Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) has reintroduced the Horse Protection Amendments Act (H.R. 1338). This is the exact same bill DesJarlais introduced last year to amend the Horse Protection Act (HPA). The bill would create a single Horse Industry Organization (HIO) that would be responsible for enforcement of the HPA. This bill is opposed by the AHC.
The HPA was enacted in 1970 and prohibits the showing, sale, or transport of a horse that has been sored. Soring is an abusive practice used by some horse trainers in the Tennessee Walking Horse, Spotted Saddle Horse, and Racking Horse industry to intentionally cause pain in a horse’s forelegs and produce an accentuated show gait for competition.
The AHC opposes the DesJarlais bill because it would not reduce the prevalence of soring in the Tennessee Walking Horse, Spotted Saddle Horse, and Racking Horse industry and does not address most of the issues raised in a USDA Office of Inspector General Report on the HPA enforcement program. In fact it could exacerbate the situation by placing responsibility for enforcement of the HPA more firmly in the hands of a walking horse-controlled HIO.
The bill has 9 co-sponsors; Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), John Duncan (R-TN), Marsh Blackburn (R-TN), Hal Rogers (R-KY), Diane Black (R-TN), Andy Barr (R-KY), David Roe(R-TN), James Comer (R-KY) and Bret Guthrie (R-KY).
The AHC continues to support the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act (PAST Act) that would strengthen the HPA and prevent the soring of Tennessee Walking Horses, Spotted Saddle Horses, and Racking Horses.
In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) issued a new regulation to redefine “Waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Trump administration has announced it will instruct the EPA and the Corps to review and reconsider the 2015 rule known as the Waters of the United States rule or WOTUS. The rule was opposed by the American Horse Council (AHC) and other agricultural groups.
The CWA regulates discharges of pollutants into navigable rivers and lakes, collectively known as “Waters of the U.S.” The 2015 rule redefined “Waters of the U.S.,” in a manner that significantly expanded the waters subject to the requirements of the CWA. The CWA includes exemptions for agriculture, however the AHC and other agricultural groups had serious concerns regarding the 2015 rule and the AHC believed it could negatively impact horse farms, ranches and racetracks in all parts of the country.
During the original comment period, the AHC asked the EPA and Corp to withdrawal the rule in its entirety and supported Congressional efforts to block the rule. The AHC supports the decision to review and reconsider the 2015 rule.
Where can you find people involved in every segment of the equine world working together to advance our industry? How can you find out what projects and initiatives are being worked on in every corner of the equine industry?
The answer: the American Horse Council’s (AHC) Annual Meeting & National Issues Forum, sponsored by Luitpold Animal Health! Save the Date on your calendars for June 11-14, 2017 at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC.
“Even if you are not a member of the American Horse Council, we encourage anyone involved in the industry to try to attend our Annual Meeting and Issues Forum,” said AHC President Julie Broadway. “This is the only meeting where every segment of the industry gets together to discuss issues of importance to not only their respective fields, but to the industry as a whole.”
Monday will see committee meetings for the 5 committees the AHC has: Animal Welfare, Horse Show, Health & Regulatory, Recreation, and Racing. “Anyone is welcome to attend any committee meeting they like until they go into executive session. In fact, we encourage people to attend as many as they can to get an idea of what the AHC is working on within each committee,” said Ms. Broadway.
Monday will also spotlight the Van Ness Award, which is given to a member of a State Horse Council who has shown leadership and service to the horse community in his or her state.
The theme of the National Issues Forum (NIF) on Tuesday will be “The Power of Unity,” and will feature keynote speaker Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, which is the national umbrella organization representing all segments of travel in America. “The U.S. Travel Association works to engage, connect and inform the travel industry,” said Mr. Dow, “similar to how the AHC seeks to inform and engage all segments of the equine industry. Although different in the types of businesses we work with, the AHC and the Travel Association are similar in that we both encourage working together to advance the industry.”
