The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration closed entries for its upcoming 85th Annual Celebration on August 1st. The pre-show entries for the upcoming World Championship topped 2,500 coming in at 2,502. Entries in 2022 were 2,536, which was a 12% increase over 2021.  The number of unique horses once again topped 1,300 coming in at 1,352.

“I am thrilled about our pre-show entries again this year.  Last year was the first year since 2012 to hit 2,500 entries and the team was so excited when we hit that number this year. I want to thank all of our trainers, exhibitors, and owners for supporting our World Grand Championship Show” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

The 2023 Celebration will once again feature the National Futurity classes within the Celebration class schedule.  The class schedule includes 14 different classes being split with one of those, Two-Year-Old Stallions, being split three ways.  The Aged Stallions class on the first Saturday night will once again be split into an A and B division after not being split in 2022. The 85th Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will be held August 23-September 2, 2023. 

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Derek Bonner, Leah Boyd, Nathan Clark, David Sisk and Kenny Smith to judge the 85^th Annual Celebration.  The Celebration®® will begin Wednesday August 23^rd and conclude on Saturday September 2^nd.

“We are pleased to be able to name such an experienced group of judges for our upcoming World Championship show.  Our committee did a tremendous amount of due diligence on each of the judges that were qualified and available to judge this year.  While several others were vetted, we feel extremely confident that this group will do an excellent job in marking their cards,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

Bonner, from Mooresboro, N.C., will be marking the cards at The Celebration® for the fourth time.  Bonner has previously judged The Celebration® in 2013, 2015 and 2021 and has also judged the Spring Fun Show in 2014 and 2022.  Earlier this year Bonner judged the Walking in the Smokies and FAST Spring Showcase.

Boyd, from Murfreesboro, Tenn., will be the rookie on this year’s panel, making her first appearance in the big oval for The Celebration®.  Boyd did previously judge for The Celebration® at the 2022 Spring Fun Show.  Boyd has previously judged The International as well as for the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association at the 2020 Summer Sizzler.

Clark, from Arab, AL., will be making his sixth appearance in center ring for The Celebration®.  Clark has previously judged in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2019.  Clark has also judged the Spring Fun Show five times, with his most recent coming this year.  Clark wrapped up his judging in 2022 at the North Carolina Championships.

Sisk, from Columbia, Tenn., has previously judged The Celebration® four times.  Those appearances came in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2021.  Sisk has also worked the Spring Fun Show in 2018 and Celebration Fall Classic in 2022.  Earlier this year Sisk judged the National Trainers’ Show.

Smith, from Manchester, Ky., will make his second appearance as a Celebration judge.  In 2019 Smith judged both the Spring Fun Show and The Celebration®.  Smith has also judged at major venues across the industry including the National Trainers’ Show and Alabama Jubilee twice.

For more information on the 85^th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration visit www.TWHNC.com.  

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration recently agreed to a naming rights deal with Cooper Steel, renaming the old Calsonic Arena to Cooper Steel Arena.  The agreement will include a multi-million dollar renovation to the arena with work scheduled to begin in the coming days.

In addition to the renovations of Cooper Steel Arena, work is nearing completion on Mikey’s Motors new Shelbyville location which will be located on the showgrounds of The Celebration.  The building entrance will be via the Evans Street side of the showgrounds but will also be accessible for all visitors and exhibitors utilizing The Celebration’s showgrounds.

As part of the new building for Mikey’s Motors and due to continued strong storms and damage to the old barns, The Celebration will once again be forced to remove at least one old barn.  That will make five barns removed in the last 18 months.  The Celebration has replaced three of those barns with new updated facilities but won’t be able to replace the newly torn down barns in time for this year’s Celebration.

The Celebration is also looking at plans to improve and upgrade the RV parks located in both the north and south ends of the property.  A major attraction to The Celebration and Cooper Steel Arena is the number and accessibility of RV spaces on the showgrounds.

Due to the removal of those stalls and construction of a new business on the showgrounds, it won’t be possible to force the championship entries to stable on the showgrounds due to increased entries in recent years and a reduction in overall stall count.  The Celebration is looking at construction of new barns or the addition of temporary stalls in the future to allow championship entries to return to the showgrounds.

“It is an exciting time at The Celebration right now.  But with growth comes some growing pains. We will have times when our arena won’t be accessible from the front, times we can’t rent the arena and with our new construction it is unfortunate to have to temporarily suspend the policy of keeping our championship entries on the grounds.  But we are excited to have Mikey’s Motors join our footprint as well as the Walking Horse Trainers’ Association moving their headquarters right into the center of our showgrounds,” said CEO Warren Wells.

“The board and all of the Celebration is committed to the growth plan laid out when I was hired.  There has been tremendous progress and we are only getting started for what will be an exciting time for The Celebration.  None of this progress would be possible without the great partners and sponsors that have kept The Celebration what it is today,” concluded Wells.

