Why HISA matters - A farrier's perspective

Article by Mark Hickcox CF

I wrote the following article titled “Why HISA Matters” for the February/March 2023 issue of No Foot, No Horse, the American Farrier’s Association newsletter magazine. This is one farrier’s perspective of HISA shoeing regulations written to other farriers. The majority of AFA members do not plate racehorses exclusively, but might hear about HISA horseshoe regulations and have questions regarding the effect on the farrier industry. The raceplater farriers are well aware of the effects and confusion surrounding HISA shoeing regulations and are doing their best to stay up to date with the track-specific rules and enforcement that are vastly differing from state to state. Track stewards and paddock blacksmiths have been given no HISA-specific measurement training, updated enforcement guidelines, or detailed specifications other than the non-enforcement on dirt announcement on July 29, 2022. 

Farrier industry or racetrack jargon regarding traction devices and shoe modifications can be confusing and subjective even among a group of farriers. Here’s the scenario: HISA and a group of horsemen are making a decision on a toe grab length that may vary less than the thickness of a dime, based on studies that have never been conducted because the shoe to test this toe grab hasn’t been manufactured, nor can they recognize a front shoe from a hind shoe, this does not set them up for success. The farrier industry is willing to be the experts in the room for such an occasion but weren’t invited for a collective comment until the regulations were well over 6 months old.

In 2023, it seems that HISA has bigger fish to fry, and legal rulings will take precedence over a horseshoe regulation specifications guide or clarification of the process of enforcement, in general. So, when will we see the non-enforcement announcement rescinded? We don’t know. Will the farrier industry be consulted in advance of the next decision to make sure that the shoes being specified will exist this time? We don’t know. Who, what, when, where, and how will enforcement happen at each racetrack and training facility? We don’t know. Are the rumors of new types of injuries due to a lack of traction? We don’t know. 

I have to believe that HISA administration will decide that they should speak with and listen to the Farrier Industry Association; the members include: the farriers, the companies that make the horseshoes, and the supply houses that stock and sell them to the farriers. After all, the title of the AFA magazine should remind them that it’s No Foot, No Horse.

WHY HISA MATTERS

You may have heard from a raceplater friend or seen a post somewhere about new shoeing regulations for Thoroughbred horse racing in the U.S. Most farriers would say it doesn’t affect them because they don’t work on race horses. True, the new law won’t change how most farriers shoe horses today. The new law may have a far greater reach however, by introducing government regulations to farriers and the farrier industry.

United States farriers are a pretty self-regulating bunch of individuals historically. Our education, certification, and proficiency under the horse are not something that is mandated to be a farrier. Whether it’s your full-time career or a skill that you possess to make some extra money, your business is your business. Other countries have laws that govern farriery, and you cannot apply a device to a horse’s hoof without attaining qualified farrier credentials. These regulations are always created for protecting horse welfare and come with a price for someone seeking qualified farrier status. This article is not meant to argue the merits of qualification, certification, education, continuing education, etc. Opinions vary, and agreement is not necessary in regards to HISA, but HISA is a law that does reach into the farrier industry nonetheless.

HISA is the acronym for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, and it was created when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into law in 2020.

“HISA is responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is comprised of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which goes into effect July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which will go into effect in January 2023.” 

“The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program will expand veterinary oversight, impose surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhance jockey safety, regulate riding crop use, and implement voided claim rules, among other important measures.”

Most often, horseshoers are the first to notice an issue with a horse’s health that may need veterinary intervention. We are horse men and women that care about an animal’s well-being when they are in our care. We can be held liable for issues related to our services and can keep horse owners up to date with best practices regarding the care of their horse. The service that farriers provide can be life changing, with regard to soundness, and life-saving, with regard to lameness, in many instances. This role is sometimes overlooked by the outside world because we “just shoe horses.” Our products and services can be lumped into a commodity purchase of goods and a service.

