A Federal Grand Jury has indicted three Tennessee residents for alleged violations of the Horse Protection Act (HPA).

The HPA prohibits "soring," the deliberate injury of a horse’s feet and legs to achieve a high-stepping "big lick" gait. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service enforces the Act, certifies Horse Industry Organizations (HIOs) that sponsor horse shows, and trains Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs). HIOs hire DQPs to inspect horses presented for exhibition at the horse shows they sponsor.

The indictment handed down earlier this month alleges that between 2002 and 2010, Spotted Saddle Horse trainer Barney Davis and two other individuals, Christen Altman and Jeffery Bradford, conspired to violate the HPA by soring horses and falsifying forms and other paperwork required to exhibit animals.

According to the indictment, Davis allegedly placed bolts in horses’ feet, taped blocks to horses’ feet, and applied other soring techniques to horses prior to competition. The indictment also alleges that Davis would remove external devices prior to pre-performance HPA compliance inspections and inject horses with pain reducing drugs to limit the level of the animals’ reactions to inspection procedures