SHOW officials have released the October and year-to-date inspection numbers. The numbers are broken down two different ways: HPA violations and non-HPA violations plus SHOW rules violations.
The October monthly numbers are:
Total horses inspected – 2,742
Total HPA violations – 44 or 1.6%
Total violations – 49 or 1.8%
Total year-to-date numbers are as follows:
Total horses inspected – 19,921
Total HPA violations – 354 or 1.77%
Total violations – 394 or 1.97%
SHOW officials reiterated their strong support for the efforts of the men in the field who have maintained high standards and consistency in their inspections. As stated previously, the working relationship between SHOW DQPs and the USDA VMOs has been superb and has resulted in the best year ever in terms of the inspection program.
Previously, SHOW announced that it will become inactive after the Tunica, Mississippi Horse Show but has extended that time to Dec. 31, 2013 in light of additional events. The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, owner of SHOW, will keep SHOW alive but inactive as was the case prior to being asked to take over enforcement responsibilities April 1, 2009 by the Walking Horse Trainers' Association and the Walking Horse Owners' Association, partners in the National Horse Show Commission HIO
SHOW was formed over 4 years ago as a backup HIO for Celebration sponsored shows in the case of an emergency but was never activated until 2009. The announcement is being made at this time to enable another group to step up and take over these responsibilities.
"While the Celebration was willing to activate SHOW to help the industry during a difficult time, it has been demanding and expensive and its time we concentrated on our horse shows, particularly The Celebration," said SHOW Board Chairman Buddy Nelson. "We will support any other responsible group that implements an effective HIO program to enforce the Horse Protection Act in the future."
The Celebration loaned SHOW money to get it started in hopes it would be self-sustaining, but that was not the case. The Celebration has loaned SHOW over $500,000 as other HIOs came into existence and started affiliating shows in competition with SHOW.