Unfortunately for HISA, implementation of the new shoeing regulation has demonstrated that the farrier industry (as a whole) is large, diverse, and multi-faceted just like other industries in our country. We have farriers as the end-user of products purchased from suppliers that are manufactured around the world by many companies that specialize in highly engineered pieces of steel and aluminum. Manufacturing processes require months of planning for raw materials, energy, transportation, labor, packaging, and distribution before a product gets on a supplier’s shelf—in all sizes and shapes necessary. This meant that a shoeing regulation approved by the Federal Trade Commission on March 4, 2022, that affects all racing or training Thoroughbred race horses in the U.S. on July 1, 2022, was idealistic at best. I’m sure that when it was published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2022, it seemed pretty simple.

2276. Horseshoes

(a) Except for full rims 2 millimeters or less from the ground surface of the Horseshoe, traction devices are prohibited on forelimb and hindlimb Horseshoes during racing and training on dirt or synthetic racing tracks.

(b) Traction devices are prohibited on forelimb and hindlimb Horseshoes

(c) Traction devices include but are not limited to rims, toe grabs, bends, jar calks and stickers.

Again, I know that a lot of farriers don’t shoe racehorses. This law will not affect how you shoe horses today, but then I read the following in this magazine:

“Purportedly, bar shoes, pads, glue on shoes, quarter crack patches may only be applied by a covered veterinarian. Those official regulations, however, will come in another phase of the bill.”

This is why we should all care. If the government can pass and implement a law that defines what we can nail on a horse’s hoof in any discipline of equine competition, then it can do it in all of them. This isn’t alarmist rhetoric to start fights or anarchy; it is information to attempt to protect our whole industry: manufacturers, suppliers and farriers. HISA still has legal challenges to clear, enforcement issues to fix, and a newly formed horsemen’s advisory council to blend into the decision-making process. Farriers and other farrier industry professionals should be consulted moving forward because our connection to elite equine athletes is often understated but cannot be ignored. Remember, a lot of folks think that it’s “just shoeing horses.” 

How do I stay informed/get involved?

• Keep advocating for our industry as a small business owner in your community: Chamber of Commerce member, high school trade fair booth, 4-H or pony club demonstration, equine emergency services volunteer, ag community organizations, etc. Remember, your business is your business!

• Stay involved in farrier industry organizations: clinics, contests, certifications, trade shows, supplier’s open house, hammer-ins, virtual education opportunities

• Be aware of industry changes/regulations: multi-discipline knowledge, state laws, federal laws, litigation affecting our industry, new products/technology

• Grass roots activism: Write an email or a letter to political leaders, start a  hoofcare education group for horse owners, improve farrier/vet relations in your coverage area, write an article, publish a yearly farrier newsletter for your clients. 

• Ride-along days: “The hardest door to open is the passenger side of someone else’s farrier truck.”

• Spend one day at a farrier school: Explaining how you do something is a great way to re-evaluate your own work process.

Did you know?

1. The American Farrier’s Association is a member of the American Horse Council. AHC is the only organization that represents the entire horse industry in Washington, DC.

2. The American Veterinary Medical Association spent over $860,000 per year since 2017 as their total lobbying expenditure and had 15 paid lobbyists in 2022.

3. Only 5% of U.S. veterinarians practice on large animals.

4. In 1978, Ada Gates became the first female farrier to become licensed to shoe Thoroughbred racehorses in the U.S. and Canada.

5. The International Union of Journeyman Horseshoers (IUJH) was established in the U.S. in 1874 (also known as the Heavy Horse Union).

6. If you Google “horseshoe regulations,” all results on the first page are about the game.

What We Need to Know from HISA

Keeping up with the legal evolution of HISA is like playing monopoly onboard a ship in pitching seas—the players, tokens and money are strewn all over the deck.

Article by Annie Lambert

When the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) went into effect on July 1, 2022, few people involved with the Authority or stakeholders operating under the new rules could have predicted the political path the statute would trudge down.

