Horse soring is a cruel practice where trainers deliberately injure a horse's legs to produce an exaggerated high-stepping gait prized in certain show competitions. The PAST Act of 2025 would strengthen the existing federal Horse Protection Act by banning specific devices — chains, rollers, weighted shoes, and similar equipment — on Tennessee Walking Horses, Racking Horses, and Spotted Saddle Horses at shows and competitions. It also shifts inspection authority away from industry-appointed inspectors to federally licensed ones, with preference given to accredited veterinarians who must be free from conflicts of interest. Penalties for violations would increase: criminal fines jump from $3,000 to $5,000 per violation and maximum jail time rises from one year to three years, and repeat offenders can be permanently barred from participating in horse shows. The USDA would be required to publish a public database of violators so event managers can screen participants.
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- Maximum criminal fine per violation — Increased from $3,000 to $5,000 for knowing violations of horse-soring prohibitions
- Maximum prison term — Extended from 1 year to 3 years per violation
- Civil fine ceiling — Raised from $2,000 to $4,000 per violation
- Permanent disqualification authority — Secretary may permanently ban repeat (3rd+) offenders from all horse show participation
Transparency & Accountability
- Public violator database — USDA required to publish and maintain a list of Horse Protection Act violators on the APHIS website
- Inspector conflict-of-interest requirement — Federal licensees must be free of conflicts of interest, replacing industry self-policing model
- Violation reporting requirement — Licensed inspectors must notify USDA of each citation within 5 days of issuance
Congressional Summary
Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 2025 or the PAST Act of 2025This bill increases protections for horses at shows, exhibitions, sales, or auctions (horse events) to prevent the practice of soring horses. Generally, the soring of horses includes certain actions taken on horses' limbs to produce higher gaits that may cause pain, distress, inflammation, or lameness.Specifically, the bill expands existing soring prohibitions under the Horse Protection Act, including by banning the use of certain action devices (e.g., nonprotective boots) on specified horse breeds.The bill also requires soring inspectors at horse events to be assigned by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the Department of Agriculture rather than appointed by the management of horse events. APHIS must also license, train, and oversee inspectors to detect and diagnose soring at such events.Additionally, the bill increases penalties for violations of the act. It also directs APHIS to disqualify horses found to be sore from being shown or exhibited for specified periods. Further, APHIS may permanently disqualify violators from participating in horse events after the third or any subsequent violation.By way of background, APHIS issued a rule in 2024 to increase efforts to protect horses from soring practices. However, in 2025, a court vacated parts of the rule as exceeding APHIS' statutory authority (e.g., prohibiting the use of certain action devices) while deeming other parts acceptable (e.g., establishing APHIS-designated inspectors). APHIS subsequently delayed the effective date of the rule to December 31, 2026.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-02-27
- Date Added
- 2026-04-30
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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