Talk:Honors (horse)

The issue

The issue with this horse probably won't go away, I dug around into the legal stuff, so I'd like to propose a bit of content to address it. What do you think of something like this: Just the legal case, no pro or con analysis. Does this sound neutral enough? Montanabw^(talk) 06:22, 17 September 2016 (UTC):

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The win was controversial. Honors had been disqualified four times between 2013 and 2015 for violations of the "scar rule" of the Horse Protection Act of 1970 (HPA) which allows a horse to be pulled from competition if it shows signs of having been sored in the past. In addition, the Edwards' brothers had multiple previous HPA violations and suspensions on their record. In 2014, when Honors had been disqualified twice by the same official, the McSwains had the horse examined by veterinarians at Auburn University in Alabama and Louisiana State University, who found no sign of damage that violated the scar rule. In April of 2016, McSwain had filed a lawsuit against the USDA, alleging violations of due process, and seeking a number of legal remedies including reversal of Honors' past disqualifications and injunctive relief. In May, federal district court judge Richard W. Story granted a preliminary injunction, noting that there was no appeals process for owners to contest disqualification, and this prevented veterinary inspectors from disqualifying Honors from future competitions without having a hearing where a disqualification could be challenged. This ruling allowed Honors to be shown in 2016, and the McSwain's lawsuit against the USDA was still pending at the time of the Celebration. Due to accusations of soring, however, the morning after the World Grand Championship the Edwardses volunteered to have Honors biopsied to prove he was sound.

References

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That's all I think I want to say for now, because the lawsuit is pending. But there's more out there including a citation against Gary Edwards for riding Honors at the Celebration, and a July 25 USDA complaint against McSwain (See 2016 July HPA Complaints and 2016 August HPA 7060s). The Edwards have previously appealed their suspensions to the US Circuit Court of Appeals and once tried to get cert (which was denied) with the US Supreme Court, so this gang knows how to double down. Frankly, if they win, they will make enforcement of the HPA almost impossible because it would prevent horses from being disqualified at a show - everyone would demand a hearing. More stuff at the link below, but it's a site that overuses large capital letters, and that's my first line of RS evaluation, so ... but there's interesting stuff. Montanabw^(talk) 06:22, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

• http://www.billygoboy.com/2016/05/22/honors-owners-file-suit-against-usda-ag-sec-tom-vilsack-claims-scarred-honors-should-not-be-disqualified-requests-preliminary-injunction/

I'm OK with putting that in there, but I wouldn't cite the Billy Go Boy thing, because he has a reputation for addling facts (he claimed I Am Jose was pressure sored because Casey Wright made some comment that fans put pressure on him to repeat win, and totally twisted what Wright said, never mind that IAJ passed inspection every time he went up). The reason I think people are making a big deal out of this is that the USDA rules say that a horse has to have scars on both feet, and they've begun dq'ing horses for a scar on one foot. That and the fact that some horses get passed as sound at one show and next week get dq'ed for a scar make a lot of people hate the scar rule. I think if the USDA wants to prove he has been sored, they need to publish pictures of the scar, and it needs to come from the government and not some horse tabloid. By the way, I have had experience with what the government thinks are soring scars. I knew this guy, who isn't training anymore because of health problems, who had a TWH with a pasture scar. It was obviously a wire cut; it was a narrow jagged thing that started below the horse's knee and ran down to just above the fetlock. It was obviously not caused by soring, but he had to have a signed statement from a vet saying that the horse was not sored to keep from getting dq'ed. That was years and years ago, so this kind of thing has been going on for a long time. Anyway, I'm OK with putting what you wrote above in there. White Arabian Filly ^Neigh 21:45, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

I'll let it simmer for another day or so. Yeah, the problem with these advocacy sites is that they hurt their own cause by using exaggeration and hyperventilation. I have sympathy for the cause, but I don't like crazy people. Montanabw^(talk) 09:38, 18 September 2016 (UTC)

I'm still fine with adding that, so long as we're sure to keep the bit below it about him being bred and how they said he has it all. That's my DYK hook for this article. 😊 One more and I've got 25 articles that have been on the main page! White Arabian Filly ^Neigh 21:59, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

When you get the 25 let me know, I have a pretty toy! Montanabw^(talk) 21:15, 20 September 2016 (UTC)