Specifically, HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) rules, which were to go into effect January 1, 2023, were put on hold. If/when enacted, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) will handle daily operations and administration of the ADMC. Drug Free Sport International will conduct the drug testing.

Multiple legal challenges from multiple entities in multiple jurisdictions snarled any further implementation of HISA. There were cheers from those opposing the new rules and jeers from those looking forward to implementing national uniform safety rules and anti-doping and medication control rules for Thoroughbred racing in the United States.

Race trackers took issue with the fact that they had little to no input in the rules and implementation of HISA. The Authority responded by creating the Horsemen’s Advisory Group (HAG). The group is composed of 19 owners, trainers and veterinarians along with representatives of racing offices, backside employees, farriers and aftercare enterprises. They began meeting monthly last November and will serve one- to two-year terms.

While the HAG may have settled some issues for horsemen, the legal suits continue. HISA appears confident that their legislation—which was written by legal experts specifically adept in constitutional law—will remain intact. 

The Politics

Dating back to early 2021, the lawsuits against HISA have been detailed ad nauseam. While the courts have knocked down some suits, a few remain standing at this time. All challenges include some variations of the constitutionality of the legislation regarding specific regulations, with others challenging the assessment formula, definitions, search and seizure regulations and/or FTC enforcement and other specifics. 

In mid-November, just six weeks prior to implementation of the ADMC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled HISA to be unconstitutional. The court felt that the legislation delegated unsupervised government power to a private entity. HISA rules are authorized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which the court felt should provide closer supervision and have more input into the legislation.

Judge Joseph Hood, of the Sixth District Court, sided with the federal government on December 7 2022, suggesting the legislation established clear boundaries on HISA’s power, including a requirement that all rules be approved by the FTC. There is no timetable set for the court’s final decision.

On December 12, the FTC disapproved of proposed ADMC rules as submitted. The designated, independent enforcement agency of the ADMC program (HIWU) was prepared to enforce anti-doping and medication rules on January 1, 2023, if approved by the FTC. 

The FTC denied approval of the program rules “without prejudice” due to pending legal uncertainties. HISA will be resubmitting the ADMC rules. During the interim, state law will govern medication issues. The suspension of the ADMC also puts a hold on assessments that would be used to fund the program.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell wrote a quick, short-worded clarification of HISA that was submitted with the recent Omnibus bill and passed the Senate on December 19 2022. The fix gives the FTC the power to “abrogate, add to, and modify the rules” of HISA as they see fit. The Omnibus bill passed the House of Representatives the following day, and President Biden signed it into law on December 29.

Legal wranglers for HISA have since asked a federal appeals court to set aside its ruling that declared the Authority unconstitutional in light of the legislation’s rewrite by Senator McConnell.

The Assessments

Much of life seems to come down to money; it may not be the root of all evil, but it does guide a lot of policy.

When the FTC did not accept HISA’s proposed ADMC in mid-December, state-owed payments due to fund the Authority were put on hold. Roughly $58.1 million in payments for 2023 are currently pending legal outcomes. The majority of those assessments pertain to the launch of the anti-doping program that has also been put into a holding pattern. Assessments already incurred for 2022 are required to be paid by the state commissions and the racetracks.

HISA’s total budget for the current year (2023) is slightly north of $72.5 million. That number includes nearly $37.4 million for operating the HIWU and drug testing work to be done by Drug Free Sport International.

A staff of 35 full-time employees will be in place by the end of this year, charged with implementing sound collection protocols and working to maintain continuity with existing collectors. They will also work on testing operations, compliance, quality assurance, education and industry outreach, good relations with state racing commissions and collaboration with laboratories, investigations and technology. 

The budget for 2023 provides $18.7 million for lab and research expenses toward implementing the ADMC program. 

