The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced it is postponing the effective date for the strengthened Horse Protection Act (HPA) regulations into February 2026. HPA is a federal law that prohibits sored horses from participating in auctions, exhibitions, sales, or shows. Soring is a painful and deliberate act of inflicting chemical or mechanical injuries on horses’ legs and hooves to force an exaggerated gait.
The act has been used for decades in the Tennessee Walking Horse, Spotted Saddle, and Racking Horse industries. Despite current regulations, the practices continue to persist because of failed industry self-regulation and lack of veterinary medical officers coving all the events hosted every year, according to the Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).1
What is soring?
According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the legal defining of soring in the HPA are3:
- Irritating or blistering agent has been applied either internally or externally by a person to any of the horses limbs
- Any burn, cut, or laceration has been inflicted by a person on any limb of the horse
- Any tack, nail, screw, or chemical agent that was injected by a person or used by a person on any limb of a horse
- Any additional substances or devices that have been used by a person on a limb or a horse or a person has engaged in a practice involving a horse, and as a result of such application, injection, infliction, use or practice, such a horse suffers or can resonably be expected to suffer physical pain or distress, inflammation or lameness when walking, trotting or otherwise moving, except that such term does not include such an application, infliction, injection, use or practice in connection with the therapeutic treatment of a horse by or under the supervision of a person licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the state where the treatment was given.
On January 24, 2025, APHIS announced that it was postponing the effective date, which was supposed to start February 2025, with the exception of the section that authorized training horse inspectors, which went into effect on June 7, 2024.2 The delay is due to Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, who issued a decision vacating most of the new regulations, stating that APHIS exceeded its authority by issuing blanket prohibitions on using action devices, pads, and substances on Tennessee Walking Horses and Racking Horses. The new working also intended to replace the scar rule and pre-and-post-deprivation review of inspector’s decisions, both failing to provide due process.1
The HPA updated regulations would have included:1
- Amending record keeping and reporting requirements for management at covered events to better enforce the HPA.
- Eliminating industry self-regulation and the role of industry-backed designated qualified persons as inspectors at auctions, exhibitions, horse shows, and sales. Only independent non-APHIS employed horse protection inspectors and APHIS inspectors screened, trained, and authorized by APHIS will have inspection authority.
- Ban any device, method, practice, or substance applied to horses associated with or can cause soring
- Prohibiting on Tennessee Walking or racking horses all action devices and non-therapeutic pads, artificial toe extensions, and wedges. Also, all substances on the extremities above the hoof, including lubricants.
- Getting rid of the scar rule from the regulations, replacing it with a more accurate description of visible dermatological changes that indicate soring.
“In light of the court’s decision, we are further postponing the effective date of the portions of the final rule that have not been vacated by the district court and otherwise would go into effect on April 2, 2025. We are postponing that effective date to February 1, 2026,” the information released by APHIS explained.2
APHIS is also requesting public comments on if it should further extend the postponement as well as any additional information that could be used to decode the appropriate length of the postponement. APHIS will close the commenting period on May 20, 2025.
The AVMA and AAEP are working on comments for submissions. The AVMA also recently endorsed the Prevent All Soring Act (HR 1684) on February 27, 2025, when it was reintroduced into the House.1 This act would strengthen the protection of horses from soring by closing regulatory loopholes, ensuring independent inspections, and increasing penalties. Later this year in Congress, the AVMA expects the Senate to follow with its companion bill.
References
- APHIS further postpones Horse Protection Act changes. News release. American Veterinary Medical Association. April 16, 2025. Accessed April 22, 2025. https://www.avma.org/news/aphis-further-postpones-horse-protection-act-changes
- APHIS Further Postpones Effective Date for Horse Protection Act Final Rule. News release. US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. March 20, 2025. Accessed April 22, 2025. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/program-update/aphis-further-postpones-effective-date-horse-protection-act-final-rule
- Position on the Practice of Soring. News release. American Association of Equine Practitioners. Accessed April 22, 2025. https://aaep.org/resource/position-on-the-practice-of-soring/
