JANUARY 3, 2025 – Western Justice President has released this open letter to the horse industry business owners concerning the Horse Protection Act and its impact on Horse Shows, Sales and Events.
Dear Horse Industry Business Owner,
Most people are completely unaware that we are standing at the precipice of a situation that, left unchecked, could irreparably damage the horse industry as a whole. The horse industry is a community that provides over $177 billion in total annual economic impact in the United States.
What is coming are the revised rules to the Horse Protection Act (HPA), which will be implemented on February 1, 2025. The implementation and enforcement of these new rules encompass ALL BREEDS of HORSES, all horse show events from local horse shows, state fairs, and 4H shows to Pony Club, Polo, and Dressage to regional and national association and affiliate horse shows and more. The new rules will also have an impact on ALL HORSE SALES.
The new rules have expanded the scope of the HPA far beyond its original intent when it was voted into law in 1970. In plain words, the new language amounts to an egregious overreach, impacts the personal privacy of US Citizens involved in the horse industry, and will put an unprecedented burden on horse sale and event producers by requiring detailed inspections and paperwork for every horse entering and exiting an arena or sale ring.
The rules also require event and sale producers to accommodate the following:
• Notify USDA’s APHIS that they are holding a horse show, event or sale within 30 days prior to the event and keep the records on hand for 90 days after the event.
• Allow free and uninhibited on demand access by Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs) to show records, sale records, event information, barns, tack rooms, horse trailers, stables, stalls, arenas, and all other show or exhibition grounds.
• Verify the identity of each horse entered at a show, exhibition, sale, or auction and its inspection status before and after it enters the arena or sale ring.
• Submit all records, including personal information about horse owners, trainers and exhibitors to the USDA and keep track of HPA violators and prohibit them from participating in events, shows or sales.
• Event organizers can either hire a USDA Horse Protection Inspector or provide the inspection services themselves. Regardless, the event or sale management is still REQUIRED TO CONDUCT INSPECTIONS BEFORE AND AFTER THE HORSE ENTERS THE ARENA OR SALE RING AND SUBMIT ALL RECORDS TO THE USDA WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF THE EVENT
The impact on horse owners cannot be overlooked. According to the rules on the federal register the new rules state that:
• Horses’ legs must be blemish-free, including dermatologic conditions such as irritation, moisture, edema, swelling, redness, epidermal thickening (scars), loss of hair, or other evidence of inflammation.
• Horses that receive a rub or blemish (for example a hoof strike from overreach) while competing are subject to HPA violations, even if the horse passed inspection prior to entering the ring.
• Horses can be detained by USDA Horse Protection Inspectors for 24 hours.
• Horses will be inspected for use of fly spray and grooming aids and any other substance that the USDA HPIs believe could cause a horse to be sore or cover up evidence that the horse is sore.
If a horse is found to be in violation of the HPA rules the owner, trainer and exhibitor including agents, haulers, sponsors and more can be found liable. Alleged violators of the HPA can be subject to civil penalties in the thousands of dollars, criminal proceedings and banning from participating in events and sales for periods of time ranging from one to five years.
The list we have provided is abbreviated. There are a host of other requirements that can be found on the USDA APHIS website. The impact is clear, the new inspection rules, it will make it impractical to hold many if not most events across the United States, especially those involving youth and smaller communities. Compliance with the new rules will have a devastating effect on horse owners and sales and event producers and a cascading impact on the businesses that provide equipment, goods and services to the horse industry.
What can you do?
With the new administration coming into office in January 2025, we have an opportunity to strike this new rule language and remove the horse community from this egregious governmental overreach.
• Western Justice Legislative Fund is building a coalition of horse industry associations, organizations and business directly impacted by this new enforcement language.
• Every business that partners with our organization increases our horsepower in Washington DC. If you are not already a Western Justice corporate partner, please join up with other horse industry businesses like Priefert, American Hats, Resistol, Cactus Ropes, WESA, Stetson and the other 60 plus organizations that are part of the Western Sports Industry Coalition.
• Send notification emails out to your mailing list to encourage your customers to sign our petition and become members if they have not already done so.
We are asking that you join us in our efforts to fight back and preserve our way of life. Joining together, we become a powerful voice.
Sincerely,
Dave Duquette, Western Justice President
