Record Violations Cited At Shelbyville Walking Horse Celebration

This horse was rescued by federal authorities. It has evidence of soring on its front legs. Credit: HSUS

USDA inspectors disqualified a record number of walking horses at this year’s National Celebration in Shelbyville, according to a Celebration spokesman.

A preliminary report from the Department of Agriculture says nearly 16 percent of all horses that were inspected were disqualified from competition because of evidence of “soring” – a practicing of aggravating a horse’s front legs to get him to exaggerate his high step.

The walking horse industry widely believes the federal inspectors have become overzealous. They point out that the industry’s own inspectors found just 20 violations compared to nearly 200 by the USDA. Also, Celebration CEO Mike Inman says many of the same horses who were disqualified were cleared to compete by the same federal inspectors earlier this year.

“The Celebration continues to support more objective testing to determine violations of the [Horse Protection Act] and removal of those that participate in soring from the industry,” Inman said in a written statement.

USDA spokesperson Tanya Espinosa says its inspectors have not changed their methods, though they have turned to “more advanced technological tools” like thermography.

“Soring practices are always evolving and require APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services) to incorporate state of the art technology to capture soring techniques that may not be visible to the naked eye,” Espinosa writes in an email.

Congressman Scott DesJarlais sent monitors to this year’s celebration. Spokesman Robert Jameson sees a disconnect.

“I think Congressman DesJarlais’ focus right now is to get the walking horse industry and the USDA to sit down and make sure that they’re on the same page and that there’s some level of objectivity so that they both understand each others’ needs and goals,” Jameson says.

There’s particular disagreement on something known as the “scar rule,” which is the basis for a majority of USDA violations. An old scar can be deemed evidence of past soring and disqualify a horse from competition. Celebration officials say the rule is overly subjective.

11:00 am – Updated with statement from Mike Inman