1

` 

October 2016

Questions and 

Answers: 

Responsibilities of 

Horse Exhibitors1 and 

Transporters under 

the Horse Protection 

Act

Q. What is the Horse Protection Act?

A. Congress enacted the Horse Protection 

Act2 (HPA or Act) to end the cruel and 

inhumane practice of soring horses.3 The 

practice of soring is intended to improve the 

performance of a horse at horse shows and 

exhibitions by altering its gait through the 

use of a device, substance, or other physical 

practice that causes the horse to suffer, or 

reasonably be expected to suffer, pain, 

inflammation, or lameness while walking, 

trotting, or moving. This practice can 

produce a high-stepping gait that has been 

prized in certain competitions involving 

Tennessee Walking Horses and other 

breeds. This practice is not only cruel and 

inhumane, but also results in unfair 

competition that damages the integrity of the 

breed.

1 9 C.F.R. § 11.1.

2 15 U.S.C. § 1821-1831.

3 This Tech Note is intended to summarize 

provisions of the HPA and regulations 

issued thereunder (9 C.F.R. § 11.1 et seq.). 

It does not supersede the HPA or 

regulations, any other law or regulation, or 

any applicable policy or procedure.

Q. How does the HPA combat soring?

A. The HPA establishes a multi-tiered 

structure to end the practice of soring. First, 

it makes it unlawful for any person to show, 

exhibit, sell, or transport sore horses, or to 

use any prohibited equipment, device,

paraphernalia, or substance in horse shows, 

exhibitions, sales, or auctions. Second, it 

holds horse owners responsible for allowing 

such unlawful activities. Third, it entrusts 

management4 of horse shows, exhibitions, 

sales, and auctions with ensuring that sore 

horses do not unfairly compete with horses 

that are not sore.5 The HPA imposes 

penalties and other sanctions for violations, 

after notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

Q. I enter horses and ride them in horse 

shows. Do I need to comply with the

HPA? 

A. Yes. The HPA and the regulations 

established thereunder6 apply to any person 

4 Management means any person or

persons who organize, exercise control over,

or administer or are responsible for

organizing, directing, or administering any

horse show, horse exhibition, horse sale or

horse auction and specifically includes, but

is not limited to, the sponsoring organization 

and show manager.

5 For an overview of management’s

responsibilities under the HPA, please refer

to Animal Care’s Tech Note entitled,

“Responsibilities of Management of Horse 

Shows, Exhibitions, Sales, and Auctions,

which is available on the Internet at: 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/

animal_welfare/2016/October-2016-HPAmanagement-tech-note-final-102116.pdf 

6 The HPA regulations are available on the 

Internet at: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/textidx?SID=7102da78cdb431b318e706ab6081

40cc&mc=true&node=pt9.1.11&rgn=div5. 
2

who enters a horse in a horse show or 

exhibition for the purpose of showing or 

exhibiting the horse. Entering is a 

continuing process, not merely a single 

event, and encompasses all of the activities 

that must be completed before a horse can 

actually be shown or exhibited, including 

completing the entry form, paying the entry 

fee, and presenting the horse for inspection. 

In addition, the HPA applies to any person 

who shows or exhibits a horse in a horse 

show or exhibition, such as the rider of a 

horse.

Q. I own horses and allow my trainer to 

enter and show my horses in horse 

shows. Do I need to comply with the 

HPA?

A. Yes. The HPA and regulations also 

apply to any person who allows a horse that 

he or she owns to be entered for the 

purpose of showing or exhibiting the horse 

in a horse show or exhibition. In addition, 

the HPA and regulations apply to any 

person who allows a horse that he or she 

owns to be shown or exhibited in a horse 

show or exhibition.

Q. I sell horses that I own at private and 

public sales and auctions. Do I need to 

comply with the HPA?

A. Yes. The HPA and regulations apply to 

any person who sells or auctions horses, or 

offers them for sale in a public or private 

horse sale or auction. It also applies to any 

person who allows a horse that he or she 

owns to be sold, auctioned, or offered for 

sale in a public or private horse sale or 

auction. 

Q. I transport horses to horse shows, 

but I do not work for a commercial carrier 

or transportation business. Do I need to 

comply with the HPA?

A. Yes. Except for common or contract 

carriers and their employees, the HPA and 

regulations apply to any person who ships, 

transports, or otherwise moves, or delivers 

or receives for movement any horse with 

reason to believe the horse may be shown, 

exhibited, sold, or auctioned at a horse show, 

exhibition, sale, or auction. For common or 

contract carriers and their employees, the 

HPA applies if a horse is shipped, 

transported, moved, or delivered in the usual 

course of the carrier’s business or 

employee’s employment.

Q. Does the HPA apply to horses other 

than Tennessee Walking Horses and 

racking horses?

A. Yes. The HPA applies to any horse, 

regardless of its breed. However, certain 

requirements contained in the HPA 

regulations only apply to Tennessee 

Walking Horses and racking horses, 

including the prohibitions on the use of 

certain substances7 and the competition 

restrictions and minimum rest periods for 2 

year-old horses8 at horse shows, exhibitions, 

sales, and auctions.

