Please be sure to read Jaime Jackson's current Director's Message on the plight of the wild horses and his vision for preserving these living symbols of the American west.

I. New Website Lists Soring-Rule Violators

A Web site listing more than 8,700 Horse Protection Act violators who have received suspensions from 1986 to the present has been launched by Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH).

The Horse Protection Act (HPA) is a federal law making the practice of 'soring' horses illegal, such as is frequently used in the competitive show world of Tennessee Walking Horses and other breeds. "Soring" describes the practice of creating pain with chemical or mechanical means on the front legs and hooves to exaggerate and create an artificial gait for the show ring.

FOSH is providing the information as a resource for those who are or wish to become active in owning, breeding, and/or showing Tennessee Walking Horses, Racking Horses, and Spotted Saddle Horses, the most common breeds subject to the regulation under the Horse Protection Act. Individuals selecting a professional trainer for their gaited horse can now research the trainer's violation history or verify if a seller has been suspended for soring. FOSH is also hoping that show management and enforcement officials will familiarize themselves with the names of repeat violators -- listed in one of the search options. The site also provides current data, such as suspension proportions by state, and by violation type.

Sources of the data include the official disqualification and civil penalty lists maintained by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; violation and penalty information reported by USDA-certified Horse Industry Organizations (HIOs), and various public Web sites. See the Web site.

II. Please click HERE to read about the November trip to Holland and Italy to promote the AANHCP's training program and natural hoof care in an article written by Jill Willis for The Horse's Hoof Winter 2009 edition. ("European Road Trip With Jaime Jackson" reprinted with permission.) Lots of photos of our CPs as well as information on the many AANHCP activities that took place including a workshop with CPs Luca Gandini (Italy), Louise Bach-Holler (Denmark), Bjorn Rhebergen (Holland), Wout Overbeeke (Holland), Gudrun Buchhofer (Canada) and Nick Hill (Scotland); Jaime's presentation (and workshop) for the European Federation of Farriers'educational event at the 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Helicon (NHB Deurne) on the day of their "Trimming Congress"; a half-day seminar on "The Natural Horse" at the University of Teramo (in Italy) for students and faculty at the School of Equine Veterinary Medicine; a weekend "Step 5 Clinic" for Italian students who are the last to go through the 'old' track of the training program; mentorships with Italian students Dario Arcamone and Ilaria Damiani, as well as an all day public clinic in Arnhem, Holland on natural hoof care and natural boarding.

III. The first AANHCP Training Camp was a great success! Students from the U.S. and the UK spent 12 days with Jaime Jackson and Texas CP David Darnell in a classroom setting in the mornings and trimming both cadaver hooves and live horses in the afternoons. The students were given daily tests to guage their understanding of the previous day's lectures and/or reading assignments and demonstrated an excellent grasp of the princliples, the model, trimming guidelines and other issues related to natural horse care. In addition, they worked on proper body position as well as horse handling techniques and by the end of the two weeks, each student could trim one horse in less than an hour. Jaime said he could not have been more impressed with the group and progress. We look forward to their successful future with us. Good job Angela, Lucy, Rose and Michelle!

IV. Plans are finalized for the first European Training Camp to be held in 2010. In addition, we will also anounce dates soon for a three-day final exam / continuing education workshop with Jaime Jackson to be held at the Return to Freedom Wild Mustang Sanctuary in Lompoc, California.

V. Jaime Jackson has agreed to be a 'keynote speaker' at the third annual Sound Horse Conference to take place on November 5 and 6, 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky. Put on by "Friends of Sound Horses" (FOSH), an organization incorporated as 'a public benefit humane and education organization whose purpose is to provide information to the public about the humane care, treatment and training of gaited horses, with a special emphasis on the Tennessee Walking Horse." Last year's keynote speakers were Pat Parelli and Dr. Robert Miller, DVM. The purpose of the conference is to bring about an end to the soring of horses. See www.soundhorseconference.com if you are interested in attending.

VI. Update Dec. 23, 2009: Judge Paul L. Friedman has denied the motion by plaintiffs In Defense of Animals, Craig Downer and Terri Farley, for a preliminary injunction to stop the roundup of up to 2,736 wild horses from the Calico Mountain Complex herd management areas in Nevada.