Additionally, a panel of researchers from the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, AAEP Foundation, AQHA Foundation, Horses & Humans Research Foundation, and Colorado State University’s Temple Grandin Equine Center will discuss the importance of research for the industry, as well as any research they have done and its significance. Allyn Mann, of Lutipold Animal Health, will be the moderator for the panel.
The Innovation Group will also provide a progress report on the update of the National Economic Impact Study- of which its findings are certainly highly anticipated. The AHC will also present its new strategic plan to give attendees an idea of what the AHC will be undertaking in the years ahead.
At the conclusion of the Issues Forum, breakout sessions will be set up to allow groups to have further discussion about topics they found particularly interesting.
Please check theEvents tab on the AHC website where a tentative schedule, room reservation information, and more will be posted there in the upcoming weeks.
If you have already taken our strategic planning survey, thank you very much! We know you are busy, as we appreciate the time you took to give us your feedback. As such, you may disregard this email.
This is a FINAL reminder that we would greatly appreciate 15 minutes of your time to complete a survey to aid in the American Horse Council’s upcoming Strategic Planning workshop. The information gathered in this survey will be used by the board and leadership to help identify key focus areas and priorities.
Please note, responses are completely confidential and will not be linked back to any individual. All responses are due back by Monday,February 20th. We appreciate your time, feedback and insights!
Recently, President Trump ordered a government wide freeze on all new federal regulations pending review. This order has put an indefinite hold on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) final regulations governing enforcement of the Horse Protection Act (HPA).
On January 13, 2017, USDA announced a final HPA rule. However, the final rule was not published in the Federal Register before President Trump issued his order to all federal agencies to withdrawal all regulations that had not yet been published pending review. The final rule would have made several major changes to current HPA regulations with the goal of ending soring.
It will now be up to the Trump administration to decide whether or not to finalize the HPA rule. There is no timeline for review of the rule and the new administration could decide to issue a final rule at any time or withdrawal the rule completely. The HPA enforcement program will continue to operate under the current HPA regulations.
On February 13th at 3:00 pm ET, the American Horse Council will host its first quarterly webinar for 2017. The topic will be “Climate Change and Equines.”
“While the cause of climate change is of course a debated subject, there is no debate that climate change effects animals, sometimes drastically,” said AHC President Julie Broadway. “We wanted to educate people on understanding how your horses may be effected by these climate changes, and how you can be better prepared to keep your horses safe and comfortable with these changes.”
David Herring, Director of Communication & Education at the NOAA Climate Program Office will be the featured speaker. Mr. Herring will discuss how they see changes in the weather affecting not only horses themselves, but also the areas in which they live, show, and are ridden. “Severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and record-breaking snow and rain have devastated farms around the country recently,” said Mr. Herring. “We want people to be aware of how these potential changes in the climate can drastically affect their animals and their well-being.”
Dr. Karen Davison, Equine Nutritionist and Director of Purina Animal Nutrition’s Equine Technical Services team will give an overview of how horses nutritional needs change with the weather. “It’s important to be able to teach people what we currently know to be the best ways to feed horses,” said Dr. Davison, “With changes in the weather that are sometimes drastic, we are learning and investigating new ways to be able to feed horses better.”
Also being spotlighted will be the Back Country Horsemen of America (BCHA), with Jim McGarvey, Executive Director of BCHA giving an overview of the work that they do. Most recently, the AHC worked with BCHA toward the successful passing of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act. Finally, AHC’s Director of Health & Regulatory Affairs Cliff Williamson will give a short overview on regulatory issues that the AHC is currently working on.
The webinar is open to both AHC members and non-members—we encourage everyone to attend! To register for the webinar, please click here. If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Furst at afurst@horsecouncil.org. We look forward to having you join us for the first of our quarterly webinars!
