Paul Revere’s Ride The warning is being sent out, loud and clear, will we hear and react in time?

By Karin Bergener

Two booklets, one by the Equine Species Working Group, and the other issued by the USDA, have raised questions for livestock owners generally and for horse owners, especially.

The Equine Species Working Group Booklet ON APRIL 6, 2006, THE ESWG issued “NAIS and Horses.” While it appears to bring some relief on matters such as trail rides, a closer reading reveals that nothing has changed - or been made clearer.

One of the chief questions that horse owners have asked is, “What if I go on a trail ride?” “NAIS and Horses” says that you will not have to report moving your horse if you go on “local trail rides, shows, or ropings…

” What exactly qualifies a trail ride as “local?”

Some trail rides go for hundreds of miles, and involve multiple horses for each rider. We’d probably all acknowledge that those rides aren’t “local.” But what is local? A ride on your property? On your neighbor’s property? And, how can ropings be an exception, but not cutting or penning?

But, look further - the following paragraph in the booklet. (Unfortunately, owning a horse may require a high tolerance for reading multiple booklets, recommendations, and state health regulations.)

To understand what looks like an exception for recreational horses owners, look further. The same answer in the Frequently Asked Questions section of NAIS and Horses states that reports would be required if animals are moved “to a premises where... health papers are required.” Which would be... ?

The ESWG’s formal recommendations to the USDA in 2005 shed some light on what they mean by “health papers.” Those recommendations stated that reports would be required when horses “are transported… intrastate, when commingled with other horses or livestock, or to premises or events where a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) or other equine health papers, such as Coggins are required…..”

Many horse owners do not realize the breadth of their states’ requirements for health papers or Coggins tests. In some states, Coggins tests are required just to take your horse off your property, and in others, are required for any trail ride on public property, and for most shows. So, if a state requires a Coggins for a show, the NAIS requirements will apply. If horse owners have to parse through this much bureaucratic regulation, much of the pleasure of trail riding or showing will be lost.

So which ESWG statement or document rules the future life of a horse owner? Part of the answer comes from what authority the ESWG has - little or none.

The many species working groups USDA established were to advise USDA on the NAIS. They aren’t established by statute or regulation. USDA may establish the NAIS as it decides, using or discarding the ESWG’s advice. It’s true, without some support from the species working groups, USDA would find even more resistance to NAIS than it already has. Still, the ESWG’s advice is not law - and may never be.

With individual states establishing their own interpretations of the NAIS, and deciding which species to include, when, and to what degree, there is no way to be sure the ESWG’s guidance will be followed. Still, they are the main advisory body on equine identification, so it’s probably time to find out the full Coggins regulations in every state you might visit with your horse.

USDA’s Guide for Small-Scale and Non-Commercial Producers
IN JUNE THIS YEAR, USDA PUBLISHED ITS Guide for Small-Scale and Non-Commercial Producers. Many people had great hopes that it would relieve recreational livestock owners from the burdens of NAIS. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.

The Guide doesn’t say that it over-rides the 2005 Draft Plan and Strategic Standards, or the April 2006 Strategies for Implementation. Instead, they must all be read together. If the ESWG’s guidance seemed clear as mud, the Guide borders on deep blue Ohio clay -can’t even make it into mud, and it’ll stop a tiller in its tracks. The recreational horse owner is equally stuck.

The Guide does hold out hope. For example, it would not require reporting:

• Moving animals between pastures on the same property.
Accidental animal escapes.

In truth, the NAIS plan always said that movements off “a premises” would have to be reported - so movements between pastures on the same premises have never been reportable events. And, these two “exceptions” don’t shorten the list of reportable events in the Standards. The Guide does create one exception to the list of reportable events for animals. If your animals are born on your property, never leave the property, and are taken off only for custom slaughter for personal consumption, then reporting won’t be required. You might even be able to avoid premises identification, but that would remain to be seen.

So, how many horse owners can qualify under this exception? You would have to breed your horse, ride it only on your property, and make sure your vet and farrier always visited you. The number of horse owners who would qualify for this exception likely can be counted on one hand.

Horse owners might also rely on the Guide’s provision that “participation in local fairs and parades” will be exempt from reporting. But, elsewhere, USDA states that: “Reportable movements are those that involve a high risk of spreading disease, such as moving livestock from a farm to an event where a large numbers of animals are brought together from many sources.” Such as... local fairs and parades, which certainly bring large numbers of animals from many sources together!

What To Do
IN THE FACE OF THIS CONFLICTING AND confusing guidance, horse owners should continue to press the ESWG to hear them. We should not have to carry a telephone book-sized set of rules with us, when we trail ride or go to shows. Whatever your view on the NAIS, horse owners deserve clear rules. Speak up and make sure your state and federal governments hear you. For regular updates visit www.libertyark.net ...owning a horse may require a high tolerance for reading multiple booklets, recommendations, and state health regulations.

Equine Species Working Group releases new recomendations
On August 6, 2006, the ESWG issued its new recommendations regarding horses and NAIS. Unfortunately, the ESWG is still recommending premises registration and mandatory microchipping of horses with the reprogrammable ISO 11784/85 microchip. The ESWG states that current forms of tracking are sufficient, and that movements will not have to be reported. However, with two legs of the stool we call NAIS in place, the probability is high that the third leg, electronic tracking, will come eventually. The ESWG has changed its recommendations once, it can change them again.

Coggins Test Requirements
A blood test used to diagnose Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA, or “swamp fever”) an infectious viral disease. Infected horses remain contagious for life. Coggins test requirements vary by state. In most they are considered valid for a period of one year, in some only six months.

The website: www.utopia.utexas.edu/explore/equine/eia/eia.htm lists state-by-state requirements as of 2001.

Contact your state department of agriculture for up-to-date, specific information in your state.