The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced that the Horse Protection Act (HPA) final rule implementation has been postponed until February 1, 2026. This announcement follows a previous statement from APHIS that modifications originally slated to go into effect February 1, 2025 were later delayed until April 2, 2025.
APHIS stated:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is further postponing the effective date of the Horse Protection Act final rule to February 1, 2026. APHIS is also taking public comment on the delay.
On January 24, 2025, APHIS announced it was postponing the effective date of the rule for 60 days from February 1, 2025, to April 2, 2025, with the exception of the section authorizing the training of horse inspectors, which previously went into effect on June 7, 2024.
APHIS will further postpone the effective date for the rule, other than the training section, to February 1, 2026. Additionally, APHIS is requesting public comments on whether the Agency should further extend the length of this postponement and is also soliciting additional information to help inform a decision on the appropriate length of the postponement.
The docket is currently on public inspection and is currently available for comment at the following address, which began on March 21: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/APHIS-2022-0004. The comment period will close on May 20, 2025.
On March 14, 2025, APHIS shared an information update to stakeholders for the upcoming horse show season in light of a recent court decision impacting the new rule, in which APHIS noted that there would be no regulatory changes between the 2024 show season and the 2025 show season regarding the Horse Protection Act.
The HPA is a federal law that prohibits sored horses from participating in shows, exhibitions, sales or auctions. The HPA also prohibits the transportation of sored horses to or from any of these events.
