It's Time to End Horse Torture for Sport Once and for All

In today’s wildly divided political environment, we have before us a rare opportunity to come together and take action on something most of us, I think, can agree on — that would be protecting horses from maiming and torture. These proposed protections are widely supported by members of Congress on both sides of the aisle as well as much of the nation’s horse industry, veterinary, and animal welfare communities.

The issue is that of horse “soring” — a cruel, deliberate practice in which trainers in the Tennessee walking, racking and spotted saddle horse industry use an array of chemicals and devices that cause great pain to the animals’ legs and hooves. Soring is real, it’s been around forever, and it is unspeakably cruel. All for the pursuit of a blue ribbon!

Congress passed the Horse Protection Act in 1970 with the goal of ending soring, but weak regulations and sporadic enforcement by the USDA have allowed the practice to continue. Current regulations allow the conflict-ridden industry to largely police itself, with USDA officials getting to only about 20% of the events covered under the Act. Devices are still allowed in the show ring that are integral to the soring process — metal chains that bang against horses’ chemically sored legs, and tall, heavy platform shoes that force the horse to move in an unnatural exaggerated gait known as the “big lick” and that hide intentional damage caused to the horses’ hooves.