But the judge has also rejected that BLM can continue to keep unadopted wild horses and burros in long term facilities. The judge agreed with the plaintiff that BLM has no authority to transport healthy unadoptable horses and hold them in long term holding facilities especially in places where they were not located previously, Oklahoma, Kansas or South Dakota.

The judge, however, found the plaintiffs did not raise this argument until their reply brief and it could not be the basis for a preliminary injunction. The judge said the defendants had not had time to brief the issue fully. The judge did reject the BLM's contention that Congress had ratified its policies of putting unadopted wild horses and burros into long term holding facilities by approving appropriations bills.

The judge suggested the agency postpone the roundup scheduled for December 28 but declined to issue an injunction at this time. The judge reasoned that if the BLM proceeds with the gather, knowing that long term holding may not be an option and with no funds under the Appropriations Act, FY 2010, for euthanization or sale for slaughter, the agency must come up with another solution for the horses it will have removed from the wild. The judge said that once removed as excess, the horses could not at that point simply be returned to the herd areas.

The judge found "untenable" the plaintiffs' other contention that BLM cannot round up and remove horses en masse. The court rejected the plaintiffs' interpretation of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 et seq, (WFRHBA) that BLM must determine on a case by case basis those horses deemed "excess" or causing an overpopulation, and then remove them under a tiered approach with the old, sick and lame taken first and then the healthy adoptable horses. The judge said such a process would put the BLM in "an impossible Catch-22" because the agency could not really evaluate the health or age of horses without capturing them first. The judge found the WFRHBA did not prohibit the BLM's current method of rounding up horses, separating them, sterlizing and returning some and placing others in short term holding facilities for adoption or sale.

Judge Friedman did also say the public and BLM's interest in controlling the overpopulation of wild horses could be negatively impacted by a delay. He said "issuance of an injunction at this stage might lead to substantial growth in already overpopulated herds" in the Calico Complex. The judge said that, according to BLM, a spring roundup could result in more injuries for the wild horses.

This ruling does not end the case. With this ruling, judge rejected the motion for a preliminary injunction to keep the status quo pending a final decision. It is a serious warning to BLM that the judge does not think its policy of keeping wild horses in long term holding facilities, is legal. But, unfortunately, unless BLM takes the judge's advice, the Calico roundup will proceed on Dec. 28.

Jaime Jackson, Executive Director of the AANHCP, provided a written affidavit at the request of the law firm representing the IDA and EWA, on behalf of the horses. Unfortunately, we had to decline the invitation for Jaime to testify in person as a result of a conflict with his schedule on Dec. 16.

Calling for a complete departure from the concept of "management" of the free-roaming wild horse herds, Jaime's affidavit outlines the need for protection and preservation of the horses in a thriving eco-system. Although the AANHCP has not become involved in the legal disputes between the BLM and wild horse advocates in the past, we hope that Jaime's participation will signal the critical condition of the future of the wild horse.

September 2009

On August 5, 2009 Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) introduced S. 1579, the Restore our American Mustang (ROAM) Act in the U.S. Senate. S. 1579 is identical to the version recently approved by the U.S. House or Representatives.

On July 17, 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1018, the Restore our American Mustang Act sponsored by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, Representative Ed Whitfield and Representative Raul Grijalva.

31 August, 2009

New standards for barefoot trimmers, drawn up by farriers, vets and trimmers, will be out for public consultation next month.

Lisa Jarvis, of skills agency Lantra, said: "We want everyone to give us their views on the standards, which lay down a level for trimmers to work to."

Concerned it would devalue their training, farriers were angry earlier this year when the idea of the standards was mooted (news, 26 February).

The farriers Registration Council was unavailable for comment, but Dr Giles Holtom, vice-chairman of the UK Horse Shoers Association, said: "We were not asked to be part of the consultation and are not happy."

Lantra insists the process has improved relationships between barefoot trimmers and farriers.

Jo Grimes of the UK Institute of Equine Podiatry said: "Barefoot trimmers have bad publicity, but we have made progress."

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (27 August, '09). Reprinted with Permission.