Congress should pass bipartisan compromise to protect horses and stop soring| Opinion
In June, a key U.S. House Committee examined and advanced the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 5441, a measure first introduced a decade ago that would stamp out the terrible practice of soring that has plagued the Tennessee Walking Horse breed and the Volunteer State for more than 60 years.
Soring is the intentional infliction of pain to the front feet and limbs of Tennessee Walking Horses’ by applying caustic chemicals such as kerosene or mustard oil to the skin, or inserting sharp objects into the horses’ hooves to create an artificial, pain-based gait known as the Big Lick.
Once prized all over the country, it is seen now primarily only in Bedford, Rutherford and Maury Counties, a few areas in North Alabama and some rural parts of Kentucky and North Carolina.
The PAST Act would amend the Horse Protection Act (HPA) of 1970 by banning the use of large-stacked shoes and ankle chains used in the show ring to exacerbate the pain induced— providing felony level penalties for those convicted of violating the HPA and replacing the current industry self-policing scheme with federally licensed inspectors from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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Our fight for horse's rights
In 2019, we worked to successfully pass the PAST Act through the U.S. House by a vote of 333 to 96 with support from Tennessee lawmakers including Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville and Steve Cohen, D-Memphis—the current lead sponsor of the bill.
The bill passed because we developed a new strategy in concert with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others to rename PAST in honor of the HPA’s author, my late friend, U.S. Sen. Joseph D. Tydings, D-Maryland. We attracted 308 House cosponsors and triggered a new rule that finally brought the measure to a vote in the chamber closest to the American people.
However, the U.S. Senate is a different beast. A handful of lawmakers can block a vote— which is exactly what happened. It’s a political science lesson that a sectional alliance in the Senate can stymie a measure that would easily attract 80 “Yes” votes in the 100-member Upper Chamber.
While we continue to support the old PAST Act, the last decade has proven obstructionism continues to prevail in the Senate. That’s why we worked with leaders in the walking horse breed in 2020 to hear out on their concerns about why they thought the bill went too far.
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Compromise was key to our success
In the end, we settled on a compromise to eliminate ankle chains and provide felony penalties, as the PAST Act does — but allow a smaller, removable shoe used by other breeds.
The USDA and federal law enforcement agencies could bring felony charges against perpetrators under the compromise, but there would be a supplementary independent non-governmental body free from conflicts that could swiftly issue fines and suspensions. We’ve all watched the USDA fail to end soring for six decades, and even allow trainers to punt and take their suspensions after they’ve retired well past the age of 70.
The revisions went further than the PAST Act to end the use of treacherous devices known as tail braces, which hold the horse's tail in an inverted U-shaped position after the ligaments in the tail have been severed— all for a certain look.
Some animal groups don’t understand the principle of political compromise, and they’ve been blocking this ban on soring that would have taken effect in November of last year.
It’s time for them to get on board or get out of the way. A vote in the House is no win for horses, especially if it falls short of 2019’s vote record. A vote to ban soring that passes legislation through both chambers and is inked into law by the President is the only pathway to bring relief to the horses.
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Leaders in the walking horse breed and members of the Tennessee Republican Delegation have since worked with us to secure record-breaking funding for enforcement of the Horse Protection Act — more than $3 million for 2022 alone, a stark contrast to the $705,000 we saw in 2019 and the $1 million we saw in 2020.
Rather than banking on the uncertainty of very limited regulatory improvements that can be quickly unwound by any future Secretary of Agriculture, Congress can and should act to deliver comprehensive reform and end the scourge of soring.
Marty Irby is the executive director at Animal Wellness Action in Washington, D.C., and past president of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association. He was named of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists for 2019-21. Follow him on Instagram @MartyIrby.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's walking horses need laws that protect them from soring