State racing commissions received their assessed HISA operational expenses last October. Using a methodology set by HISA and approved by the FTC, the formula is calculated from total starts and the percentage of purses paid of total United States purses, other than the Breeders’ Cup World Championship races. 

States given the top assessments by HISA are New York ($8,660,471), Kentucky ($7,445,145), California ($7,344,139), Pennsylvania ($6,611,479) and Florida ($6,445,226). Payments are due in monthly payments; and if state commissions do not pay their assessments, their expense is passed to the racetracks. In states with multiple tracks, each track will be charged with a portion of the obligation based on a proportionate share of starts.

State racing commissions are able to reduce their assessments if they negotiate with HISA and HIWU and choose to provide sample collection personnel and investigative services in compliance with new ADMC program rules. HISA has provided $23 million to fund these racetrack contributions.

The Strikes

The HISA crop, or whip, regulations have created some turmoil. The consequences for overuse during a race can be stringent. 

Crop regulations (which also apply to exercise riders during morning workouts) have been in effect since July 1 2022 as part of the Integrity and Safety Authority. The main source of contention regarding the rules is striking a horse during a race more than six times. 

For seven to nine strikes during a race, jockeys face a one-day suspension plus a fine of either $250 or 10 percent of their share of the purse, whichever is greater. But strikes exceeding nine are punishable by more severe consequences. Those infractions do not alter the pari-mutuel payouts but can lead to a horse losing its total share of the purse money distributed to the owner, jockey and trainer. 

Ten to 13 strikes results in a $500 fine to the rider or his share of the purse, whichever is greater, plus a three-day suspension. At 10 or more strikes, the horse is also disqualified.

Graded stakes, including Breeders’ Cup races, are no exception. A recent Breeders’ Cup jockey struck his mount seven times – just one strike over – and received a one-day suspension and was assessed three points on his license as an additional penalty.

HISA rules created a point system for multiple violations by repeat offenders that will eventually have penalties compounded. Riders with 11 to 15 points on their license would receive an additional seven days of suspension in addition to the newest penalty. Riders with 16 to 20 points receive an additional 15-day suspension. With 21 or more points, a jockey could get a full 30-day “vacation.”

Points expire over six to 12 months post-violation; expirations are decided on a sliding scale based on the violation class assigned to those infractions.

Riders have acknowledged that keeping an accurate count of their hits can be difficult. And there are situations when use of a crop might keep a horse from causing a dangerous situation, e.g., drifting in or out. Several top jockeys have also noted that the extreme penalties give them cause to be more cautious of the regulations.

One jockey, who was listed in the standings where he was riding, was given a 30-day suspension when stewards said he showed a lack of effort, a “lackluster” finish, not consistent with his usual riding style. It sounded like a cloaked suggestion that he had pulled his mount. The rider, who did not appeal, reported that he thought he had reached his six-strike limit.

The National Jockeys’ Guild filed litigation against HISA, which they have recently dropped. There are purportedly ongoing negotiations with concern on rules, which HISA seems willing to negotiate to some degree. 

Whip violations are handed out after the race card is over. The stewards review race video prior to issuing the rulings. Both jockey and owner will have an opportunity to appeal.

The Contraband

There are two basic lists of drugs within the ADMC rules: “banned substances” and “controlled medications.” The FTC, of course, has not approved this portion of HISA, and there are only guesses as to when it will be put to use. 

During the interim, state regulators will continue to be responsible for medication rules, drug testing and enforcement.

In the past, trainers and veterinarians have relied on suggested withdrawal times to decide how far ahead of a race to give a particular drug. The new rules do not rely on withdrawal times. Federal laws, as written, require the Authority and HIWU to base medication rules on international standards for racehorses.

Foreign countries base their medication rules on the International Federation of Horseracing Authority guidelines, which do not provide withdrawal times. Instead, they provide “detection times.”

Detection times are based on peer-reviewed studies of a drug. In the study, a sample of horses are all given a drug and tested at periods of time afterwards. The detection time is the first time point at which all the horses in the study were negative for the drug given.

