The revised Horse Protection Act (HPA) broadens anti-soring regulations from gaited and racking horses to all breeds. Broad, vague language has industry leaders concerned.
Classic government overreach being spurred along by environmentalists and urban dwelling "super" citizens who believe they know what's best. This continuing list of feel good rules and laws proposed by people who don't live or work in rural and wild lands continues to tax families who make a living or people who genuinely enjoy partaking in activities that you can't find in downtown LA, NYC, or Chicago. While those urbanites clap each other on the back and think they are taking a stand they are causing real damage and hurting more than they are fixing.
I think the horse shows organizations can regulate themselves and have been. I think this is a large government overreach. Furthermore, it is unrealistic to assume they will be able to provide enough inspectors for the amount of horse shows that take place. We’re talking about everything from world shows, to the tiny local and 4-H shows. For instance, in my tiny little county, our 4-H hosts 5 shows a year. If you can imagine every county’s 4-H program hosted 5 shows a year, it’s unrealistic to think that an inspector could attend all of those shows, let alone, the NCHA,NRHA, AQHA, APHA shows. That’s only considering western riding and not the English hunters. It will kill the horse show industry which is a terrifying thought.
Grassroots movements are way more powerful than a lobbyist, Western Justice represents the Grassroots, the people who make a living in the horse industry, sign our petition to stop this which has over 22k signatures, that's powerful to Legislators.
This is just more big government bureaucratic power grabbing and overreach. Of course horses should never be abused. They are beautiful animals. And, are working animals. There would not be many wonderful horses if they are not allowed to do some form of work. Reasonable governance, much by non-government groups who govern sports and recreational activities, is frequently better than bureaucrats who either have an agenda, or don’t understand enough.
Interestingly, the US Forest Services has been on the side of the Salt River wild horses in Arizona. They carefully keep the herd size sustainable (excess horses are found good homes). They just fended off lefty environmental group and trophy hunters (interesting partners?) from lawsuit to drive these horses from the Tonto National Forest. One of the defenses was the work these horses naturally do eating grasses and other fire fuel, helping to reduce fire threats.
My conclusion is that some government agencies can do good work for us, but we need to watch them all closely, keep their scope clear and tight, and eliminate those who rarely do good.
Classic government overreach being spurred along by environmentalists and urban dwelling "super" citizens who believe they know what's best. This continuing list of feel good rules and laws proposed by people who don't live or work in rural and wild lands continues to tax families who make a living or people who genuinely enjoy partaking in activities that you can't find in downtown LA, NYC, or Chicago. While those urbanites clap each other on the back and think they are taking a stand they are causing real damage and hurting more than they are fixing.
Well said
I think the horse shows organizations can regulate themselves and have been. I think this is a large government overreach. Furthermore, it is unrealistic to assume they will be able to provide enough inspectors for the amount of horse shows that take place. We’re talking about everything from world shows, to the tiny local and 4-H shows. For instance, in my tiny little county, our 4-H hosts 5 shows a year. If you can imagine every county’s 4-H program hosted 5 shows a year, it’s unrealistic to think that an inspector could attend all of those shows, let alone, the NCHA,NRHA, AQHA, APHA shows. That’s only considering western riding and not the English hunters. It will kill the horse show industry which is a terrifying thought.
So what can horse owners and lovers do to stop this act?
Grassroots movements are way more powerful than a lobbyist, Western Justice represents the Grassroots, the people who make a living in the horse industry, sign our petition to stop this which has over 22k signatures, that's powerful to Legislators.
This is just more big government bureaucratic power grabbing and overreach. Of course horses should never be abused. They are beautiful animals. And, are working animals. There would not be many wonderful horses if they are not allowed to do some form of work. Reasonable governance, much by non-government groups who govern sports and recreational activities, is frequently better than bureaucrats who either have an agenda, or don’t understand enough.
Interestingly, the US Forest Services has been on the side of the Salt River wild horses in Arizona. They carefully keep the herd size sustainable (excess horses are found good homes). They just fended off lefty environmental group and trophy hunters (interesting partners?) from lawsuit to drive these horses from the Tonto National Forest. One of the defenses was the work these horses naturally do eating grasses and other fire fuel, helping to reduce fire threats.
My conclusion is that some government agencies can do good work for us, but we need to watch them all closely, keep their scope clear and tight, and eliminate those who rarely do good.