Even before his election, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared removing carriage horses from NYC a top priority. Chief among the reasons is that he's declared the practice as cruel and the living conditions as inhumane.

While arrests were made earlier this spring of Maryville, Tenn., horse trainer Larry Joe Wheelon and two co-workers suspected of violating the Tennessee law against animal cruelty, an early June arrest was made of a farrier for his role in the disgraceful practice of soring. This represents the first time a farrier has been arrested in conjunction with ongoing state and federal soring investigations.