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced final regulations governing enforcement of the Horse Protection Act (HPA). The HPA was passed in 1970 to stop the cruel practice of “soring” horses that was occurring in some sectors of the Tennessee Walking Horse, Racking Horse and Spotted Saddle Horse industry.
The final rule would make several major changes to current HPA regulations with the goal of ending soring. The AHC is currently reviewing the details of the final rule to determine its impact on the horse industry. However, USDA seems to have made several modifications and clarifications to the final rule in accord with the comments submitted by the AHC and others. AHC comments can be found here.
Importantly, the USDA has made changes to the final rule that address horse industry concerns had regarding the proposed rule release last summer. These changes include explicitly limited new prohibitions on pads, wedges, and action devices to “Tennessee Walking Horses and Racking Horses,” and removal of all references to “related breeds that performs with an accentuated gait that raises concerns about soring.” Additionally, USDA has adopted several proposals to make the rule less burdensome for smaller “flat shod” walking horse shows. USDA also has clarified that certain reporting and record keeping requirements apply only to “Tennessee Walking Horse, Racking Horse shows.”
APHIS will license, train, and oversee independent, third party inspectors, known as Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs), and establish the licensing eligibility requirements to reduce conflicts of interest.
Beginning 30 days after the publication of the final rule, all action devices, except for certain boots, are prohibited on any Tennessee Walking Horse or racking horse at any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction. All pads and wedges are prohibited on any Tennessee Walking Horse or racking horse at any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction on or after January 1, 2018, unless such horse has been prescribed and is receiving therapeutic, veterinary treatment using pads or wedges. This delayed implementation allows ample time to both gradually reduce the size of pads to minimize any potential physiological stress to the horses and prepare horses to compete in other classes.
Beginning January 1, 2018, management of HPA-covered events must, among other things, submit certain information records to APHIS, provide HPIs with access, space, and facilities to conduct inspections, and have a farrier physically present to assist HPIs at horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions that allow Tennessee Walking Horses or racking horses to participate in therapeutic pads and wedges if more than 150 horses are entered, and have a farrier on call if 150 or fewer horses are entered.
The final rule has not been published in the Federal Register, but USDA has stated they plan to publish it in the next several days.
In its initial assessment of the final rule, the AHC believes USDA has made many of the changes that were necessary to end soring and to fulfill the purpose and intent of the HPA as well as make sure other segments of horse show industry that have no history of soring horses are not unintentionally impacted or burdened by the regulation.
The AHC is continuing to review the proposed rule to determine its impact on the horse industry. After the AHC has had the opportunity to analysis the details of the final rule we will follow up with additional information.
The USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) released the first report from its Equine 2015 study, the Baseline Reference of Equine Health and Management in the United States 2015. The study was postponed because of 2015’s highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak.
Equine 2015 was conducted in 28 states, chosen for study participation based, in part, on the size or density of the states’ equine population. Data collected for the study represented 71.6 percent of equids and 70.9 percent of U.S. operations with five or more equids. This report shares data collected in regards to population estimates, equid health management and healthcare events, disease testing, farm biosecurity protocols, and transportation.
The Equine 2015 Study was designed to provide participants, industry, and animal-health officials with information on the nation’s equine population that will serve as a basis for education, service, and research related to equine health and management, while providing the industry with information regarding trends in the industry for 1998, 2005 and 2015/2016.
The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (H.R. 113) has been re-introduced by Representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). The bill is identical to legislation introduced last Congress and similar to other earlier bills that would in effect prohibit the slaughter of horses in the U.S. and the export of horses for slaughter.
This bill cites health concerns as the primary rationale to prohibit the sale or export of horses or horsemeat for human consumption, because they are frequently treated with drugs that pose a serious threat to human health if eaten. The bill would make it illegal under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to knowingly sell or transport horses or parts of horses in interstate or foreign commerce for purposes of human consumption.
