.

Great news about the stacking ban. I have always loves Tennessee walking horses, but they make them look riduclous with the big lick. Hopefully as its an across the board ban and not a matter of judges opinion, then it might take an effect. I am thinking about obese horses showing here, although now many judges will lower the score of an obese horse, its is still rife. At least with stacks and soring the horse either has stacks and cant compete, or doesn't! ( I would like to hope that is how it will work anyway).
 
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The thing is, with the stacks I can't see there will be any benefit in schooling in them at home anyway with regards to how the horse goes in the show ring and given that I can't see it being too easy to run underground horse shows with big money prizes (because this follows the money) I do think it might make a big difference. What will be more concerning perhaps is how many end up with veterinary prescribed wedges, because knowing what they put on Arabs and ASBs considering them therapeutic they still aren't unsubstantial by our measures.

I do think there will now be a heap of TWH with nowhere to go but I don't think that was a good enough welfare reason to keep it going. I also imagine that the trainers will make a big thing of how many they are sending to kill buyers to make those who campaigned for it feel bad but everyone knew that might happen.
 
I'm on another forum with a lot of US members and I decided that I need to stay away from the majority of real horse threads about show horses because of what they consider normal and acceptable practice with many show animals. The ASB threads stand out as ones that I keep away from. The way they set the tail, shoe them etc... is simply just not kind or right IMO.

Oh I had someone try to explain why scotch bottom shoes are fine, while it was interesting, the argument didn't wash.
 
Faracat said:
Will the description of 'racking horse' cover american saddlebreds who can be gaited?

Example of ASB shoeing.
http://s23.postimg.org/fyi7whpgb/F74_E7_FC6_A8_C2_432_D_B84_C_09_EEF194_E491_9161_00000_D.jpg
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Wow. I didn't know this existed outside the TWH world. How is that not a stack???

Let's hope the new rules will apply to all disciplines. At least a ban on stacks and chains will be much easier to police than a check on whether some sort of chemical has been used on a horse's leg during training.
 
Orangehorse said:
The Morgan horses are shown with wedges and pads too.
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Anything shown saddleseat will probably have some form of "enhancement" to make it snap the legs up, whether that be shoes, pads, chains, bungees, wooden balls, weighted shoes, overlong hooves, whatever. The whole thing is a travesty, and the horses subjected to this (TWH, Saddlebred, Morgan, Arabian, PRE, Friesian, American Shetlands - nothing like actual shetlands) are all amazingly good natured, stoic animals. They have to be; imagine trying that sort of carry on with TB's or Irish Sport Horses?
 
I have a ASB he was bred in the Netherlands but both his parents were imports from the US.
He's a lucky boy he could have been enduring that .
 
The whole concept of having to have length of toe rules because that is plan A to alter movement is just a bit nuts.

and I have never understood why you'd want your draft horse to be high stepping :p.
 
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