The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is once again delaying the implementation of amendments to the Horse Protection Act (HPA).

The new Tennessee Walking Horse and racking horse inspection rules will go into effect Dec. 31, 2026. A notice on the Federal Register website states the final rule postponement will be printed Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, making it official.

It is the fourth delay since the final rule was initially published May 8, 2024. The rule originally was scheduled to take effect Feb. 1, 2025. However, APHIS delayed it twice more to April 2, 2025, and Feb. 1, 2026.

APHIS opened a comment period following the April 2 decision to determine whether the postponement was sufficient or more time was necessary. More than 6,100 comments were filed by Congressional members, state agricultural agencies, farm bureaus, horse industry associations, veterinarians and associations, as well as horse trainers, trainers and exhibitors.

“We believe Dec. 31, 2026, will provide APHIS with sufficient time to identify appropriate next steps in light of the new circumstances,” writes Dudley Hoskins, USDA’s undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, in his statement published in the Federal Register. “Many commenters suggested that the 2024 Horse Protection final rule never go into effect and instead urged a withdrawal or rewrite of the rule.”

Calls for rewriting the rule, though, cannot be met under the parameters established for the comment period.

“Suggestions for additional rulemaking, including withdrawal or rewrite of the 2024 Horse Protection final rule, as well as comments citing problems with the non-vacated portions of the 2024 Horse Protection final rule and the Horse Protection regulations, are outside the scope of our request for comments regarding the length of postponement,” Hoskins states. “However, we may consider them in future rulemaking.”

Opposition In & Out of Court

The delays came amid a flurry of opposition from various corners of the equine industry, including agriculture commissioners from 11 states and the American Horse Council (AHC), asking the USDA to withdraw the final rule.

Although the HPA applies to all breeds and disciplines, enforcement historically targets the elimination of soring in Tennessee Walkers, Spotted Saddle Horses and racking horses. The revised regulations focus on all shows, exhibitions, sales and auctions. The final rule defines a show as a public display of any equines in competition except where speed is the prime factor, rodeo events, parades, or trail rides. This included donkeys, mules, state fairs and 4-H shows.

A lawsuit by the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Association (TWHNCA) gutted part of the Final Rule.

On Jan. 31, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled the USDA exceeded its authority in four of the five provisions contested in a lawsuit brought by the TWHNCA. The four provisions are the prohibition of action devices and pads, the prohibition of substances, the dermatologic conditions indicative of soring (DCIS) — which replaces the scar rule — and the pre- and post-deprivation review of inspector decisions. The court upholds the elimination of the designated qualified persons (DQP) program.

The HPA without the final rule protects horses, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk ruled. The USDA-APHIS Final Rule went too far when it tried to ban action devices, pads and substances — including shampoo, polishes and fly spray, he ruled.

“These current restrictions, when properly adhered to, ensure that no soring is caused by action devices or pads,” Kacsmaryk wrote. “Banning all action devices and pads only punishes owners and trainers already in compliance with existing regulations and fails to alter the behavior of incorrigible offenders.”