In 1970 the Horse Protection Act was passed, and it was amended in 1976. The act states that soring is illegal, and horses that have been sored cannot compete, be auctioned or sold, or be transported to or from shows. Since then, the act has received little attention and the funding has been significantly reduced. Though the act may have made it harder for trainers to get away with soring, it is still happening today and needs to be stopped.

As stated in the act "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."

An informative video about this practice can be found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkyC1Fq6Msg

This means that horse trainers are knowingly causing their horses severe pain in order to win at shows. Since the act has passed, horse trainers that practice soring have come up with ways to cover up the practice, like causing pain somewhere else on the horse during the inspection so they don't react to their pasterns being handled, or giving the horses numbing agents. The only way to get around this is to offer better training for inspectors (DPQs) and perform more frequent random inspections of the horses.

To improve the quality of inspector knowledge and the frequency of random inspections, the funding for the Horse Protection Act needs to be higher. The framework for protecting these horses is there, and with more resources the practice of soaring could be completely removed for good.

Please join us in telling the USDA and the Secretary of Agriculture that the Horse Protection Act is necessary, and that the Act needs funding and attention to help save these mistreated animals.