Inhuman Practice

The act of deliberately causing pain to artificially exaggerate the leg motion of a horse's gait is called “soring”, and is commonly used on Tennessee Walking horses. The unethical practice has been illegal since the 1970’s, but continues to be used by a some horse owners who choose to take a shortcut around traditional training methods so as to achieve an unfair advantage in the show ring. The use of soring is punishable by fines and imprisonment. The USDA has inspectors in place to detect evidence of soring before horses are allowed to compete, but due to budget constraints, these inspectors are spread thin and are not capable of attending every show being held around the country. In 2011 over 600 gaited horse events were held in the U.S. The USDA were only able to attend roughly 62 of those, yet documented 587 violations of the Horse Protection Act. Concerned horse lovers, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Association of Equine Practitioners have all joined together to support the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act, H.R. 1518; a bill that aims to end the abusive practice of soring once and for all.