Soring is the deliberate infliction of pain on a horse’s legs or hooves to produce an exaggerated, high-stepping gait known as the “big lick.” It is both illegal under federal law and widely condemned as animal abuse. The practice is most closely associated with Tennessee Walking Horse competitions, where trainers use chemical irritants, pressure, or weighted devices on the front limbs to force horses to lift their legs unnaturally high in the show ring.
How Soring Works
The basic principle behind soring is simple and cruel: when a horse’s front legs are in pain, it lifts them higher and faster to minimize contact with the ground. This creates a dramatic, chest-high stride that judges in certain show circuits have rewarded for decades. A horse moving naturally would never produce this motion on its own.
Trainers use several methods to cause this pain. Chemical soring involves applying caustic substances like mustard oil, diesel fuel, or croton oil to the skin around the pasterns (the area just above the hoof). These chemicals burn and blister the tissue, making the skin excruciatingly sensitive. The irritated areas are then sometimes wrapped in plastic or bandages to intensify the chemical reaction before being covered up.
Mechanical soring uses physical objects to cause pain. Heavy stacked shoes or pads, sometimes called “action devices,” add weight to the horse’s front feet. Chains or metal rollers are placed around the pasterns so they repeatedly strike the chemically irritated skin as the horse moves, compounding the pain and forcing the legs even higher. Some trainers trim the hooves unevenly or drive objects into the sole of the foot to create pressure pain with every step.
What It Does to the Horse
The physical damage goes well beyond surface-level burns. Repeated tissue injury lowers the horse’s pain threshold over time, meaning the legs become more sensitive, not less. The pain response also expands outward from the original injury site, so even areas of uninjured skin near the damaged tissue become painful to the touch. Previous painful episodes can have long-lasting effects on nerve sensitivity, meaning a horse that has been sored may carry heightened pain responses for months or years after the abuse stops.
A sored horse redistributes its weight to the hind legs, keeping the front limbs as lightly planted as possible. This abnormal weight-loading strains the entire musculoskeletal system and creates chronic lameness. Horses may stand hunched over or “camped out,” with their front legs extended forward to reduce pressure. They often point a front limb (resting it with just the toe touching the ground) or shift their weight constantly, unable to find a comfortable stance.
Pain also shows in the horse’s face. Horses in pain display involuntary facial expressions: ears rotated backward, tension above the eyes, dilated nostrils, pursed lips, and a flattened facial profile. They may grind their teeth, sweat excessively, or show brief involuntary muscle twitches. Some become excessively quiet and withdrawn. Others grow restless and reluctant to be led.
How Inspectors Detect Soring
At shows governed by the Horse Protection Act, inspectors evaluate horses before they enter the ring. The process relies on two main techniques: observing the horse in motion and physically examining the legs by hand.
First, the inspector watches the horse walk and turn, looking for compensatory movements that signal pain. These include head bobbing, changes in how the feet land, subtle limb favoring, and uneven weight distribution. A sound horse moves in a free, easy manner. A sored horse does not, though the signs can be subtle if the horse has been trained to mask them.
Then the inspector palpates (presses with the fingers) the front limbs from the knee down to the hoof, paying close attention to the pasterns, fetlocks, and the soft area at the back of the heel. A horse that flinches, stamps, lifts its foot, flexes the limb, or tries to walk away during this examination is flagged as potentially sore. A horse found to be sore in one or both front legs is disqualified from the entire show.
Inspectors may also use additional tools. Thermal imaging can detect inflammation beneath the skin’s surface. Swabs of the lower legs can be tested for prohibited chemical substances. Blood samples can reveal whether a horse has been given drugs to dull its pain response and mask soreness during inspection, a tactic some trainers use to pass the palpation exam.
The Legal Landscape
The Horse Protection Act, passed in 1970, made soring a federal offense. The law prohibits showing, selling, auctioning, or transporting a sored horse. For decades, enforcement relied heavily on Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs), inspectors trained and licensed by the horse industry’s own organizations. Critics argued this was essentially the industry policing itself, and violations persisted.
In May 2024, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published new regulations that eliminate the DQP system entirely, along with the regulatory role of industry organizations. The new framework replaces them with federally trained Horse Protection Inspectors (HPIs) who answer to the government rather than the show circuit. However, the effective date of these new rules has been postponed to December 31, 2026, and the inspector training program is currently paused while the agency reevaluates its curriculum.
This means enforcement is in a transitional period. The old industry-managed inspection system is being phased out, but the new federal inspection program is not yet operational. The law itself remains in effect, and USDA veterinary medical officers still conduct inspections at some events.
Why It Persists
Soring continues because the “big lick” gait wins competitions, and winning horses are worth significant money in breeding fees, sales, and prize purses. The financial incentive is strong enough that some trainers accept the legal risk. Detection methods, while improving, still rely partly on subjective assessment, and trainers have developed techniques to temporarily mask the signs of soring before inspection, from numbing agents to careful timing of chemical applications.
A growing movement within the Tennessee Walking Horse community itself has pushed back against soring, promoting “flat shod” classes where horses compete in normal shoes without stacked pads or action devices. These classes showcase the breed’s natural gait, which is smooth and distinctive without any need for pain. The shift has been slow, but it represents the clearest path toward making the “big lick” obsolete by changing what the show ring rewards.