NEWS &VIEWScontinued...
regulated by the HPA for over 40 years. However, the trigger for USDA enforcement of the Act is the showing, exhibition, auction or transport of a sore horse. For this reason USDA has focused its eff orts on those areas of the show community that involve breeds and activities that are most frequently involved in soring. According to the American Veterinary
Medical Association, 37 of 52 horses tested positive for one or more anesthetics at the 2011 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Well-known trainers such as Barney Davis and Jackie McConnell (now with a lifetime disqualifi cation) have been convicted of this crime. Nine percent of participants at the 2012 National Celebration were found in violation of the HPA, which shows virtually no improvement from the 9.5 percent rate at the 2011 event. Also, the violation detection rates are consistently fi ve to ten times higher when U.S. Department of Agriculture regulators are present, compared to the shows in which the industry is self-policing. Soring is still a major problem that needs to be addressed through increased enforcement at the federal level and a culture that needs to change within the Walking Horse industry. T e bill would amend the HPA to prohibit
a Tennessee Walking Horse, a Racking Horse, or a Spotted Saddle Horse from being shown, exhibited, or auctioned with an “action device,” or “a weighted shoe, pad, wedge, hoof band or other device or material” if it is constructed to artifi cially alter the gait of the horse and is not strictly protective or therapeutic. T ese new prohibitions would not apply to other breeds and would not prohibit the use of therapeutic pads, or bell boots or quarter boots that are used as protective devices. T e legislation would also increase fi nes and penalties (including the possibility of up
to three years in jail) for violations for soring, including the potential for a lifetime ban for repeat off enders. If a breed, discipline, or activity is not soring its horses to exaggerate their gaits, then as a practical matter the Act has likely not adversely aff ected them and the bill to amend the Act, if passed, will not aff ect them any more than current law. T e bill would create a new licensing process for horse show inspectors, eliminating the current program that uses industry-affi liated designated qualifi ed persons (DQPs). T is program has received criticism because these DQPs are often not independent of the industry they are inspecting. USDA would be required to train, license and appoint the new independent inspectors for shows and other HPA-regulated activities that wish to hire an inspector. Licensed or accredited veterinarians would be given preference for these positions. T e decision to hire an inspector, however, would still be up to the show, sale or auction. It would not be made mandatory. Shows or sales that employ DQPs now would begin using USDA-selected inspectors. Shows or sales that choose not to use DQPs now would not be required to use them should the bill pass.
Who else is supporting the bill? H.R. 1518 has a long list of national supporters,
including but not limited to the American Horse Council, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Paint Horse Association, the American Morgan Horse Association, the Pinto Horse Association of America, the American Veterinary Medical Association and other groups. Various eff orts have been made since enactment of the HPA forty years ago to stop the soring of horses and they have not worked. T is bill is focused on
the problem it is intended to solve and does not adversely aff ect other segments of the show industry that are not soring horses and have no history of soring horses. To read the joint statement issued by AVMA and the American Association of Equine Practitioners, go to
equiery.com.
What can Equiery readers do? Contact Maryland federal legislators to let them know your opinion, or better yet, encourage them to cosponsor the bill. Maryland Representatives to the U.S.
http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/
Congress:
mdmanual/39fed/06ushse/html/
rep.html To fi nd your specifi c representative, enter your zip code on this federal site: http://www.house. gov/representatives/fi nd/ Excerpts from Kentucky congressman
Ed Whitfi eld’s speech on April 12, 2013 introducing the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/z?r113:E12AP3-0020:/
The American Horse Council Recognizes Maryland’s Beverly Raymond On Tuesday, June 18, 2013, Maryland’s own
Beverly Raymond was presented with the prestigious American Horse Council Van Ness award for her three decades of dedication to the Maryland Horse Council and to the Maryland equestrian community. Each year, the American Horse Council
presents the Van Ness Award to a person who has shown leadership and service to the horse community in her state. It is awarded in memory of Mrs. Marjorie Van Ness, one of the founders of the New Jersey Horse Council and the AHC’s Coalition of State Horse Councils.
continued on page 12
10 | THE EQUIERY | JULY 2013
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
874955-130713
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