August 21-31, 2019

Start Making Plans for the 2019 Celebration!!!

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has selected Rollie Beard, Brent Grider and Kenny Smith to adjudicate the 49th annual Spring Fun Show, scheduled for May 23-25 at the Calsonic Arena in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Each night’s performances begin at 6 p.m.

“This group has the desired blend of experience and freshness that The Celebration likes to incorporate into any judging panel,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman. “They are more than capable of handing the judging duties of what is certain to be a collection of the best horses in the industry.”

Beard is one of the most experienced judges in the industry and has previously judged The Celebration eight times, most recent in 2014. In addition to The Celebration, Beard has judged most all major shows in the industry including Mississippi Charity, Gulf Coast Charity, the International, Tunica, the Red Carpet show in Pulaski, Columbia Spring Jubilee and Belfast.

Grider has also judged at The Celebration, marking the cards in 2012. Grider also has a wealth of experience at other major shows including the Kentucky Celebration, Alabama Jubilee, Columbia Spring Jubilee, Gulf Coast Charity, Lewisburg and the National Trainers’ Show, which Grider did for the second time this year.

A new face to the Celebration series of shows is Kenny Smith. Smith has previously judged the 2017 and 2018 Alabama Jubilee and also judged the National Trainers’ Show in 2018.  Smith has been a long-time horse owner and exhibitor as well as shown in the Amateur Owned & Trained divisions.

In 2018, The Celebration began “associate judges” for the Spring Fun Show in an effort to help continue to grow the judging pool and as a way to evaluate additional judges in the heat of battle during the Fun Show.  Last year, Ross Campbell and Grant Holt were the associate judges and Campbell went on to judge The Celebration later that same year.

“We are happy to build on the tremendous success of the associate judge system that began last year,” Inman said. “This initiative dramatically accelerates the process of expanding the pool of judges with Celebration experience. Three of the five judges at this year’s Fun Show will be making their Celebration-event debut in either the official or associate judge capacity.”

This year, Jason Hughes and Becky Barnes will fill out the associate judge roles and mark their cards on Thursday and Friday night of the Spring Fun Show.  Hughes has previously judged the Alabama Jubilee three times as well as Woodbury, National Trainers’ Show and North Carolina Championships.  Barnes has judged the 2018 WHTA Thanksgiving Classic, Marshall, Texas and other shows in the Kentucky circuit.

The Celebration will also conduct a trial run of electronic judging equipment at this year’s Fun Show. The Celebration hopes to speed the process of tying the classes and announcement of the results so as to reduce the time of the show and significantly decrease the amount of dead time at the show.  

“The use of electronic judging is eagerly anticipated and we are truly excited to evaluate its impact, both within center ring and for the spectator experience,” Inman said. 

If the program is successful, the hope is to have the program used at this year’s Celebration.

By Sadie Fowler

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has released its proposed schedule for the 2019 horse show and is now open for discussion — for a short-term period of time.

In 2019, there are a few substantial changes to the tentative class schedule that need horse show enthusiasts’ attention. Anyone interested in changes to the schedule (which is included in its entirety below) should make their voice heard within 30 days.

Perhaps the biggest change folks will want to study in the schedule for the 2019 Celebration involves an amendment to the junior horse age limit in the flat shod and park performance divisions. A junior horse in those classes will now be considered five and under, versus the previous rule of a junior horse in either category being four or under.

“The rationale for defining junior horses as five years of age and under is to make all disciplines of amateur show horses consistent,” explained Celebration CEO Mike Inman.

The tentative schedule reflecting the potential changes was actually released in December, and includes the changes about the transition from four years to five years of age for junior amateur horses in the flat shod and park performance divisions — to match the padded division.

“While a slightly revised class schedule being released this time of year is not something that’s uncommon for the Celebration to release, given the substantial change to this year’s schedule regarding the age requirements in these classes we wanted to bring this to owners’ and trainers’ attention immediately to ensure the comment period is not overlooked by anyone,” Inman said. “We all get into ‘off-season’ mode and it is not uncommon to put off thinking about show season, including the Celebration schedule, until closer to show season. We just want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to comment during the 30 days allotted. So far, the feedback we’ve received as been positive so we believe this will be a welcome change most will be happy to see.”

