CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee man who pleaded guilty in a rare federal horse soring case has been sentenced to write a newspaper article about the illegal practice that involves placing bolts on the animals' hooves or using painful irritants to accentuate their gait for horse shows.
U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice sentenced Paul Blackburn of Shelbyville to one year of probation and ordered him to write the horse soring article to be published in his community newspaper.
Blackburn pleaded guilty along with three other defendants whose sentencing in Chattanooga have been reset to February 27.
Records show Blackburn was part of a horse boarding and training operation that involved the cruelty violations.
Blackburn declined comment afterward other than saying he was "just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
