The 2025 show season is moving forward under current regulations after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) is delaying implementation of the 2024 Horse Protection Act (HPA) Final Rule until Feb. 1, 2026.

The final rule originally was scheduled to take effect March 21, 2025. However, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requesting federal agencies consider a 60-day postponement of rules published in the Federal Register but have yet to be implemented. APHIS announced Jan. 24 that it “temporarily postponed our final rule to amend the HPA regulations for 60 days from February 1 to April 2, 2025.”

Nearly 2 weeks before the final rule was to take effect, USDA-APHIS says it will not follow the 2024 Final Rule. Rather, it will adhere to the previous HPA.

“[A]t this time, there will be no regulatory changes between last show season and the upcoming show season,” according to a letter from Sarah Helming, deputy administrator of Animal Care USDA-APHIS, to equine industry stakeholders. “We are considering our next steps, including an additional postponement, and we expect to solicit additional stakeholder input.”

APHIS opened a public comment period March 21 to determine whether “the Agency should further extend the length of this postponement and is also soliciting additional information to help inform a decision…