Anyone wishing to comment should contact the Celebration office directly at 931-684-5915

 2019 TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE

http://spectrumlocalnews.com/section/in-focus/in-focus-shows/2018/10/18/shelbyville–tennessee–the-heart-of-horse-country

THE CELEBRATION® RELEASES INFORMATION ON TUNICA FALL CLASSIC

The Celebration has announced information regarding the popular Tunica Fall Classic, to be held November 1^st -3^rd at the Paul Battle Sr. Exposition Center, in particular, information about the horse show hotel and exhibitors’ party.

Gold Strike Casino and Resort, an MGM Resorts Destination, is the horse show hotel with special rates available at $49 during weekdays and $95 for weekends, plus applicable fees. For reservations call 1-888-245-7829 and use block code 1810Tunica (Tunica Fall Classic).  Rooms have already been blocked out.

There is an exhibitor party planned for Wednesday October 31^st from 6:30-8:30 in the Millennium Theater Lobby in the hotel.   VIP floor tables are available for purchase.  Fee is $1500 which includes reserved table with seating for eight (8) and specially prepared dinner each night along with show sponsorship and recognition.

“If you have any problem obtaining that special rate or room availability or would like to reserve your exhibitor table contact The Celebration office at 931-684-5915 and it will be handled,” said Mike Inman, Celebration CEO.

The Amateur Pony Championship, Class 137A, did not have the required 10 entries to make a class.  As a result all pony entries in Class 137 A will be automatically placed in Class 141, Amateur Riders on Walking Horses 15.2 and Under.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration and Keith and Lorraine Rosbury are pleased to announce a three-year naming rights agreement for the Celebration’s outdoor arena.  The new name, Maverick Arena, will be displayed at this year’s 80^th Anniversary Celebration and will honor the 2017 World Grand Champion Gen’s Black Maverick, owned by Keith and Lorraine Rosbury.

“We are excited to unveil the new name of our iconic stadium as Maverick Arena and especially grateful to Keith and Lorraine for their continued support of The Celebration and the Tennessee Walking Horse Industry,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman.

The “big oval” as some have called the arena over the years will now be officially known as Maverick Arena for at least the next three years.  The Celebration’s indoor arena, Calsonic Arena, is named for the automotive parts manufacturer, Calsonic Kansei, located in Shelbyville, which made the initial investment in the building of the arena.

“The Celebration’s board of directors have made a commitment recently to facility upgrades all across our showgrounds which includes new LED lighting in Maverick Arena. This improvement will be in place for the 80^th Annual Celebration and allow the continuation of our World Grand Champion spotlight rides.  This tradition means so much to all of us in the industry and at The Celebration and investments like this one from the Rosburys allow us to continue improvements to the World’s Greatest Horse Show,” continued Inman.

“The Celebration has had many partners and sponsors over the years that have helped make our horse show the historic Tennessee event that it is.  Our board is grateful to Keith and Lorraine for their investment in our future and we look forward to updating Maverick Arena over the next several years.  There is nothing in horse showing that compares to that spotlight ride in front of the great crowds we attract on our final championship nights and Maverick Arena will be a fitting name to our historic venue for this tradition to continue,” said Celebration board chairman Charles McDonald.

The 80^th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will be held August 22^nd through September 1^st featuring 15 sessions across the 11 days.  The show will begin at 9:00AM on August 22^nd and conclude with the crowning of the World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse on September 1^st.  For more information, please visit www.twhnc.com.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration announced class splits Friday afternoon for its 80th annual event, which kicks off later this month. Twelve classes have been divided, with the two-year-old stallion division once again having three splits.

“Not only do we have large classes that required splits, but we also had quite a few right on the cusp,” said Mike Inman, Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration CEO. “This speaks strongly to what will be quite a lot of classes with top talent all the way through the number of ribbons available.”

As always, the Stallion splits for the aged five and over stallions is one of the most anticipated announcements on the splits issued today. In the A division of the preliminary round of competition which is class 79A, the following entries will compete: Ice Cold Gold and Allen Abee for owner Tom Shipman, The American Ride and Jesse Barnes for Ginger Hartlein, José’s Ambush and Layne Leverette for Jeff Faulker, I’m Lombardi and Gary Edwards for Henry and Peggy Metcalf, I’m Mayhem and Rodney Dick for JoAnn Dowell, Gen A Mighty and Jimmy McConnell for Mike Floyd, A Bruce Pearl and John Allan Callaway for Lisa Baum, and José’s Thunderstruck and Larry George for Beverly Sherman.

