Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH) has announced the details of the second national conference to focus on ending soring of Tennessee Walking Horses and all gaited horse breeds. The conference is being held March 20-21, 2008, at the Paramount Plaza Hotel in Gainesville, FL. Soring is a cruel and illegal practice used to create a winning gait for the show ring. The purpose of the conference is to bring together a wide complement of experts, research and resources to address alternatives and solutions so that gaited horses do not continue to face this abuse in the future.

As the creator and primary financial sponsor of the first Sound Horse Conference in 2008, FOSH developed an agenda that included veterinary medicine and research, technology, communications experts and experts in cultural change. FOSH convened numerous practicing and specialty equine veterinarians, farriers, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) personnel and renowned experts in the fields of sociology, communications, and various equine breeds (gaited and nongaited).

The proposed program at the 2009 Sound Horse Conference includes Pressure Shoeing Detection, Trends in Soring, How Access to Information Exposes Soring, Future Plans of the USDA, The Inspector's Point of View, How Stacks and Chains Affect Horse Biomechanics, Future Trends in the Equine Industry, How Investigative Reporting Can Help and much more. The United States Department of Agriculture will attend and speak, and there will be a demonstration of several different breeds of sound gaited horses.

In addition to FOSH, major sponsors in 2009 include the American Horse Protection Association, the Humane Society of the United States, the Morgan Stanley Foundation, the National Walking Horse Association, and the University of Florida, Gainesville.

All gaited horse owners and individuals concerned about the humane treatment of horses are encouraged to attend to learn the latest developments and ideas for recognizing and preventing soring and steps to take to end soring. Continuing education credits for veterinarians and veterinarian technicians will be awarded to conference attendees. To become a sponsor of the Sound Horse Conference or for more information, including an agenda and registration form, please contact FOSH by calling (800) 651-7993 or visiting www.soundhorseconference.com.

FOSH is a national leader in the promotion of natural, sound gaited horses and in the fight against abuse and soring of Tennessee Walking Horses. For more information about FOSH or to become a member, please visit www.fosh.info or call (800) 651-7993.