The Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 2015 (S. 1121/H.R. 3268) (PAST Act) garnered a significant amount of bi-partisan support in 2015 and now has 240 co-sponsors in the House and 50 co-sponsors in the Senate. The PAST Act is supported by the American Horse Council (AHC) and almost all major national horse show organizations and many state and local horse organizations. The bill was introduced by Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Mark Warner (D-VA) in the Senate and Representatives Ted Yoho (R-FL) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) in the House of Representatives.
The PAST Act would strengthen the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and end the soring of Tennessee Walking Horses, Spotted Saddle Horses, and Racking Horses. Despite the existence of a federal ban on soring for over forty years, this cruel practice continues in the “performance” or “big lick” segments of the Walking Horse industry. “Ending soring is not only important in those segments of the Walking Horse industry,” said AHC president Jay Hickey, “it is also important for the well-being and economic health of the horse industry because, while soring happens only in a small segment of the Walking Horse industry, such abuse damages the image of the entire horse industry.”
Every major national horse show organizations support the PAST Act, including the American Horse Council, the American Quarter Horse Association, the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Paint Horse Association, the American Morgan Horse Association, the Pinto Horse Association of America, the Arabian Horse Association, the American Saddlebred Horse Association, the United Professional Horsemen’s Association, the Appaloosa Horse Club, as well as many state and local horse organizations.
“Very few bills in Congress ever achieve this level of bi-partisan support,” said Hickey. “The magnitude of support for this bill is clear, but there is still a lot of work that will need to be done to make sure it is brought to a vote. The AHC will be continuing its efforts to see that this happens when Congress reconvenes in January.”
“All members of the horse community should contact their Senators and Representative in the New Year and tell them ‘they should co-sponsor the PAST Act and it should be given a vote as soon as possible and they should vote for it, when that happens’,” said Hickey.
