The United States Trotting Association officially revoked the membership and USTA licenses of Dale P. Hiteman on Oct. 4, 2023, after a video emerged on social media depicting “an act of cruelty to a horse” at Hoosier Park in June.
The Indiana Horse Racing Commission issued Hiteman a 30-day suspension (from July 12 through Aug. 10, inclusive), a $1,500 fine, and probation for the remainder of 2023 due to his actions in the video.
That ruling, obtained from the IHRC, describes the incident thus: “While in the barn area of Hoosier Park on the morning of June 1, 2023, licensee Dale Hiteman was observed on video striking a prone horse, later identified as PRINCESS LAA, with a line, multiple times about the head and body.”
An animal rights extremist group has published audio on its Youtube channel said to be from Hiteman's June 29 hearing in front of the IHRC. The group said it obtained the audio via a Freedom of Information Act request.
Hiteman told commissioners that the filly, now a 2-year-old, was injured in an incident last November, prior to his ownership of her.
“She got tangled up in the lines and flipped over backwards,” Hiteman said. “I have the bill and the x-rays of when it happened, from Rood & Riddle, when she first hurt herself. She now holds her head crooked because of it.”
Hiteman then describes his actions in the video.
“Because she is a handful and has done it before, I always tie her up,” he told the commission. “When it comes to putting her bridle on or tongue tie on, I always do it because I'm afraid she's gonna hurt somebody. If it's gonna be somebody, I feel it should be me.
“And on this day, I think I just put the line on her on the right side and just come over to the left and was starting to put the line on there and, boom, she does it. She reared backwards and got herself stuck in the corner, which I couldn't pull her off because she's already got a previous injury on the neck. And she's sitting on her tail, so I can't pull her from behind. And so I just grabbed the line there to scare her to get up, which she did, and whacked her a few times on the top of the head. Here's the line, the exact one that I used, which is nylon on the end. And that's what I did.”
The USTA found that “this brutal conduct is evidence of a lack of general fitness and your (Hiteman's) participation in harness racing is not consistent with the best interest of the sport.”
A statement from the USTA reads: “USTA deplores and will not tolerate the cruel or inhumane treatment of any horse.”
Under Article VII of the USTA bylaws, Hiteman has the right to appeal his penalty.
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