Q. The HPA applies to the activities that I 

engage in with horses. What do I need to 

know to comply with the HPA?

A. Congress enacted the HPA to end the 

cruel and inhumane practice of soring 

horses. To this end, the HPA makes it 

unlawful for any person to:

• Enter a horse for the purpose of 

showing or exhibiting it in a horse 

show or exhibition, if the horse is 

sore, or if the horse is wearing or 

bearing any equipment, device, 

paraphernalia, or substance

prohibited by regulation;

• Show or exhibit a horse in a horse 

show or exhibition, if the horse is 

sore, or if the horse is wearing or 

bearing any prohibited equipment, 

device, paraphernalia, or 

substance; and

• Sell, auction, or offer to sell a horse 

in a horse sale or auction, if the 

horse is sore, or if the horse is 

wearing or bearing any prohibited 

equipment, device, paraphernalia, 

or substance.

In addition, the HPA makes it unlawful for 

the owner of such a horse to allow these 

prohibited activities, thus ensuring that the

owner is a guarantor that his or her horse 

will not be sore when participating in a horse 

show, exhibition, sale, or auction. Finally, 

the HPA prohibits any common or contract 

carrier and its employees from shipping, 

 7 9 C.F.R. § 11.2(c).

8 9 C.F.R. § 11.2(d).
3

transporting, moving, delivering, or receiving 

a horse, if the carrier or employee has 

reason to believe the horse is sore. For 

other transporters, the HPA prohibits the 

shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, or 

receiving of a sore horse, if the person has 

reason to believe that the horse while it is 

sore may be shown, exhibited, entered for 

the purpose of being shown or exhibited, 

sold, auctioned, or offered for sale, in any 

horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale 

or auction.

Q. What equipment, devices, 

paraphernalia, and substances are 

prohibited under the HPA regulations?

A. First and foremost, the HPA regulations 

prohibit the use of any device, method, 

practice, or substance with respect to any 

horse at a horse show, exhibition, sale, or 

auction, if such use causes or can 

reasonably be expected to cause the horse 

to be sore. The HPA regulations further 

enumerate 19 prohibitions on the use of 

specific devices, equipment, and practices 

on any horse at a horse show, exhibition, 

sale, or auction. These specific prohibitions 

include, among others, the use of chains 

weighing more than 6 ounces each

(including the weight of the fastener), pads 

that are not made of leather, plastic, or a 

similar pliant material, and any object or 

material inserted between the pad and hoof 

other than acceptable hoof packing. The 

HPA regulations also prohibit the use all 

substances on the extremities above the 

hoof of any Tennessee Walking Horse or 

racking horse while being shown, exhibited, 

or offered for sale at any horse show, 

exhibition, sale, or auction, except for 

lubricants that are controlled and furnished 

by management and meet certain other 

restrictions. The full list of prohibited 

equipment, devices, paraphernalia, and 

substances contained in the HPA 

regulations is available on the Internet at: 

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/textidx?SID=d790e595727e6f2bc5f1a8e444b0f

b65&mc=true&node=pt9.1.11&rgn=div5#se9

.1.11_140. 

Q. At a recent horse show, show 

management disqualified a horse I own 

from being shown due to a 

noncompliance with the scar rule. Is a 

horse that does not meet the scar rule 

criteria considered to be a sore horse?

A. Yes. A horse that fails to meet the scar 

rule criteria contained in the HPA regulations 

is considered to be sore and is subject to the 

same prohibitions. The scar rule criteria are 

as follows:

• The anterior and anterior-lateral 

surfaces of the fore pasterns 

(extensor surface) must be free of 

bilateral granulomas9, other bilateral 

pathological evidence of 

inflammation, and, other bilateral 

evidence of abuse indicative of 

soring including, but not limited to, 

excessive loss of hair.

• The posterior surfaces of the 

pasterns (flexor surface), including 

the sulcus or “pocket” may show 

bilateral areas of uniformly 

thickened epithelial tissue if such 

areas are free of proliferating 

granuloma tissue, irritation, moisture, 

edema, or other evidence of 

inflammation.

Q. I would like to start showing my horse 

in horse shows and am looking for a 

trainer. Where can I find information 

about a trainer’s compliance with the 

HPA?

A. APHIS maintains a list of persons who, 

because of alleged violations of the HPA or 

who have been found in violation of the HPA, 

are disqualified by order of the Secretary 

from showing or exhibiting a horse, or 

judging or managing any horse show, 

exhibition, sale, or auction. This list can be 

found on the Internet at: 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/b

usiness-services/ies/hpa_disqualification_list. 

In addition, APHIS’ Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room 

contains documents specifically identified for 

inclusion by the FOIA and documents for 

which it has received multiple FOIA requests, 

which include certain HPA-related 

enforcement actions and regulatory 

correspondence. The APHIS FOIA 

Electronic Reading Room can be found on 

 9 Granuloma is defined as any one of a 

rather large group of fairly distinctive focal 

lesions that are formed as a result of 

inflammatory reactions caused by biological, 

chemical, or physical agents.
4

the Internet at: 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/

foia/ct_foia_reading_room. 

