The Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH) website database www.hpadata.us, accessible to the public, provides 28 years’ of Horse Protection Act (HPA) and soring violations alphabetically by violator, allowing concerned horse owners to investigate a seller or trainer’s prior violation history.
As of this date, there are more than 12,500 HPA violations and a “Repeat Violators” report with hundreds of single-spaced pages listing violators with multiple HPA violations.
Soring of horses is the cruel and deliberate infliction of chemical or mechanical pain upon a horse’s hooves and limbs to create an unnatural, exaggerated, high stepping gait for the show ring. Soring is a major animal abuse issue that has been illegal for 40+ years under the federal HPA, yet the practice is still widespread in some show rings. To end soring, FOSH supports the PAST (Prevent All Soring Tactics) bill which closes loopholes in current law. PAST has widespread support including the 88,000 member American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Horse Council, American Association of Equine Practitioners and the United States Equestrian Federation.
FOSH added nearly 1,500 “USDA Form 7060s” for HPA violations to its database. A Form 7060 is an official warning of an alleged violation of the Horse Protection Act, and is a notice to an individual that the USDA’s Animal Plant Health and Inspection Services may seek civil or criminal penalties in the future if he or she violates this federal law again. Many 7060s are issued for foreign substance findings, which occur when show swabs are sent to a lab, and gas chromatography detects illegal substances used to sensitize a horse’s front pasterns for higher reaction to chains.
Until recently, the website did not report 7060s; however, as the USDA increased its issuance of 7060s, FOSH input the newly released information into the database.
FOSH is a national leader in the promotion of natural, sound gaited horses and actively fights against abuse and soring of Tennessee Walking Horses. For more information about FOSH, the only national organization that represents multiple gaited breeds, or to become a member, please visit www.fosh.info .