Due to variations in how drugs are metabolized in individuals, the detection times are a starting point for vets and trainers to decide when to withdraw a drug. Based on the individual horse, dosage and how it was administered the connections to the horse must be aware the outcome may change due to the variables.

If the lines between legal dosages and overages are so fine, it could lead one to assume racing officials would prefer horsemen not use the drug at all.

One trainer was suspended for seven calendar days, fined $3,000 and assessed two points on the Association of Racing Commissioners International scale for multiple medication violations for a lidocaine positive. Testing showed the horse had tested above the allowed amount of a “permissible medication.”

The involved horse was disqualified from the Maiden Special Weight race win and the purse redistributed. 

Shoeing regulations have been a big issue with trainers and farriers from the get-go. The initially approved shoe dimensions were not manufactured, and those dimensions eventually changed several times. It left horsemen confused.

The federal regulation that prevents the use of toe grabs on front shoes became an issue again when connections of a second-placed horse in a Gr. 2 stake questioned if the winner had front grabs. It was determined the winner was shod legally. The finish stood.

Horses are commonly trained in different shoes than those they run in. Blacksmiths and examining veterinarians who see horses with prohibited shoes in the morning are said to be making trainers aware there would most likely be a problem if the horse were to race as shod. 

The voided claim is another regulated area that was foreign to some racing jurisdictions, while a state like California has been practicing for some time. 

HISA policy requires claims be voided if a horse is unsound in the test barn, experiences bleeding or has a post-race medication violation. These rules are in addition to policies many tracks had in place to void claims, such as a horse dying on track or having to be vanned off. To date, most voided claims were a result of post-race unsoundness or horses that bled.

In spite of legal frustrations and rules that horsemen feel are too restrictive and not beneficial to the Thoroughbred racing industry, HISA marches on. More horsemen being involved should help, but the learning curve seems too long for everyone in racing.

Prohibited Substances Overview

• Banned substances prohibited at all times, such as anabolic agents and diuretics or masking agents

• Banned methods prohibited at all times, such as chemical castration or immunocastration

• Controlled medication substances prohibited during the race period, such as analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

• Controlled medication methods prohibited during the race period, such as the use or administration of an alkalinizing agent

• Prohibited substances and methods may be included in the prohibited list by general category or with specific reference to a particular substance or method. 

The prohibited list will be updated yearly.

Lazarus’ Lessons Learned

Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive officer for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), pointed to the importance of sport-wide unity within the United States racing industry. Lazarus spoke during the Global Symposium on Racing held in early December at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

A year after taking her position with HISA, Lazarus pointed to 10 lessons she has learned:

1. Racing’s strength is the diversity of viewpoints, which creates a lot of debate among industry leaders.

2. Participants in the industry have a role in making HISA better, even those groups that have been critical of the Authority. That was her reason for adding the Horsemen’s Advisory Group to include all viewpoints in the rulemaking process.

3. Criticism is expected and welcomed from the people who make a living at the track with skin in the game. 

4. Stakeholder’s engagement, even criticism, is welcomed and will help make HISA and the industry better. 

5. The vulnerability of jockeys, who must trust that the system has reduced the risk of injury to horses and riders, will be able to depend on jockey health initiatives via the racetrack safety program.

6. Despite robust debate regarding the Authority, the racing industry has wanted uniform medication regulation for years. Racing participants who compete fairly deserve to know their competition is also competing fairly.

7. The sport of racing has tried independent regulation because a voluntary system has not worked.

8. Uniform rules must be accompanied by uniform implementation to work successfully.

9. The Authority’s regulators should not be the focal point for the sport. They should be operating in the background to root out those with bad intentions, leaving the industry a focus on integrity.

10. The Authority has incredible people who are committed to doing what is best for the industry. The intent is not to complicate people’s lives, but to help grow the industry through uniformity.