USDA Releases Information from 2014 Celebration
Monday, September 8, 2014
Editor's Note: The following information was released on the APHIS web site.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) enforces the Horse Protection Act (HPA), a Federal law that prohibits horses subjected to a practice called soring from participating in shows, sales, exhibitions, or auctions. Soring is a cruel and abusive practice used to accentuate a horse's gait and may be accomplished by irritating or blistering a horse's forelegs through the injection or application of chemicals or mechanical irritants. USDA takes the enforcement of this Act and its obligation to protect horses against this inhumane practice seriously.
To facilitate enforcement of the HPA, the Act allows horse show or sale managers to hire “designated qualified persons (DQPs),” who have been formally trained and licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations, to physically inspect Tennessee walking horses before they are shown. APHIS attends approximately 10 percent of horse shows unannounced to serve as a second line of defense in detecting sored horses. APHIS oversees the DQPs’ work and can cite violations when DQPs miss or do not cite the violations themselves. APHIS utilizes multiple sophisticated tools during inspections, including thermography, iris identification, digital imaging, foreign substance swabbing, and blood testing, in addition to observation and palpation techniques, to support its enforcement of the HPA and identify sored horses.
The Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration, which USDA attends every year, is the premier Tennessee Walking Horse event and is held in Shelbyville, TN. This year, the Celebration was held from August 20-30.
At the 2014 Celebration, APHIS and DQPs inspected 1,075 horses and found 219 violations of the Horse Protection Act. These violations include: scar rule violations, foreign substance, unilateral soring, bilateral soring, high banding and illegal shoeing.
Click here to view the USDA VMO detailed report from The Celebration.
More Stories |
-
The Report has recently learned of the passing of Gen’s Armed and Dangerous. The beautiful stallion was the 1994 Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Champion.
Read More
-
Ohio Valley Walking Horse Association show, scheduled for June 23 in Stanford, Kentucky, has added a 4 and Under Trail Pleasure to their show.
Read More
-
The Walking For Hope show, scheduled for June 16, has selected Chris Zahnd to judge this year’s event. Originally scheduled to start at 4:00, the show will start at 5:00 pm.
Read More
-
The Walking Horse Owners Association has added 5 classes to its June 16 show scheduled at Tennessee Tech, Hyder-Burk Facility in Cookeville, TN. The show starts at 10 am and is a casual dress show (boots, long pants, shirts with a collar) and "Youth 11 and Under" are required to wear a safety helmet.
Read More
-
The Putnam County Fair and Upper Cumberland Walking Horse Association are pleased to announce that Newton Parks of Murfreesboro, Tennessee will judge this year’s event...
Read More
-
The 112th Anniversary Wartrace Horse Show has selected John Fikes of Hamilton, Alabama to judge this year's event and has released their class schedule...
Read More
-
The Walking For The Children Show, scheduled for July 26, has selected Aaron Self of Murfreesboro, Tennessee to mark the cards for this year's event.
Read More
-
The WHAA Summer Classic, scheduled for June 16, has selected Joe Cotten to mark the cards for this years event...
Read More
-
Walking horse trainer, William D. "Bill" Carmichael, 59, passed away suddenly on Wednesday morning. He was born on October 13, 1958 to Audria Carmichael and the late William Carmichael. He married his adoring wife Cindy Conyers Carmichael and together they had two wonderful children...
Read More
-
The Bluegrass Pleasure & Walking Horse Show, originally scheduled for May 19, has been rescheduled for October 14 at 1:00 pm.
Read More
|