SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The SHOW HIO received a letter dated January 18, 2011 from the USDA mandating changes to its current rulebook and penalty matrix.  The letter stated that without changes within 30 days to both the rulebook and penalty matrix SHOW’s DQP program certification would be revoked.
 
The letter addressed two issues: (1) SHOW’s failure to adopt the “USDA Mandatory Penalty Protocol” and (2) 9 C.F.R. § 11.21(b) which provides that “only the horse, the rider, the groom, the trainer, the DQP(s) and APHIS representatives shall be allowed in the designated area.”

With regards to the adoption of the “USDA Mandatory Penalty Protocol” SHOW again declined to accept those penalties as part of their 2011 rulebook and cited the reasoning for such.  Many of those reasons have been in the previous correspondence with the USDA and will be utilized in any appeal of a decertification of the SHOW DQP program.

In the case of second issue SHOW amended their rulebook to include the language as provided by 9 C.F.R. § 11.21(b).  In the previous SHOW rulebook the owner or owner representative was allowed in the designated inspection area.