APHIS Factsheet

Animal Care

November 2004

The Horse Protection
Act

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) enforces the Horse Protection Act (HPA).
The HPA is a Federal law that prohibits horses
subjected to a practice called soring from
participating in shows, sales, exhibitions, or auctions.
The HPA also prohibits drivers from transporting
sored horses to or from any of these events.

Soring

Soring is a cruel and abusive practice used to
accentuate a horse’s gait. It may be accomplished by
irritating or blistering a horse’s forelegs through the
injection or application of chemicals or mechanical
irritants. Sored horses sometimes develop
permanent scars in the pastern area due to the use
of these painful chemicals. The accentuated gait
may also be accomplished using inhumane hoof
trimming or pressure—shoeing techniques. When it
walks, a sored horse responds by quickly lifting its
front legs to relieve the pain.

In the 1950s, horse owners and trainers who
wanted to improve their horses’ chances to win at
shows used soring as an unfair shortcut to the more
conventional training methods. Because sored
horses gained a competitive edge, the practice
became popular and widespread in the 1960s.
Public outcry over this abusive practice led to the
Horse Protection Act, which was passed in 1970 and
amended in 1976.

The HPA ensures that responsible horse owners
and trainers will not suffer unfair competition from
those who sore their horses and that the horses will
not be subjected to the cruel practice of soring.

Although the HPA covers all horse breeds,
Tennessee walking horses, racking horses, and other
high-stepping breeds are the most frequent victims
of soring.

Responsibility

Responsibility for preventing sored horses from
being exhibited, shown, or sold rests with owners,
trainers, riders, sellers, and managers of these
events. Owners and trainers may benefit if a horse
wins a show or sells for a high price and therefore
may have the greatest incentive to sore the horse.
Managers, however, have the major legal

responsibility to exclude or disqualify sored horses at
their shows, sales, auctions, or exhibitions.

Designated Qualified Persons

To facilitate enforcement of the HPA, APHIS
established the Designated Qualified Person (DQP)
program. DQPs are USDA-accredited veterinarians
with equine experience, or they are farriers, horse
trainers, or other knowledgeable horsemen who have
been formally trained and licensed by USDA-certified
horse industry organizations or associations. DQPs
are hired by the managers of a show or sale to
assure that sored horses are not allowed in the ring.

DQPs are responsible for physically inspecting
every Tennessee walking horse and racking horse
before they may be shown, exhibited, or sold. They
must report any horses that do not meet Federal
regulations under the HPA to show management. It
is show management's legal responsibility to
disqualify sored horses before awarding prizes and
before customers view horses at sales or auctions.

Monitoring DQPs and Enforcing the HPA

APHIS inspection teams attend some horse
events to conduct unannounced inspections. The
APHIS inspection team may include veterinary
medical officers (VMOs), animal care inspectors, and
investigators. The VMOs observe horses during a
show and may examine any horse for signs of soring
or other violations of Federal regulations. The VMOs
also evaluate the DQP’s inspection procedure. A
DQP may have his or her license canceled if his or
her inspection procedures do not meet HPA stan-
dards.

Signs of Soring

The examination for soring consists of three
components: an evaluation of the horse’s movement,
observation of the horse’s appearance during the
inspection, and physical examination of the horse’s
forelegs from the knee to the hoof. Particular
attention is paid to the area of the coronet band, the
anterior pastern areas, the "pocket" of the posterior
pastern area, and the bulb of the heel; these are all
favorite places for chemical soring. The horse may
exhibit abnormal tissue damage, swelling, pain,
abrasions, or oozing of blood or serum. Inspectors
also measure for proper shoeing conformations and
look for training devices that are too heavy or
improperly applied. Heavy, rigid devices banging on
the pastern during repeated workouts can cause
soring.


Penalties

Criminal or civil charges can be brought against
violators. If convicted, criminal violators can spend up
to 2 years in prison and receive penalties of up to
$5,000. Civil complaints, imposed through
administrative procedures, can result in
disqualifications of 1 or more years and penalties of
up to $2,000 or more per violation. Disqualified
persons may only attend horse events as spectators.
They are not allowed to participate in any other
fashion.

Additional Information:

For more information, please visit the Internet at
this Web address: www.aphis.usda.gov/ac, or send an
e-mail to ace @aphis.usda.gov. People can also
contact one of the offices below.

USDA, APHIS, Animal Care
4700 River Road, Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
Telephone: (301) 734-7833
Fax: (301) 734-4978

USDA, APHIS, Animal Care Eastern Region
920 Main Campus Drive, Suite 200

Unit 3040

Raleigh, NC 27606

Telephone: (919) 855-7100

Fax: (919) 855-7123

USDA, APHIS, Animal Care Western Region
2150 Centre Avenue

Building B, Mailstop 3W11

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117

Telephone: (970) 494-7478

Fax: (970) 472-9558

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(voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and
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United States Department of Agriculture *

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service *

Safeguarding American Agriculture