Tennessee horse trainer Paul Blackburn, who was indicted last year in a high-profile Horse Protection Act (HPA) violation case, will serve probation, pay a fine, and write a detailed description of soring practices and their prevalence in the gaited horse community under a sentencing order issued by a federal judge on Jan. 23. "Soring" is the deliberate injury of a horse’s feet and legs to achieve an exaggerated, high-stepping gait. The HPA prohibits the practice.

In April a federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., handed down a 34-count superseding indictment charging Blackburn along with Spotted Saddle Horse trainer Barney Davis and two other individuals, Christen Altman and Jeffery Bradford, with conspiring to violate the HPA by applying soring practices to horses and falsifying forms and other paperwork required to exhibit animals.

In October Blackburn pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the HPA.

Sharry Dedman-Beard, public information officer for the U.S State’s Attorney’s Office, Eastern Tennessee District, said that on Jan. 23, U.S. District Court Judge Harry S. Mattice sentenced Blackburn to serve 12 months probation, pay $1,000 in fines, and to write an article describing horse soring methods used in the gaited horse community, their effects on horses, and the scope of soring in the industry