Eight entries are also set to compete in the B division of the aged stallions in the qualifying round. They are: Putt For Dough and Bill Cantrell for Cantrell and Powell, José’s Power Broker and Keith Blackburn, He’s Unleashed and Chad Williams for Evergreen Walking Horse Farm, Really Coach? And Tyler Baucom for Kerry DeArmond and Denny Russell, Bourbon Street I. and Larry Edwards for Duke Ingram, Master’s Razzle & Jazz and Herbert Derickson for The Alan Riddley Family, Bravo! And Cha Way for Diana Cruse, and José’s Cold Chills and John Allan Callaway for LaRue McWaters.

Several other classes will be split, including the following:

21 –      Owner-Amateur Riders on Two-Year-Old Walking Stallions

25-       Owner-Amatuer Novice Lady Rider on Novice Walking Mares or Geldings 

45 –      *Three-Year-Old  Walking Stallions 

48-       Owner-Amateur Novice Lady Riders on Novice Walking Stallions 

70 –      *Three-Year-Old Walking Mares 

73 –      *Two-Year-Old Walking Mares 

79 –      *Walking Stallions, 5 Years & Over (Canter) 

90 –      Owner-Amateur Riders on Four-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings 

105 –    *Two-Year-Old Walking Stallions   (A,B,C) 

113 – Owner-Amateur Riders on Two-Year-Old Walking Mares or Geldings    

118-     Owner-Amateur Riders on Three-Year-Old Walking Stallions 

122 – Owner-Amateur Riders on Three-Year-Old Walking Mares or  Geldings                    

Look for more information and updates regarding the Celebration, which kicks off Aug. 23, in the days to come at walkinghorsereport.com.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has added an All Day Pleasure World Championship class to its 80^th Annual Celebration class schedule.  The new division will be added to the Thursday morning schedule as class 12A, the fourth class held that morning.

The Celebration has watched closely the participation in the division at shows across the industry and added the class at this year’s Spring Fun Show which was highly attended.  “It is important for The Celebration to understand the divisions that are growing and the All Day Pleasure division is certainly one that is doing just that,” said Celebration CEO Mike Inman.  He continued, “We are working hard to keep our class sheet current and reward the divisions that have entries and reduce the number classes in those divisions that don’t attract industry participation.”

The 80^th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will be held August 22^nd – September 1^st.  For more information please contact The Celebration at www.twhnc.com or 931-684-5915.

The 80th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration will have all of its championship class entries stabled on the show grounds for 48 hours prior to their championship performance. The requirement of horses to be stabled on the grounds prior to the championship classes was first recommended by the Veterinarian Advisory Council in 2014.

“In 2014 there was a lot of discussion regarding this decision but after the show that year we got a tremendous amount of positive feedback from exhibitors, vendors and fans.  It allowed fans to see more horses, exhibitors to be closer to one another and overall a much more festive atmosphere on our show grounds,” said Celebration CEO Mike Iman.

The decision to have the horses on the show grounds 48 hours prior to their championship class will also move the entry deadline for championship classes to 48 hours prior instead of 24 hours prior in years that horses are not stabled on the grounds.  Exceptions will be made for those horses that have qualifying classes that aren’t 48 hours prior to their championship class.  These entries will be required to be on the grounds 24 hours prior to their championship class.

“We realize this move may cause an inconvenience to trainers who have barns locally however the positives of this move far outweigh any inconvenience to trainers or The Celebration which must increase staffing to make sure horses are properly checked in.  The Celebration will also provide additional security as part of the requirement,” said Inman.

The Celebration already maintains 24/7 security on the show grounds during the 11 days of the horse show.  Most industry multi-day shows have the horses stabled on the grounds, especially those outside of the Shelbyville area.  In addition to positive feedback from exhibitors and recommendation from the VAC, The Celebration also considered the positive impact to the vendors on the show grounds, many of which donate their proceeds to charities, an important aspect of The Celebration.