Q. I entered my horse and intend to ride 

it in a horse show for the first time. What 

can I expect if my horse is inspected by 

APHIS representatives for compliance 

with the HPA and regulations?

A. Each horse owner, exhibitor, trainer, or 

other person having custody of, or 

responsibility for, a horse at a horse show, 

exhibition, sale, or auction, must allow 

APHIS representatives to reasonably 

inspect the horse at all reasonable times 

and places the APHIS representatives may 

designate. These inspections may be 

required of any horse which is stabled, 

loaded on a trailer, being prepared or

exercised, or otherwise on the grounds of, or 

present at, a horse show, exhibition, sale, or 

auction. The horse must not be moved from 

the horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction 

until the inspection has been completed and 

the horse has been released by an APHIS 

representative.

If, after inspecting the horse, APHIS has a 

evidence that the horse is sore, it will 

information the management of the horse 

show, exhibition, sale, or auction, as well as 

the owner, trainer, exhibitor, or other person 

having immediate custody of or 

responsibility for the horse. Pursuant to the 

HPA, the responsibility for disqualifying a 

sore horse is placed solely on the 

management of horse shows and exhibitions, 

not APHIS.

Q. What if I wish to contest the results of 

an inspection by an APHIS 

representative? Can I request a 

reexamination?

A. Yes. Under the HPA regulations, the 

owner, trainer, exhibitor, or other person 

having custody of or responsibility for any 

horse believed to be in violation of the HPA

or regulations, and who has been notified of 

such alleged violation by an APHIS 

representative, may request reexamination 

and testing of the horse. The request must 

be made to the APHIS Show Veterinarian 

immediately after the horse has been 

examined by the APHIS representative and 

before the horse has been removed from the 

APHIS inspection facilities. If the APHIS 

Show Veterinarian determines that sufficient 

cause for reexamination and testing exists, 

the horse will be maintained under APHIS 

supervisory custody until the reexamination 

and testing is completed. 

Q. Show management disqualified my 

horse from showing at a horse show 

after a non-governmental inspector 

(referred to as a Designated Qualified 

Person or DQP) or APHIS representative 

notified management the horse was sore. 

Can I contest this disqualification by 

management?

A. Yes. The United States district courts 

and courts of the U.S. territories are vested 

with jurisdiction specifically to enforce, and 

to prevent and restrain violations of the HPA

and have jurisdiction in all other kinds of 

cases arising under the HPA, except for civil 

penalties and orders of disqualification 

assessed by the Secretary.10 Accordingly, 

any person who wishes to contest 

management’s disqualification of a horse 

under the HPA may bring suit against 

management in the appropriate court. 

Additionally, if management of a horse show, 

exhibition, sale, or auction appoints and 

retains a DQP who is licensed by a certified 

horse industry organization or association 

(HIO), the HIO may have a process set forth 

in their rulebook for challenging 

disqualifications made by management.

Q. What are the penalties and other 

sanctions for violating the HPA?

A. The HPA provides for both civil and 

criminal penalties for violations, including the 

following: 

• A person who violates the Act is 

subject to a civil penalty of not more 

than $2,20011 for each violation.

• The HPA also authorizes the 

Secretary to disqualify violators from 

 10 15 U.S.C. 1825(d)(6).

11 The Secretary of Agriculture, pursuant to 

the Federal Civil Inflation Adjustment Act of 

1990, as amended (28 U.S.C. § 2461 note), 

adjusted the civil penalty that may be 

assessed under the HPA for each violation 

of 15 U.S.C. § 1824 occurring after June 23, 

2005 by increasing the maximum civil 

penalty from $2,000 to $2,200 (7 C.F.R. § 

3.91(b)(2)(viii)) and $3,000 to $4,300 (7 

C.F.R. § 3.91(b)(2)(ix)).
5

showing or exhibiting horses and 

from judging or managing horse 

shows, exhibitions, sales, and

auctions for a period of not less than 

one year for the first violation, and 

for a period of not less than five 

years for any subsequent violation. 

• Any person who knowingly fails to

obey an order of disqualification is

subject to a civil penalty of not more

than $4,30012 for each violation.

• The management of any horse

show, exhibition, sale, or auction,

which knowingly allows any person

who is under a disqualification order

to show or exhibit any horse, to

enter for the purpose of showing or

exhibiting any horse, to take part in

the managing or judging, or

otherwise participate in any horse

show, exhibition, sale, or auction in

violation of a disqualification order is

subject to a civil penalty of not more

than $3,000 for each violation.

• Any person who knowingly violates

the Act is subject to a fine of not

more than $3,000, and/or

imprisonment of not more than one

year for the first violation, and a fine

of not more than $5,000 and/or

imprisonment of not more than two

years after one or more prior

convictions.

It is important to be aware that no civil or

criminal penalty will be assessed for a

violation of the HPA without notice and an 

opportunity for a hearing.

Additional Information 

For more information contact: 

USDA Animal Care 

2150 Centre Ave.

Building B, Mailstop 3W11

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117

E–mail: horseprotection@usda.gov

Phone: (970) 747-7478

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and 

employer. 

12 See Footnote 9.