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published a proposed rule regarding withholding requirements on pari-mutuel winnings. The proposed rule would make changes to withholding requirements that are more accurate and reflect the current state of wagering in the horse racing industry. These changes, if made final, will be of great benefit to horse players and the racing industry.
Specifically, the proposed rule would define “amount of the wager” as the total amount wagered by a bettor into a specific pari-mutuel pool on a single ticket for purposes of determining whether wagering proceeds are subject to 25% withholding on winnings of $5,000 or more and are at least 300 times as large as the amount wagered.
Currently, the IRS does not recognize the total amount wagered on an exotic bet with “boxes,” “wheels,” and “keys,” when determining whether the 300:1 ratio has been met and 25% withholding is triggered, only the cost of the individual winning bet. This greatly increases the number of winning bets that are subject to withholding and does not accurately reflect the actual amount bet and the actual amount won.
The American Horse Council and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association have requested the IRS make the proposed change for many years.
Assume an individual decided to make a Trifecta wager (selecting the first-, second-, and third-place finishers in a race, in exact order). To improve his or her chances of winning, the individual selects a group of seven horses in the race and requests a “Trifecta box.” By boxing the bet, a bettor wins if any three of the seven horses finishes one-two-three (in any order). A seven- horse Trifecta box involves 210 different mathematical combinations. If the bettor bets $20 on each combination, the total amount wagered is $4,200 ($20 x 210). After the race, the bettor holds a winning ticket that pays $6,100 (which is odds of 304-to-1 under the current regulations which limit the amount wagered to only the single $20 combination).
In accordance with the current rules, the racetrack would withhold $1,520 because the rules treat the $20 paid for the one winning combination as the only amount wagered. The withholding is computed as follows:
$6,100 Winnings ($20) Amount wagered
$6,080 Proceeds from the wager x 25% Automatic withholding
$1,520 Withholding tax
The individual, however, has really only won $1,900 ($6,100 winnings less $4,200 wagered). Consequently, after the withholding tax is taken out, the person is left with a net of only $380, making the withholding rate 80 percent of the actual winnings.
Example under Proposed Change
The pay-off computations for the winning Trifecta outlined in the example above are changed by defining the “amount of the wager” as the actual dollars wagered by that individual into the Trifecta pool for that race. The wager in this scenario results in no withholding as the twin tests of winnings of more than $5,000 and odds of at least 300-to-1 or more are not met:
$6,100 Winnings $4,200 Amount wagered
$1,900 Proceeds from the wager
In this example, the proceeds from the wager of $1,900 is less than the $5,000 threshold and is far less than 300 times the amount wagered of $4,200.
This proposed change will obviously be of benefit to individuals who bet on horse races and the racing industry in general.
In recent years, Congress has typically passed a tax extender bill to renew dozens of temporary or expiring tax provisions for individuals and businesses at the end of the year. One of these typically extend provisions was three-year depreciation of race horses. However, Congress has adjourned for the year without taking any action on a tax extender bill, allowing three-year deprecation of race horses and dozens of other tax provisions to expire.
From 2009 through 2016 all race horses could be depreciated over three years, regardless of when they were placed in service. This provision was passed in 2008 as part of a Farm Bill. The change, which eliminated the 7-year depreciation period for race horses and made all race horses eligible for three-year depreciation, expires at the end of 2016. Beginning in 2017, the pre-2009 rules will have to be used, meaning owners will have to decide whether to place a race horses in service at the end of its yearling year and depreciate it over 7 years or wait until it is over 2 (24 months and a day after foaling) and depreciate it over three years.
Congress took no action on a tax extenders bill because they hope to enact major tax reform legislation in the next Congress that would eliminate the need for many of the expiring provisions. Failure to pass the tax extender bill was not due to opposition to the three-year depreciation of race horses or any other specific tax provision.
The AHC will be closely monitoring the development of a tax reform bill and analyzing its potential impact on the horse industry.
The following is an announcement from the American Horse Council.