The 53^rd Annual Spring Fun Show will be held May 25-27, 2023, in the outdoor Celebration Arena on the showgrounds of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.  Judging the Spring Fun Show will be Chris Bobo, Nathan Clark and Chris Zahnd.  The trio will combine two Celebration veterans along with Zahnd, who will be judging his first Celebration event.

                “We are looking forward to a great show and are excited about having the show outdoors in Celebration Arena.  This panel is an experienced panel and we are excited to have Chris Zahnd judge one of our shows for the first time. He has done several major shows over the last three years and we look forward to having him at the Fun Show,” said Warren Wells, Celebration CEO.

                Bobo has judged The Celebration® four times in his career and judged it most recently in 2021.  Bobo has judged the Spring Fun Show multiple times as well.  Clark has judged The Celebration® five times, most recently in 2019.  Clark, like Bobo, has also judged the Spring Fun Show on multiple occasions.

                Zahnd will be judging a Celebration show for the first time however he has judged several major shows in the past three years.  Zahnd has judged Marshall County, the FAST Showcase, Woodbury, North Carolina Championships and Alabama jubilee among others since the beginning of 2020.

                The Spring Fun Show will feature 69 classes across the three evening performances.  Each performance starts at 6:00PM.  For more information, including sponsorship opportunities visit www.TWHNC.com or call The Celebration® office at 931-684-5915.

Class schedule….coming soon!

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Jennifer Bingham, Robert Cortner and David Sisk to judge the Celebration Fall Classic.  The Fall Classic will be held November 3^rd-5^th in Calsonic Arena on the historic showgrounds of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

The panel is experienced with Sisk and Bingham both having multiple appearances judging The Celebration and Cortner, who previously judged the 2021 Spring Fun Show.  Sisk has judged The Celebration four times, most recently in 2021.  Bingham has judged The Celebration seven times with her most recent appearance in 2017.

For more information on The Celebration Fall Classic visit www.TWHNC.com

Click here for the 2022 Shootout Entry Form

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Jamie Bradshaw, Johnny Puckett, Paul Robbins, Sam Sorrell and Amy Trimble to judge the 84^th Annual Celebration.  The panel is a combination of two veterans, three total judges with Celebration experience and two newcomers to center ring at The Celebration.

            “We are excited to select such a diverse group of judges that blends experience with newcomers to our show,” said Celebration CEO Warren Wells.  He continued, “Our board takes very seriously the process of selecting our judging panel with a continued goal of selecting the best judges available.  We feel once again this year we have achieved this goal.”

            Sorrell, from Lexington, Ky., will be making his eighth appearance in center ring at The Celebration.  Sorrell is a veteran across the industry circuit and most recently judged the FAST Spring Showcase earlier in 2022 after judging four major venues in 2021.  Bradshaw, of Arab, Ala., will be marking the cards for the sixth time, his last appearance coming in 2019.  Bradshaw recently judged the Fun Show earlier this spring and just completed an assignment at the Money Tree Classic. 

            Robbins, from Shiloh, N.C., previously judged The Celebration in 2014 and most recently worked for The Celebration at the 2021 Celebration Fall Classic.  Robbins also judged over the recently completed 4^th of July shows at the three-day Christmas in July horse show.

            Both Puckett and Trimble will judge at The Celebration for the first time.  Puckett, from Shelbyville, Tenn., will be a rookie at The Celebration but has previously worked a Celebration show at the 2018 Spring Fun Show.  Puckett’s resume since 2018 includes the North Carolina Championships, Belfast, Fun Show, Fayetteville, National Trainers’ Show, FAST Spring Showcase, Money Tree Classic and Puckett recently judged the Christmas in July show on panel that included Robbins.

            Trimble, from Pulaski, Tenn., judged the Columbia Spring Jubilee earlier this show season.  Trimble’s judging resume includes judging the Celebration Fall Classic in 2010 and in 2021 as well as stops at the Marshall County Horsemen’s Association, Mississippi Charity, and Money Tree Classic.

            The 84^th Annual Celebration will be held August 24-September 3, 2022.  For more information please visit www.TWHNC.com.

5/26 – Thursday Evening

Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog recently announced their sponsorship of class 32, Amateur Youth Riders 12-17 Years on Walking Mares or Geldings at the upcoming Spring Fun Show. The sponsorship will award $1000 to the youth exhibitor who wins the class.

 “It makes for a very exciting class for the fans and youth riders. I can’t thank Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog enough for partnering with us to increase the excitement around our next generation of Tennessee Walking Horse enthusiasts,” said Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration® CEO Warren Wells.

This is the second time Eagleville Implement and Bush Hog have added a sponsorship to a youth exhibitor at a Celebration event. In November 2021 they  donated $1,000 to the winner of the Andy Adkins class at the 2021 Fall Classic. “We love the Walking Horse industry and The Celebration® and want to encourage more young riders where we can. It was exciting at the Fall Classic to surprise the young rider after he won, but this time we want to encourage more youth riders to participate,” said David Price of Eagleville Implement. 

The 52^nd Annual Spring Fun Show will be held May 26th-28th in the Calsonic Arena.  For more information visit www.twhnc.com.